We might be a small community but we put on a great show to celebrate Her Majesty's 70 years on the throne.
So what did we do? Well for starters, see this video, produced by the very talented Kelly Booth which captures the look and feel of the village over the weekend.
On the Thursday many villagers, organised by Claire, risked life and limb on ladders to put up bunting and flags anywhere they could but especially around the Green. Jubilee Windows were careful prepared and there was a very well-attended service held at the church with special commemorative booklets being distributed.
In the evening we lit a beacon on the Green which, much to the organisers' relief (and, to be honest, surprise), went off with a satisfying "whoosh". A great turn out too - about two-thirds of the village came, perhaps tempted by the burgers and sausages prepared by Scaldwell's top chefs, Dean and Chris.
The Royal / 1950's theme Karaoke on the Friday night was memorable, perhaps if not for the quality of the singing, for the enthusiasm and willingness of villagers to get up and sing. Dara and Beth's "Barbie Girl", Matt and Adele's "I Want to Dance with Somebody" and some truly awful versions of Elvis songs will remain burnt into the ears of those who attended.
On Saturday, Tom and his valiant band of sous-chefs produced a superb breakfast at the Village Hall attended by nearly 30 men. It was a good feast and much needed as volunteers were then marshalled up to the Playing Field to help assemble the gazebos kindly lent to us by Callum.
Should have been an easy job...if only we had had someone with a bit of common sense to help us with the side-panels...but we eventually succeeded.
There was no rest for Tom on Saturday. Quickly discarding his chef's hat, Tom became co-judge with Dara for the Children and Pets' Fancy Dress Competition. There were some truly brilliant and inventive entries and the children and dogs all behaved themselves.
But that wasn't the end for Tom. He was then off to run the Sports Day at the Playing field where there were some inspired events. Rolling the cheese (a small camembert from the Co-Op) and Welly-Wanging were particularly popular. Indeed, some of the adults insisted on having a go with the welly, not wanting to be left out.
The weather was looking threatening but it mercifully held off for the Party in the Park. The Club put in a major shift to get a bar set up, including Pimms and real-ale. Rob K organised straw bales for additional seating but they also acted as windbreaks for the bottom of the tents. Some of the more delicate folks kept their coats on but a great party was held, Pete playing the best tune (well, in Pete's opinion) from each of the last 70 years.
On Sunday morning the bleary-eyed team came up to the Park to start dismantling. Callum's trailer came in very handy again to return bales and Darren's "little" fridge which had turned out to be an American fridge which took four men to lift.
We weren't finished though. Oh no. We took advantage of the tents to have a picnic lunch up at the Playing Field. The weather had really turned at this point but, unlike many events that were rained off in neighbouring villages, a hardy band of Scaldwell residents showed up to eat under canvas.
And then in the afternoon it was time for a truly super finale - the Great Scaldwell Bake-Off. Michael and Penny put on a superbly organised competition with very generous prizes and there were some great entries from both children and adults as can be seen in Kelly's video. The judges, Claire and Michelle, were taken aback by the quality of what they were tasting!
The winners of the Jubilee windows were announced and Adele presented the prizes of framed photos of each winning window. How she found time to arrange that, no one will ever know.
Then the raffle was called; the prizes were distributed and we settled down for tea and a chance to sample the great cakes from the competition.
All-in-all a marvellous weekend which showed once more what a superb village in which we live. We might be small but we know how to celebrate! A massive thank-you to everyone who helped make the Jubilee such a great occasion.