| SuggeStIves
- Nov/Dec 2007 |
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| Dickensian Christmas Market |
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| The nights are drawing in and it’s the time
of year when thoughts turn to Christmas. Sunday 2 December between 11.00 am and
6.00 pm sees our ever-popular, fifth annual Dickensian Christmas Market once again
bring wonderful Christmas cheer to our town. | | |
| This event has become one of most enjoyable
in the area, attracting thousands of visitors from far and wide. You may remember
that last year’s market had to be cancelled at the last minute due to extraordinary
weather conditions. However, this has not deterred SITI from going full steam
ahead with an even better event this year. | | |
| As in past years all the stallholders will
be dressed in Dickensian-style costume. A wide variety of goods will be on sale
and many of the shops also take part, which adds to the atmosphere. Fairground
rides from a bygone era, carol singers and the Somersham Town Band will all add
to the fantastic Christmas spirit. And, of course, Father Christmas will be in
his grotto as usual, with a little gift for all those children who visit. |
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We are delighted to announce that not only will representatives from our twin
town of Stadtallendorf be in attendance again, supplying us with their delicious
traditional German Gluehwien, but also this year our friends from the town of
Medvede in Slovenia will be joining us. Their choir The Ladybirds will give us
a flavour of a Slovenian Christmas. | | |
| Late afternoon sees the Christmas Lights Committee
staging family entertainment in Market Hill, culminating in the switch-on of the
lights. SITI have arranged for Impact Fireworks to stage a spectacular display
to coincide with this (conditions permitting). We hope that you will take this
opportunity to see what is on your doorstep, and buy your Christmas gifts in our
truly beautiful town. | | |
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| A
word from the Chairman |
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  | Although
what little summer we had seems a distant memory it was an eventful one for SITI.
As you are no doubt aware we started a trial period of the Sunday Art & Lifestyle
Market. | | | | It
proved to be a huge success in Bridge Street, but was of much less appeal to visitors
in Market Hill. As a result of discussions with all interested parties it has
been decided to suspend the market for the time being. In order for it to continue
in Bridge Street, there now needs to be a period of consultation with all the
local authorities, traders, residents and interested parties. We will keep you
informed of progress. |
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| The
weather leading up to the August Bank Holiday weekend did its best to spoil it,
but it did not deter thousands of visitors from attending the Inland Waterways
Festival, To coincide with this event, SITI organised a number of musical events
in the town, and at the end of September staged its two autumn concerts, the first
with Prime Brass and Hemingford Ladies Choir, and the following evening with the
Chamber Orchestra of St Ives, which as usual proved to be very popular. Further
reports, and photos later in this magazine. |
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| Sunday
2 December is an important date for your diary as this is the day of our fifth
Dickensian Christmas Market. The fun starts at 11.00 am and, as in previous years,
there will be something to interest everyone. Why struggle with the A14 and huge
parking charges when you can come and see what is on your doorstep, and what St
Ives has to offer? This is a very important time for our traders and without your
support some may not be here next Christmas. We look forward to seeing you there. |
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| On behalf of SITI I would like to take this opportunity of
wishing you a very happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. |
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| Angela
Dickinson, Chairman, St Ives Town Initiative |
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| Wild
Goose Chase 2007 |
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| Following
the success of last year’s Christmas Wild Goose Chase once again you have the
chance to win one of three oven ready geese this year. Our thanks go to the Butchers
Shop in Crown Street for their generous support. |
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| Joining
in the fun is simple. Hidden in the window displays of 25 shops around the town
centre are official Goose Chase game cards numbered 1 to 25. |
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| Entry
forms will be available from participating shops from the middle of November.
