It’s been a hectic few weeks for all the Committee members, making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before the big day tomorrow. There are still a few things that need to be finalised but all the important details are done. Phew!!
By Wednesday we had pretty much everything planned for Saturday to ensure we were all set up for the big day, this meant getting everything done at our respective smallholdings and getting on site by 11 am to work through the afternoon.
Unfortunately we had a last minute email on Thursday from Surrey County Agricultural Society letting us know that Loseley had just asked them to make sure all stall holders vacated the site by 1pm on Saturday as there was a wedding being held at the venue! I really felt for the SCAS team, talk about a last minute bolt out of the blue!
Okay, so whilst this was inconvenient it wasn’t unsurmountable as we had time on Friday to do some of the prep – that wasn’t to be either. Arriving on site at 12 noon on Friday we were told the same thing; there was a wedding being held in the afternoon and we needed to be off site by 1pm – deep joy!!
After making a start on Friday we arrived bright and early on Saturday to finish everything off only to be told that whilst we thought we had our pitch next to Merrist Wood College we were actually sharing one with them! Another rethink about what animals we were bringing and a bit of a shuffle around as to what would fit in where, we successfully managed to get chain-sawing; horse shoe painting; Merrist Woods animals and ours all into a much smaller space! We finished off the morning by buying some gorgeous handmade bunting from another stall holder to finish off the proceedings. Who says Smallholders aren’t resourceful!!
With everything set up for tomorrow we left the site at around 1.30pm with security guards patrolling! The only thing left to do is get the animals there in the morning.
I think it’s fair to say that we all felt at times that we were swimming against the tide, but I guess that’s the same for every new venture. That said, we’re all really pleased with the way everything has come together and we’re all really looking forward to meeting many of you tomorrow.
Surrey Smallholders Association 