When we came together to make, cut and nail

Three Rivers Museum Trust chairman Fabian Hiscock takes a nostalgic look back at the days of working together for events in our communities.

We cleared a shed last Saturday. Not just any old shed – this was the old brick shed at St Bede’s church in Croxley Green, and it was full of ‘stuff’. Among other things it had been the workshop for the parish float builders for the procession at the Croxley Revels, but we don’t do that any more, so all this old ‘stuff’ had to go – or be re-used.

It proved to be quite a nostalgic morning, with lots of ‘Where did this come from?’ and plenty of ‘Do you remember this…?’ And quite a bit of ‘How did this work?’. Now, this used to be done by the young family groups in the few weeks before the Revels around mid-summer day: but those young parents are often now grandparents, and in any case the Revels no longer has the parade. So sadly, most of this material, much of it from WRAP in the first place (remember the Watford Recycling Arts Project? What a source! Still here, I believe - look them up), had no further use, and was itself recycled.

Ricky week parade 2015 - West Hyde and Maple Cross WI. Image: Three Rivers Museum/Les Mead

But there was so much of this going on – not just around Croxley Green, but for the Rickmansworth ‘Ricky Week parade’, at Abbots Langley and Chorleywood, and various events around the town, and indeed all over the country. Churches, schools, Scouts and Guides, youth clubs – all with families (not only, but largely) designing, making, cutting, nailing…. Weeks of working together, for an event which typically occupied an afternoon, and then all taken back to base to be dismantled and stored ready for next year. Those who took part in the procession had a great time, and so did those who never aspired to be participating, just to support. It was something to do together.

Going Maying. Image: Rickmansworth Historical Society/Geoff Saul collection

And it didn’t have to be ‘built’ – some fancy events like Maying just required lots of fancy dress! But it still had to be made, by several people. But age was no barrier.

The Maying Song. Image: Rickmansworth Historical Society/Geoff Saul collection

Some of this still happens, but not, I think, on the scale it used to. Local haulage firms often provided trucks to be dressed, and in any case roads would be closed, and for various reasons that’s no longer so easy to arrange. And I guess the materials all cost more now, parents no longer have (or make) time to do all this, even if the children are interested and have time themselves – although as we’ve seen in recent weeks, there’s more ‘entertainment and recreation’ available than is realised.

1910? The King about to mount his carriage at Croxley Green. Image: Three Rivers Museum

So what are we left with? Well, a fair measure of nostalgia, of course. But are there still opportunities to do this? Or have we all simply moved on to a different era?

We can at least remember the past!