PICTURE GALLERY: Town turns out for its special day
A TIN man, a tribute to astronaut Major Tim Peake, a Freddie Mercury look-a-like and a Royal cavalcade all helped to create a carnival atmosphere in Chipping Campden last Saturday, 4th June.
It was, of course, the day of the Scuttlebrook Wake — one of the most hotly-anticipated days in the town’s calendar, as it has been for several hundreds of years.
Richard Porter, chairman of the organising committee, which is made up of around 25 local people, said: “It was a big success, and everything much went to plan.
“We’ve been doing this for so many years now that to a point it runs itself, but until the day itself you never quite know how it will be.
“The weather was great this year, which is always welcome, and my highlight was the fancy dress parade. It’s great to see what ideas people have each year.”
An estimated 2,000 people packed into the town centre for the fancy dress parade and then to enjoy the traditional fair.
Scuttlebrook Wake was named after the cattle brook which flowed through the Leasebourne end of the High Street until it was covered in 1831.
It has been held annually on the day after the Dover’s Hill Games, aka the Cotswold Olimpicks, for at least two centuries.
This year was the 404th Cotswold Olimpicks, an evening of traditional English sports, which is run by the Robert Dover’s Games Society and considered to be the forerunner to the modern Olympic Games.
Held on Dover’s Hill, overlooking Campden, it incorporates the Championship of the Hill, the Champion of the Hill, and the Shin Kicking World Championship.
A team called Returning Heroes — Dan Gabb, Wes Green, Stu Matthews, Duncan Mascarenhas and Collam Walker — were the winners of The Championship of the Hill, Jake Johnson, a visiting American, was named Champion of the Hill, and Adam Miller retained the Shin Kicking World Championship after fellow finalist Zak Warren, also a past champion, had to retire hurt.
This year’s Olimpicks was sponsored by Fosseway Hire and Budget Skips.
