Benwick Dickensian Market

	Benwick Dickensian Market 2008 The 15th November was eagerly awaited by the organisers of the Benwick Dickensian Market. This was the date of the first Dickensian Market in Benwick and nobody knew whether it would be a success or failure. Nothing like this had been organised for quite a few years and much trepidation was felt by all concerned.
	There are quite a few organisations in the village, the Friends of Benwick Church, Friends of Benwick School, a very active Scouting group, Butterflies, the Football Club, Forget Me Nots to name but a few. Each of these groups do sterling work for the village but they very rarely pool their resources together. So the Benwick Residents Association decided to try to bring as many of these groups together as possible in order to promote a community spirit. The result was the Benwick Dickensian Market. As mentioned earlier this was the first attempt by the association to organise such a large event and it very nearly didn't get off the ground. Some sterling efforts by the Chairperson, Pat Tickner, of the BRA managed to wangle a few minutes on BBC Radio Cambridge and promoted the event. Thankfully quite a few people were tuned in and this resulted in the offer of stalls from Mr Duncan Bunnett who was listening near Mildenhall. Other requests from people wanting to book a stall also came along and before you knew it the Benwick Dickensian Market started to become tangible.
	Gatherings were arranged and things organised for the big day and it got slowly closer and closer. Richard and Pat approached Rob Taylor with a view to setting up a web site and at that late stage would have been happy to see a presence but Rob got straight to work and this site is the result. The stalls were organised, stallholders booking stalls on a regular basis and the guys in the Five Alls pulling hard to make sure the organisation comes together on the day. And before you knew it November had crept upon us and the day was dawning. The early birds arrived with the stalls and Mr Bunnett and his team very quickly got them erected in time for the stallholders to arrive and begin laying out their wares. A warm smell of the hog-roast could be detected on the cool morning air, which did wonders for the appetite. Kev White and Howard Langford in particular busied themselves with the preparations putting lighting up on the pub roof, just in case, and working out which way round the poles went on Santa's Grotto! In fact, everywhere you turned you could see them both beavering away at something.
	Mid-day came and villagers started to appear to see what all the fuss was about. Most of them stopped off at the bakers stall, which was quite obvious as when they started the baskets of loaves and buns were almost to the top of the canvas but by the time things started winding down there was hardly anything left. Little Curtis Whitwell could be seen hiding behind a Danish pastry that I am sure was bigger than his head. A steady stream of people meandered through the stalls and warmed themselves with the scouts cups of tea and coffee and to warm the ears we had the Salvation Army band come along and play us a selection of Christmas tunes. Raffle prizes were scooped up, buns filled with the results of the hog-roast were being scoffed and much gossiping was done. Plants could be seen being carried down the High Street to find much welcome homes thanks to Highbury Nursery in Wimblington. More Benwick Bygones copies were sold to those curious to read about Benwick's past. They are now on their second issue of the book proving that it has turned out to be a very successful venture.
	Not forgetting the theme of the market there were numerous people dressed for the occasion and didn't they look good. Richard Emmett turned up looking like an oversize leprechaun while Abby was the epitome of a serving wench behind the bar at the Five Alls. One surprise for the organisers of the occasion was the unexpected arrival of Jim and Maureen Samuels from March. Jim and Maureen are members of a Victorian Re-enactment group called the Victorian Strollers. (More can be found on their website www.victorianstrollers.co.uk. They had heard of Benwicks attempt at putting on a Dickensian day together and decided to come along and add to the fun. They arrived in all their glorious finery and you would have been forgiven for thinking they had just arrived in Dr Who's time machine.
	Darkness was the only thing to stop the festivities outside but there was still plenty going on inside the pub. Meanwhile The Bunnett team turned up on cue to break down the stalls and take them off to the next market. The BRA's had a difficult job awarding the prize for the best costumes and this was given to Sarah and Sandy's stall for getting right into the spirit. Later in the evening Suzanne Kern provided the entertainment in the pub later on.
	The whole day was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone I talked to and can only bode well for the next Benwick Dickensian Market (2009) where we can learn from what we did this year, or, more importantly, what we didn't do this year.
	See you in November 2009