Fontwell's first village day success

As well as the weather, live music and colourful gazebos drew visitors to the grassy open space in front of the Laurels, Home Farm Trust.

The variety of live music provided a backdrop for visitors to sit and eat their cream tea.

Opening the performances was CLJ who got everyone into the mood by being first on the stage.

The band was then followed by Tony Taylor and his Ukulele Band, who added to the buzz.

In complete contrast were the songs of the well supported Bellacapella Choir with the CLJ to end the day.

A marquee filled with local history including the collection of Roman artefacts found and unearthed by Jon Cann was also at the event.

Visitors were able to hear more about the pieces from Jon and his son Jack.

Teresa Gess had collated the varied collection of scraps about Fontwell gathered by Belinda Wilkins over the last 40 years and added her own research from Chichester Records Office amongst other sources.

Local business Detecnicks attended with some artefacts and also loaned two metal detectors, which proved a great success, as all ages enjoyed finding some “treasure”.

After hearing the distinctive beep from the machines they dug down through the straw to discover buried metal items including coins and keys.

Walberton Parish Council and St Mary’s Church Walberton had information stands, ideal for chatting to parishioners, many concerned about massive development plans in the area.

Both organisations gave donations towards the funding of the village day.

Rev Tim Ward ran the coconut shy and he had made the throwing line quite close to the target which meant that many went home clutching a coconut.

Face painting, tattooing and hook-a-duck attracted the youngsters although the artificial waves in the duck pond created by Alan Gess made it quite tricky to hook one.

Plants were kindly provided by Binsted herbs and Liz Brown’s book stall had a number of good bed time reads.

Ten minutes before official closing time a few spots of rain helped speed up the packing away task of the organising team led by Peter Brown and Sue Wallsgrove.

Approximately £400 was raised for Home Farm Trust who were handing out samples of their delicious Sussex Orchards Apple Juice with bottles on sale proving popular.

It was generally agreed that it was a great success, and it is hoped another similar event can take place in 2018.