Jubilant! (From Gazette & Herald)

Jubilant!

RYEDALE celebrated the Queen's golden jubilee in style over the bank holiday weekend.

Communities from the smallest to the largest got out their flags and bunting. People scoured lofts and attics for decorations when shops ran out of flags.

This may be a quiet corner of North Yorkshire, but Ryedale showed it knows how to put on a good do.

Some of the smallest communities were the ones which threw themselves most enthusiastically into the celebrations.

Jubilee committees organised, ladies of the villages and towns made salads and sandwiches, magicians rushed from engagement to engagement. Children, dressed in the ubiquitous red, white and blue, drank their squash from commemorative jubilee mugs.

The weekend was more than the stirrings of patriotism and reflections on change. It was a chance for communities to get together in their family groups.

They put up the marquees in Thorpe Bassett and kicked off the celebrations with a royal toast and a piece of jubilee cake made by Clare Ireland, and cut by 90-year-old Dolly Hall, the village's most senior resident.

Fancy dress, treasure hunts and a true Yorkshire spread of home-cured ham, salads, sherry trifle and apple pie was repeated in villages across Ryedale.

In Cropton, they had a village picnic and in Salton and Kirby Misperton, everyone turned up for a barbecue. The Kirby Misperton children were kept spellbound by a magician and in Salton, Mrs Merlin, helped by Duffy the dog, enthralled the younger residents.

"Everyone's helped this celebration, it's been team work," said Mrs Merlin. "There is a lovely family feeling here, this is a really special village."

Over in Pickering, more than 400 children sat down to a jubilee tea - probably Yorkshire's biggest tea party. Organiser Natalie Warriner thanked everyone for their tremendous effort. "This was a real community event," she said proudly. "Pickering came up trumps again."

Up at Pickering's parish church there was a beautiful flower festival. It will be one of the last events for the Rev Margery Grange. She came to Pickering as the town's first woman priest but moves to Cumbria shortly.

A barbecue and fancy dress brought in the villagers at East and West Knapton and Scampston. "The ladies worked like Trojans," said villager Jean Welburn. "Some were there from 2pm to 10.30pm. There was enough food for a regiment. Jamie Hyde, aged two-and-a-half, won the fancy dress and Sharon Marucci was our jubilee queen in a posh car. We had a good old gossip. Everyone joined in."

Thanks to the determination of the organisers, Norton and Malton jubilee carnival turned out to be a success. People turned out to see the floats and carnival queen and prince. The two towns had tea parties too, fireworks, games and discos.

Norton and Malton joined forces in judging the floats for their jubilee procession. Norton mayor Coun Keith Mennell was pleased that many people had joined in with gusto. "Everyone really got into the spirit of things and it was an enjoyable couple of days," he said. Malton town mayor Ann Hopkinson said how well everything had gone over the weekend.

Chairman of Ryedale District Council Coun Helen Schroeder said it has been wonderful to see people really enjoying themselves after all the difficulties Ryedale faced last year. She pointed out that this is the year the North York Moors National Park also celebrates 50 years, saying: "On Monday, there was a joint anniversary and jubilee celebration at Sutton Bank, with guided history walks and the lighting of a special beacon."

There will be further activities throughout the year leading up to November, the actual anniversary of the Park's formation.

"We live in a wonderful area, where the rural economy and the stunning landscape are irrevocably intertwined. We must build on the optimism that these celebrations generate, to work together to develop and support a strong economy which will help to sustain and conserve the landscape that we cherish, for the next 50 years and beyond," said Coun Schroeder.

At Castle Howard, there was a display of the flags and bunting used to decorate the streets of Malton for the coronation in 1952, while there was also a recreation of a visit to the estate by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

A good time was had in Kirkbymoorside where Mayor Coun John Bowes has lived all his life. He remembers King George V, who died in 1936 and King George VI's coronation in 1937.

"In 1953, there was a big party, we had a right good do. The silver jubilee was a good do too and there were a lot of street parties.

"For the golden jubilee, there wasn't so many flags out. People didn't seem to want to organise things until it got to nearer the time. Then it improved and we had a good time."

Updated: 09:17 Thursday, June 06, 2002