Fete 1964

SCHOOLGIRL LINDA IS MISS CASTLETHORPE

Left to right: Annette Nicholls, Yvonne Smith, Paul Scripps, Linda Nicholls, Susan Keeves, Diane West

This year’s Miss Castlethorpe is Linda Nicholls, a pupil at Wolverton County Secondary School.
Linda who is nearly 15, was one of eleven girls who entered for the contest in the village hall last Friday night. Her home is at 13 South Street.
The runner-up was 17-year-old Margaret Cooper, a pupil of the Radcliffe School, whose parents live at 43 North Street.
There were three judges, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Percy of North Marston, and Mrs. Preston of Mursley.
Five attendants for Linda were also chosen. One of the two smallest girl attendants was Linda’s young sister, nine-year-old Annette. She was chosen from 12 youngsters together with Susan Keeves (11), Yvonne Smith (11), and Diane West (8). Five year-old Paul Scripps is the page boy.
The chairman of the Village Hall Committee Mr. A. Cowley introduced the judges and M.C. for the judging was Mr. Bert Tapp.
Linda will be crowned at the village fete which has been provisionally arranged for June 20.
After the judging there was dancing to the Dave Lang Band, from Wolverton.

Crowning of ‘Miss Castlethorpe’

Left to right: Diane West, Susan Keeves, Paul Scripps, Linda Nicholls, Yvonne Smith, Annette Nicholls.

Despite a bad start when a shower sent visitors scurrying for shelter in the two large marquees, the sun came out and stalls and sideshows at Castlethorpe’s annual fete last Saturday did a brisk trade.
The fete held at Home Farm raised £60 for the Village Hall Funds.
At the opening ceremony the chairman of the Hall Committee, Mr. Arthur Cowley, told visitors why it was necessary to hold a fete for the hall funds.
The hall, he said, was self supporting to a certain degree but overhead charges were increasing year by year. “It is very difficult to make ends meet at the end of the year”. He said. Organisations in the village often hired the hall at a reduced rate and extra funds were necessary to supplement these concessions. Mr. Cowley introduced Mrs. C. Watt of Hanslope, who opened the fete.
Mrs. Watt, the wife of the new doctor for the villages, said that it was her first visit to Castlethorpe. She spoke of the importance of a village hall to the community life of any village.
There was a bouquet for Mrs. Watt from this year’s Miss Castlethorpe 16 year-old Lynda Nicholls.
Lynda and her attendants were in turn presented with small gifts by Mrs. Watt.

Mr. Cowley thanked all who helped with the upkeep of the hall during the past year. They included the ladies who ran a fortnightly whist drive. Mrs. J. Sawbridge who played a particularly big part in making these a success, and members of the Record Club who had recently announced that they were going to provide a new clock for the hall.
He thanked Mrs. P. St. John who has recently donated a strip of land to the Hall, and the Secretary of the Hall Committee Miss Carole Keeves.
There were special thanks for Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Stacey of Home Farm for their kindness in loaning the grounds of their house for the fete.
The afternoon’s activities started earlier with the crowning of Miss Castlethorpe by last year’s holder of the title, Miss Valerie Carpenter.
This was followed by a procession round the village by Miss Castlethorpe and her attendants. They were accompanied by a second decorated lorry manned by members of the Record Club who had transformed it into the “Royal Nursery”.
The parade marshal was Mr. Harold Homer.
A fancy dress competition was judged at Home Farm by Mrs. Watt, Mrs. A. Stacey, Mrs. E. Stacey and Mrs. B. Church of Deanshanger.
Mr. Church and the Deanshanger Boy Scout organised aerial chair rides during the afternoon.

Fancy dress

Judith Grace, Philip Grace, Rosemary Cooper, ?

Fancy dress winners were: Under seven years. 1. Kim Wesley (Miss Royal Ascot), 2. Yvonne Homer (In the news), 3. Michelle Markham (Top of the Pops).
Up to 11 years 1. Rosemary Cooper (doll), 2. Philip Grace (Acker Bilk), 3. Rosemary Marks (My Boy Lollipop).
Groups 1. Mr. Ben Sawbridge and Mr. Joe Gobbey (Steptoe and Son), 2. The Record Club (The Royal Nursery), joint third Stan Keeves and Alan Markham (Steptoe and Son) and Mr. Hancock and Mr. Powell (Mother and Baby).

Ben Sawbridge and Joe Gobbey (Steptoe and Son)

The prize for the most original fancy dress went to Rosemary Marks’s My Boy Lollipop.
A country dancing display was given by the village schoolchildren under the direction of the head-mistress, Miss Buxton, who is to retire at the end of the present term.
During the dancing Miss Buxton was presented with a travelling clock, a gift from the Village Hall Committee, for her help during the past years.
During the evening there was a dance and social evening in the Village Hall.
Stallholders were: Mr. G. White, Mrs. Welsh, Mrs. J. Sawbridge, Mrs. Frost, Mrs. Ward. Mesdames Keeves, Cook and Mullins, Mesdames S. Thomas, Cowley, Cook, Evans, Coey, West, Mr. S. Thomas, Mr. G. Lane, Mr. Roy West, Mr. F. Keeves, Mr. S. Nicholls. Messers. F. Lane, J. Carpenter, R. West, Mrs. H. Ray, Mrs. B. Tapp, Mrs. Grace, Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Ray, Miss Irene Buckley and members of the Record Club. The treasurer was Mr. R. West.