Monday 25TH May. I attend one of the highlights
of the Rotary year in District 1140, the Farnborough Donkey Derby. It takes place on the King George V playing
field every year on the Bank Holiday Monday, and has been going for over 50
years. It is a huge event, one of the
largest in the local area, with 10,000 people expected if the weather is fine.
The extraordinary thing is that the whole event is organised by three Rotary
clubs, Farnborough, Rushmoor and Ash & Blackwater Valley. Yet again I am
amazed about the sheer size of some of the events run by Rotary clubs.
As guest of honour today, I was allocated a parking space
directly outside the entrance, which was also appreciated by the DG, who was
accompanying me today. The first thing I noticed was how well the car parking
was organised, with numerous stewards waving feather dusters around to direct
drivers. They have found these to be a good way to be noticed when directing
traffic.
Parking steward with feather duster
We arrived shortly before the noon opening of the event, and
there was already quite a long queue developing at the entrance. Naturally, the
DG and I were whisked through the entrance ahead of the queue and made our way across to meet the organisers.
As soon as we arrived we met the organising committee chairman, a member of
Farnborough Rotary Club, Merv George. A
charming man, he spent a lot of time looking after the DG and I, although he
must have had the cares of the world on his shoulders at the time.
The gate opens
We started with a cup of tea in the café which is in an
elevated position in the park and provides good views across the whole site. We
were joined by another Farnborough Rotarian Brian Fagg, and also the Mayor of
Rushmoor, Diane Bedford, who also happens to be a member of Rushmoor Club. A
more down to earth woman you couldn’t hope to meet, she was thoroughly enjoying
her year as mayor. From our vantage point sitting outside the tea room we could
see the sheer scale of the event, with a fun fair, arenas for different
activities, a performance stage, charity stalls, donkey racing circuit and much
more spread over a very large area.
The DG with Brian Fagg, Merv George and Diane Bedford
I was staggered to learn that the 3 Rotary clubs go door to
door in the surrounding district to sell programmes for the Donkey Derby. At £1
each, the programme doubles as an entry ticket at the gate. Such is the local
support for the event that people will buy programmes even if they don’t intend
coming. The programmes are quite big, with 24 pages, and are full of adverts
from local traders, details of entertainment in the arena and on stage, and all
the runners in the donkey races. Clearly thousands of the programmes are sold
each year, which may explain the enthusiasm of local businesses to support it.
Event programme
By now the field was filling up with people and we went for
a wander, looking at stalls and chatting to the many Rotarians we met. By some
accident we arrived at Rushmoor club’s legendary barbecue. They had organised
the barbecue at the DG’s handover last July and people are still talking about
it. I would say it was probably the best barbecue I have ever been to. Today
the burgers were for sale, but they were just as good as I had remembered. It was good to see Neil Rorie and Owen Durrett
working so hard.
The field starts to fill
Thus refreshed, it was time for the DG’s main job of the
day. She had bravely agreed to judge the baby show in the tent. It really was
brave of her, because every mother is bound to think her baby is the most
beautiful, but there can only be one winner, and there were dozens of entries
in the two age groups, 0-9 months and 10-18 months. Fortunately, she had help
with the judging, as there were actually 3 judges, the DG, Mayor Diane Bedford,
and local MP Sir Gerald Howarth. Thus the burden of blame for picking the wrong
winner could be shared with two others.
I heard later that there were a couple of complaints from mothers who
didn’t agree with the result, but fortunately all 3 judges escaped from the
tent unscathed.
The DG and MP trying to find a winning baby
Dog show in arena - the DG would have been happier judging this
The DG was kept for an hour or so with her judging
commitments, so I wandered over to see what else was going on. In the main
arena there was a display of Japanese Taiko drumming by Oku Nojo Daiko, a
collaboration between schools in North East Hampshire to perform this exciting
and reverberating sound. Youngsters of
mixed ages worked together to produce an excellent display of drumming.
Apparently they are in demand for performances across the whole country.
Drummers
Following the drummers in the main arena was a falconry
show. I don’t really like these magnificent birds being kept in captivity, but
I can’t resist watching them perform. There was a young Golden Eagle on show,
although it didn’t take part in the display.
One of the birds being displayed (a type of falcon I think – I couldn’t
hear the commentary) flew off and didn’t come back. The presenter explained how
each bird carries a tracking device which can find the bird within a 40 mile
radius. The worrying thing was that 10 minutes after he disappeared, the
tracking device could not locate him. There was a false dawn, when a falcon was
seen flying overhead, but this turned out to be a wild peregrine falcon hunting
in the area and unconnected to the show. I was impressed. I would never have
expected to see a peregrine falcon over Farnborough, but there it was.
A Harris hawk awaits his turn
In between other events, I kept track of the donkey racing.
I think it was the same donkeys every time, but as the course was only a couple
of hundred yards long, it probably wasn’t too taxing for them. Children were
invited to be jockeys for each race, and there was no shortage of volunteers,
in fact they were queuing up. I had a bet on every race. My plan was to bet on donkey no. 2 in every
race until it won. Surely no. 2 would win sooner or later. Well it didn’t, even
when I stood at the fence shouting at it to hurry up, much to the alarm of the
child riding it. Even the guy on the Tote was feeling sorry for me, and after
race 4 suggested I try a different number. But I was committed to my game plan
and determined to see it through to the bitter end. And it was bitter: 6 donkey
races, £6 lost.
Runners and riders under starters orders
Despite my gambling losses, it had been an enjoyable
afternoon at a terrific event which was well organised by Rotarians and well
supported by local people. The DG even found time to buy a bag at one of the
trade stalls. As we left the field, I noticed the falconry display was on
again, and it seemed that another bird had gone missing. The old adage occurred
to me ‘never share a stage with children or animals’.
Merv George with the DG, who looks nervous
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