Mayflower’s Marvellous Market

The first of December and with it, the largest event in Billericay’s year, the Christmas market organised and run by our daughter club, the Rotary Club of Billericay Mayflower.  As usual, Rotary members were out in the weekends ahead of the event to spread the word and handout flyers to publicise the event, and we helped a little with Roger, Les and Brian on duty outside the back of Waitrose on the last Friday of November, doing just that.

A Busy Time

Sunday dawned and  .. it was dry! Hurrah!  Roger Kettle and Peter Greene were on early duty helping the zone managers (from Mayflower) to marshal the stallholders as they arrived, and ensuring everybody was in their right place in plenty of time, and most importantly, ensuring everybody was safe.

Stallholders had been given arrival times so that vans and cars filled up the High Street from the centre outwards, to minimise traffic overlaps, but … as usual, although many tried to keep to this schedule, there were more than enough late arrivals and confusion to keep Roger and Peter, and all the marshals, very busy.  Peter Greene said “we even had one driver insisting he had two stalls in different places on the High Street, one outside Superdrug, and one somewhere near Waitrose.  But he had no documentation to say who he was and where this second spot should be.  After a lot of negotiation, he eventually found out both stalls should be outside Superdrug!”

As usual, the organisation by Dave Randall and the Mayflower team was excellent, with even two helpers circulating around the High Street taking orders for tea or coffee and bacon rolls.  Not only that, but personal service too, delivering the orders back to us so we didn’t have to leave our stations!

Safe and Secure

Time passed quickly, all the stalls were soon installed, but special care was taken to ensure they were all held down with weights against the wind to prevent any stall blowing away, as had happened at Wickford the week before.  The Council did a special inspection (health and safety) to ensure that all the stalls were secure and safe, and ready for business.  

A Variety of Stalls

So, who was there?  Many of the stalls were selling food of all types ready to do a roaring trade with the public as lunch approached.  Giggly Pig as always, other hog roasts, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Greek Souvlakis, doughnuts, rolls and bread, cakes, and exotic options too.  Alongside them were toys stalls, Christmas ornaments, trees, crafts and others publicising their work such as St. Luke’s Hospice, Essex Fire Museum, Creative BasildON, etc.  
There were craft stalls in the library and its grounds, a very well attended fun fair in the car park, and of course, that typical traditional harbinger of Christmas, the Hot Chestnut stand.

Two of our friends, the Rotary Clubs of Basildon, and the Rotary Club of Billericay Town, also had stands selling “Grab a Bag” and “Count the Golf Balls”, and “Mulled wine” and refreshments  respectively.

Unlike last year, the weather seemed to be on our side, and was generally dry apart from a couple of light showers, and it wasn’t that cold.  But we should not have tempted fate!  After the parade there were a few more showers before the rain really set in for the most of the day.  Our early shift was bearable, and all stallholders were well behaved and flexible so we had no trouble either with the stalls, or with the crowds.

Roger Kettle was on early duty and glad of it.  As he said “Although my shift started very early at 6.30am, it worked out very well as the rain only started as I left the market.  Otherwise it is always surprising how the best laid plans can have spanner thrown in the works by an unseen factor. Ours was someone leaving his car overnight and therefore all through the day on the sector we were stewarding. This meant the stalls in that area, now taken by the car, had to be moved and the well thought through layout plans adjusted. Mayflower’s organisation is so good the layout was immediately amended and with cooperation of the stall holders and stewards quickly implemented.”

Come 10 o’clock and attendees started arriving, a small spattering at first, but very soon a stream from both north and south ends of the high street.  Stephen King remarked “it was only 10.30 as I walked past the station car park yet it was almost full, and there were many families walking towards the High Street despite the official Market opening not being until 11.00.  The Scottish Pipe Band were playing outside Menad Restaurant and creating a jolly atmosphere.”  

Despite the rain, the crowds did come in droves as can be seen in the photos.
Once Roger and Peter’s tour of duty was over, they were delighted to get out of the rain and head home, leaving support in the capable hands of President-Elect Stephen and Brian, who were on duty over lunch.  Brian reports “I left in plenty of time for my “shift” but the traffic into Billericay was at a standstill from just after the turn-off for Little Burstead.  Eventually I passed Sun Corner and found a very limited space near the Fire Station, but I was still over 15 minutes late!  Next year - maybe I should book an overnight stay!”

Stephen made his way to his position by the War Memorial ready for the Christmas Parade “There was great excitement from the dense crowd as Father Christmas came by on his sleigh. We had to get people and prams behind the barriers for their own safety,” he said.  “The smoke from the steam engine mixed with the smell of the hog roast made a lovely Christmas aroma, and the church was packed with people. They did a great job in providing tea and biscuits, accompanied by carols from the church choir.

Les Sheppard had the afternoon shift from 1 pm until 5 pm, and he reports that “For my first two hours my rain-hood was up and down every ten minutes or so as rain showers came and went, although there was nothing very heavy.  The weather improved as the afternoon progressed, and the rain stopped.  We even had a bit of blue sky at around 4:00.  The intermittent light showers in the afternoon were preferable to the biting cold we had a couple of years back!”

“The rain didn’t seem to deter visitors and there was a steady stream of people up and down until it started thinning out at about 4:30. Everyone seemed cheerful and not put off by the occasional shower.  The hog-roast had sold out and were clearing up by around 3pm, so they had a successful day.”

A very enjoyable event along the whole High Street, a short but colourful Christmas parade including Santa, led by Town Crier Jim Shrubb, some turkeys, a snowman, stilt men and women, and the pipers!
We leave it to Immediate Past President Roger Kettle to sum it all up “A well planned, organised, implemented and again very successful Billericay Christmas Market and a compliment to Rotary Club of Billericay Mayflower”