On August Bank Holiday Monday the Local council and various Eco minded people put on their Environmental Fair in the Local Park, to which thousands from the local community and further afield came.
It was a family affair, and we like other punters made our way to the Park out of intrigue really, and to enjoy the glorious hot sunny weather. Indeed for us it possibly would be the last chance to catch summer rays before the new school term starts.
As millions walked the roads and pavements, (dodging the cyclists who forgot they are officially road users), some staggered in the direction of the park gates with beer cans and fell in. These few, I would suggest were not attending with aluminium recycling in mind, but er, their own refreshment. Thankfully, I believe there was a police man on duty, somewhere, on call, just in case an alcohol, drug or lentil induced mass brawl ensued. Instead, the mood was restful, chilled and very good natured. As it should be.
While most meandered aimlessly between the stalls in search of new planet saving ideas, not all attenders got into the environmental spirit of the day, instead they littered the park with disused leaflets, cigarette butts, plastic cups and of course drinks cans which glinted in the afternoon sun. Probably not what the organisers had in mind.
Thankfully (for us) some of the exhibitors and stall holders sold books. They surely had tons of them. Not only could we choose by book title, genre or author but also by the benefiting charity or organisation. I was after Ben Elton and Mrs W was after more for her ever expanding childrens library. The last time we extended our house was for a dining room, and given our present (pretty dire) financial circumstances a dedicated library is not on. Maybe instead, we could do a deal with the British Library and space share?
The Liberal democrats got nothing from me but the ‘Save the Local Water Tower from those Pesky Rodents Trust’ (or similar) benefited to the tune of two pounds. Once read our purchased books would be recycled. Probably.
Among the stall holders were new age diviners, tarot card readers and various dubious others who were quite probably messing with peoples heads. Others offered to measure peoples spines, before offering to prod and mess with the volunteers bodies. The Islamists offered cups of tea in exchange for getting to know them. Christian Churches were there too, although I never did get to grips with the concept of Holy Socks that were on offer. The Buddhists were quietly doing what they do, but must admit I never saw the cheery faces of the Humanists. God Bless em!
One bright teenager wore an intriguing t-shirt, emblazoned with the message. ‘No one knows I’m a lesbian’. She is wrong of course, I know. Maybe she is not so bright after all.
I think environmental fairs are a great, even though we learned nothing new or picked op more than a handful of leaflets issued by the RSPB to keep our ‘Twitcher’ sons interest up. To keep cool, and our fluid levels up we felt obliged to queue for incredibly cheap and tasty ice creams – this was no great hardship for any of us.
All in all, as a family we had a good afternoon in the sun. The only drawback was that car parking in the area adjacent to the park was pretty dreadful, instead we had to park at my parents place – and walk!
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