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| Sea Scouts Celebrate! |
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| In September the 2nd St Ives Sea Scouts turned 50, and celebrated
their Golden Jubilee in style. A service of Thanksgiving at All Saints Parish
Church was followed by an activity afternoon on Holt Island. Local dignitaries
attending included Richard Hames, Cambridgeshire County Scout Commissioner, Hugh
Duberly CBE, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, and Councillor Richard Forway,
Deputy Mayor of St Ives. The Lord Lieutenant was particularly impressed by his
conversations with the scouts, and commented to John Davies, Group Chairman, that
they ‘were a great advertisement for the movement and St Ives. They looked smart
and showed great confidence.’ |
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| So, how did our Sea Scout group
begin? In October 1957 the Borough Council offered the use of what was then called
Ingle Holt Island to the Sea Scout section of the 1st St Ives Scouts. The island
and its swimming pool were derelict but much hard work by the scouts themselves
restored the site to include meeting huts, stores and workshops, a winch, slipway,
quay and diving board. |
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| In December 1957 Admiralty qualification
was granted, and a Wolf Cub pack was started. The Group conducted river survey
work and salvage and rescue work for other river users, and grew in the late 80s
to two troops plus a large Cub pack. The 90s welcomed the first all-girl troop,
and the Group expanded further to include Venture Scouts. A splinter group then
departed but by the late 90s the Group had recovered and today numbers are again
healthy and include a Beaver colony. |
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| Walk
or cruise by the island these days and, fifty years on, it will be obvious the
Sea Scouts are still having a good time: archery, canoeing, sailing and power
boating are just some of the activities undertaken, not to mention the traditional
camp fire singsongs drifting over the river. Some things never change! |
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| Fantastic Star Prize |
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 | Peter
Irving, a SITI member who is known for his excellent bookstall on St Ives Friday
market, was the winner of the first prize in the raffle supporting our Riverside
Gala held in July on Noble’s Field. Here are highlights from Peter on his raffle
prize experience! | | | | If
you don’t have much of a track record at winning raffle prizes, surprises don’t
come much bigger than this one! When the voice on the telephone checked my name
and announced I’d won a prize in the SITI raffle, my immediate reaction was great
- a bottle of sherry at last! I thought he must be leg-pulling when he confirmed
I had in fact won the star prize, sponsored by Vindis Audi Huntingdon, which was
‘A Luxury Night Out’, for me and three guests, to be chauffeured in an Audi 8
series limousine to a top Cambridgeshire restaurant for dinner Wow! |
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| Huntingdon Audi had arranged for us to eat at The Pink Geranium
Restaurant at Melbourn which started life as two cottages in the 16th century,
became a tea room in 1942, and a restaurant of repute in the 1980s. The restaurant
has subsequently been described as both the prettiest, and one of the finest,
in Britain. I shared my prize with my wife Liz and my daughter and son-in-law,
Jane and Phil Nicholls. Our wonderful chauffeur picked us up in Godmanchester
and whisked us away to Melbourn. We might have been travelling on a magic carpet.
Although it was a wet and cold evening, the twinkly lights in the restaurant garden
provided a warm welcome, and before long we were sitting in a quiet lounge with
our pre-dinner drinks. Although the restaurant is well known for its French cuisine,
there is much else on the menu too. Between us we had a mushroom lasagne, roast
belly of pork and fillet steaks. An intriguing starter was fresh fig and walnuts,
and an unusual desert of rice pudding with red wine |
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| Many
thanks to Vindis Audi Huntingdon for a memorable evening and a splendid ride in
the A8. How I’d love to swop my transit van for one of those. Raffles are no good
for this one - I’ll just have to win the lottery next time. |
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| Peter
Irving |  |
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| Corn Exchange Update
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| At an extra-ordinary meeting
of the Town Council held on 25 July it was unanimously agreed to allow local businessman
Mike Purchas an opportunity to present his proposal for renovating the Corn Exchange. |
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| Subsequent to this, on Wednesday 5 September, at a full Town
Council meeting, councillors agreed in principle to his proposal and it was resolved
that Mr Purchas should act as Project Manager for the renovation. The Town Clerk
was tasked with working with Mr Purchas to produce a viable business plan to be
considered by the full Council in January. The outcome of that meeting, to be
held on Wednesday 9 January 2008, will be printed in our following issue. |
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| Fashion Show |
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| Wednesday 17th October saw SITI stage its first Fashion Show
at the Free Church. The evening proved to be a great success. |
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| Winter
collections from The Baytree, The Earth Collection and The Stock Shop were magnificently
modelled by their own customers. In addition to the wonderful outfits on display
were also a large number of accessories such as handbags, shoes, hats, scarves
and jewellery. |
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| During the interval two volunteers, having earlier had their
hair styled at A’diva, were given a make-over as part of a makeup demonstration
given by therapists from The Salon. |
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| SITI
Summer Festival: Music in the town |
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| Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, to complement the Inland
Waterways Association Festival, SITI arranged for a wide variety of music to be
staged in the town. It started on Saturday afternoon with Eastern Bloco, the fabulous
Brazilian drum band, who performed on the festival site, as well as parading into
the town, and providing wonderful entertainment in the Market Place. |
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| Then on Sunday visitors were spoilt for choice. There were
talented musicians everywhere with local groups Acoustix Anonymous and Twisted
Wheel performing under the gaze of Oliver Cromwell, and Trio Mardi Soir from our
twin town Stadtallendorf, who gave a thrilling afternoon concert at the Free Church.
