The venue was the welcoming and attractive Friary gardens and the weather was a glorious English summer day, just right for a Parish Picnic!
The BCSC volunteers had been busy and prepared the grounds ready for the day. The bouncy castle was fully inflated, the running lanes were laid out, the playground unlocked and the bins ready for the after lunch rush.
The early birds fluttered in to seek out the tranquil shady spots under the trees and as the sun got hotter the gardens began to blossom into full bloom.
Let the games begin
Football began in the playground with lots of the younger lads (and those young at heart) battling it out in a frantic game of 7-a-side. It was played at a furious pace despite the hot weather and Dave did a sterling job as referee, no cards were shown.
Next came a penalty shootout with the picnickers choosing to emulate their idols and show the England team how it's done. It's a long walk to the spot but the run up is short, the glory of a goal is just a few yards away not as easy as it looks and the England scouts were taking notes.
The cricket got off to a great start over on a somewhat dusty pitch but good fun was being had. Now let's rememberer cricket is a complicated game with hidden depths, while none of these were likely to be exposed some rules were covered but there's a way to go before we field a team in the local league.
More and more parishioners started to arrive and the gardens were getting full. Everyone looked like they had come prepared with hampers, chairs and blankets galore. Some well prepared parishioners had disposable BBQ-s which filled the air with some mouth watering aromas.
The bouncy castle was a huge hit with the kids, jumping all over the place.
The races followed the games with certain age groups participating in each round progressing onto th finals. All of the children were very proficient in egg and spoon and three legged race. Damon was doing a brilliant job of race co-coordinator until it became a free for all and everyone was running in the lanes. A great event.
Ice creams, teas and cake were laid on for all and on a hot day the ice cream was gone in a lick or two. By now the picnic was in full swing, everyone looking very relaxed.
Next up was rounders. Two teams were assembled both ended up fighting it out for the shade of the trees. A good game took place with some energetic running going on.
The finale was a tug of war and a rallying cry went out for Mums vs Dads to be first competition! The competition was going well until the rope snapped and everyone fell over in a big heap. It was felt that the Mums were winning anyway. With the rope repaired, the next game was for boys vs girls, when again the rope snapped! This time it looked like the boys were winning although we will never know.
In the end we were all winners!
A great day in a lovely Parish, let's do it again next year.