Janet Yasities reports:
THE BORDERS MINI BELLS made its annual trip to the Dalemain Marmalade Festival on Saturday 26 April, with this year marking the 20thanniversary of the iconic event. Good luck gifted a dry and brightish day albeit with an occasionally rigid breeze that had us reaching for the warm layer we’d all of course packed knowing the sudden requirements of any outdoor event in Britain at any time of the year, let alone the extreme gamble of early spring! An ominous sky added atmosphere as the day wore on but we were spared rain.
The day had its usual quota of hard work from the team transporting and erecting the mini bells not to mention the ongoing trials generated by being sited on slightly uneven ground which would make a report all of its own. From name badges to folding chairs to marmalade-orange decorations to any tool that could conceivably be needed, everything was perfectly planned and brilliantly executed. Anyone would think they’d done all this before…
This year’s festival was particularly well attended and the marmalade tent, with its tables groaning under the weight of many hundreds of jars, was bustling all day long. The band gave a number of demonstrations of the mini bells but it wasn’t difficult to draw people into the experience such was the enthusiasm of so many visitors of all ages who stopped by, some more than once, to receive a little instruction and have a go. Not least Paddington himself who seems to be getting better every year.