Trio Mardi Soir are a clarinet trio, two clarinets and a violoncello, who performed
works by JS Bach, Faure, Mozart and Avison, in the calming, peaceful atmosphere
of the church. Our thanks go to the Photographic Society for sharing their display
space for this concert. |
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| At the end of September, the Free Church was again the venue
for two very special and memorable concerts, once again with marvellous local
talent. The first was from Prime Brass with conductor Matthew Dilley, with the
Hemingford Ladies Choir with their Musical Director Caroline Jones. Both entertained
with a wide selection from their various repertoires, including items from Prime
Brass Blue Rondo CD, one of Classic FM’s CDs of 2006. The Saturday evening concert
was a fitting finale to our Summer Festival for 2007, with a superb, uplifting
COSI Festival Prom. The Chamber Orchestra of St Ives included a selection of popular
‘last night of the proms’ music to an enthusiastic, flag-waving audience! Truly
wonderful. |
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| Thank you all so much. How lucky
we are to have so much superb talent performing in our town. |
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| The
largest event to be held on the Meadow in its 1000-year history. |
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| This quote from Bridget Smith’s fascinating new book The Great
Meadow is about the Inland Waterways Association National Festival and Boat Show,
held on Hemingford Meadow over the August Bank Holiday weekend. |
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| The
persistent rain leading up to the event did not dampen the spirits of the thousands
of visitors to this prestigious national festival, with hundreds of boats lining
our normally quiet riverside. But it was not just the festival site that was busy. |
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| A number of local volunteers
and organisations provided a wide variety of activities in the town for visitors
and locals. There are too many to list here, but we should like to thank all those
involved for their hard work before and during the Festival – you really gave
everyone a weekend to remember! |
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| We must also thank our member
and loyal supporter, Denise Circus of Denise’s Flowers in Bull Lane, for her fantastic
floral extravaganza in the SITI marquee. This showcased St Ives Town Initiative,
and supported a total of 37 local businesses with depictions of their products
or services shown in original flower arrangements. |
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| Also worthy of note is local
St Ives firm Imray, publishers of waterway guides, maps and nautical charts, who
were one of the main festival sponsors, plus of course, our local marina and SITI
supporter, Jones’ Boatyard, hosts to the twenty or so steamboats parading at the
opening ceremony. |
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| The IWAF enjoyed their time
with us. Close proximity to such a beautiful and historic town was a bonus, and
they say they would like to return! |
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| Just
Cards & Thorntons - Member Profile |
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 | Just
Cards and Thorntons is a well-established independent greeting card shop in Bridge
Street, St Ives. Since 2000 the business has been owned and operated by local
residents Tom and Maureen O’Connell, who added a Thorntons chocolates franchise
in 2004. Tom and Maureen are proud to stock the largest range of greetings cards
in the area, as well as helium balloons; soft toys; gift wrap, boxes, ribbons
and bows; social stationery; baby, wedding, anniversary and milestone birthday
gifts; games and a full range of Thorntons products, including ice cream from
April to September. Balloon arrangements for weddings and parties are also provided,
and Thorntons chocolates can be ordered and delivered by first class post. |
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| The business prides itself on offering traditional shop keeping
and enjoys high levels of repeat customers, with many travelling long distances
to visit the store. All the stock is priced – the shop refuses to use price codes
– and the aim is to provide a pleasant and accessible environment with a warm
welcome and friendly, personal service. |
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| Comments
such as “You have the best selection of cards in the area”, “I buy all my cards
here” and “I know I can always find what I’m looking for here” are regularly heard
at the counter. |
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| Just Cards and Thorntons was
the first ever member of St Ives Town Initiative |
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