Alice's Day

The theme for Bookham's village day procession on June 16 was Alice in Wonderland. The Procession included participants from the Rainbow play group, the Dawnay playgroup, the South Bookham, Smarty Pants and Peter Pan Playschools, Bookham Toddler Group and local schools the Dawnay, Eastwick and Friends of South Bookham School.

The editor of the Bookhams Bulletin, published by the Bookham Community Association (BCA), was right to say in an editorial before the day that he expected 'a good array of rabbits, playing cards and Cheshire grins!' Just look at the pictures.

Enjoy the Bugle's pictures below by Derek Wisbey and those on the Bookham Community Association website (click here then click on Village Day 2007 in the left hand column).

For those who like to know such things, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865 by local author Lewis Carroll, the Rev Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898). Dodgson was an Oxford mathematics lecturer whom the recently built railway allowed to live in Guildford and work in Oxford. He lived with his sisters in The Chestnuts, just outside Guildford Castle. Still a private house, only a plaque designed by local school children shows this as the house of the man who gave us some of literature's most enduring characters, though the nearby Guildford Museum has a permanent exhibition devoted to his life and work. Lewis Carroll died in Guildford and is buried in The Mount Cemetery, Guildford.

1. Alice has the Mad Hatter as chauffeur for the day and he and Alice set out for the Barn Hall.

2. The band follows them to lead the rest of the procession

3. That's when the rain begins.

4. But Alice and her driver are undaunted.

5. So are the tots, though they are quite wet as they reach the squareabout.

6. Hatter and friend near journey's end.

7. Nurse leads her charges into the Barn Hall.

8. Dormice and more mad hatters.

9. He's a card - but it's good have a hand to hold.

All pictures by Derek Wisbey of Bookham Camera Club.

"A really happy day," despite the rain

Bookham Camera Club's Village Day contribution was to stage an Alice-themed photographic exhibition in the Barn Hall's Harrison Room. It also ran a raffle jointly with the Il Gusto Italian Cafe in the High Street to win a Pizza for two.

BCC stalwart Monica Weller told the Bugle: 'It went really well. Loads of people came ini to look at the display. They thought the captions with the pics were great.

"I loved listening to visitors' intellectual comments behind me. Some liked sweet little children in the pics, others liked the Silent Pool.

"My photo of four ladies sitting at a table full of empty vol au vents went down well for the Mad Tea Party. One lady thought I was taking the mick out of the WI. I explained they were keen cooks on the Isle of Harris."

The BCC's posters by Mike Smith and kings, queens and jacks "were brilliant," says Weller. Smith had also prepared posters flagging up big events in the forthcoming BCC season of events, which starts in September.

"Everyone was very up-beat," says Weller. Hardly anyone got past her when she was selling raffle tickets and she believes the Club sold over 100.

"We had some people interested in joining the club and took programmes. Altogether there was a whole host of goodwill. It was a really happy day," even though it poured down outside.

To go to the Bookham Camera Club website click here.

Picture: The Bugle

Little Bookham's allotment holders in Maddox Lane held a scarecrow competition on Bookham Village Day, June 16. The results, below, are not for the faint hearted.

A correspondent writes:
The scarecrow competition was a lot of fun and certainly got fellow allotmenteers and their children laughing and talking to each other. The day ended up with a BBQ so it served its purpose of bringing everyone together for a bit of socialising.
I suspect on the back of this success, its likely there will be another scarecrow competition next year.
Christine Sumner

Circus girl

'Confident', says her badge. We're baffled.

Love the hat, but the dress...?

...shouldn't scarecrows be seen, not heard?

The Gent

Fallen on hard times.

Witch scarecrow?

Which crow would dare?

All dressed up...

...but is this where she'd go?

And the winner is...

Alan Sugar - from Rich List to this!

Elvis, who else?

Now at a petrol station near you?

Fetching in pink

Note the crop and riding boots.

The scary-crow

Perched but, on Village Day, not parched.

The site agent

On the lookout for trouble.