“And what do you do?”
Friends of Adel Woods were graced with a visit from Her Majesty who managed to find a window in her busy schedule to make an appearance at the Alwoodley Fun Day in her honour. Here she can be seen exchanging pleasantries about woodland ecology with committee members Judith and Phil.
Yesterday, as we endured a full day of heavy rain, the outlook for today did not look very optimistic. Yet a sundance performed by Barbara after extensive research on google, seems to have come up trumps because overall we enjoyed a beautiful summer day.
The day started at about 10.30 am with setting up our stall. The siting of our marquee, within inches of two inflatable fun activities, and with a generator positioned about fifteen feet behind us, did not look too promising. Yet once the sides of the marquee had been fixed in place (with typical FOAW resourcefulness and ingenuity because they had very little in the way of fasteners), Judith and Stephanie wowed the public with the imagination and sheer daring of their creations. Judith with her aquaria containing leafmold and fungi on the theme of “decay” – surely more illuminating and thought provoking than Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde – and Stephanie with her “Tree with cut out Woodland Birds” – as joyful and optimistic a riposte to Tracy Emin’s bed as one can find in the contemporary art scene. And all this accompanied by down to earth yet well-judged and interesting displays providing information about Adel Woods, their fauna and flora.
“Roll up! Roll up!”
Not to be outdone, your correspondent provided a game of Litterpicking Heroes which proved extremely popular with the local populace and raised a princely sum for the FOAW.
A number of Friends took the time to help on the FOAW stand and to litterpick around the recreation ground and their wonderful assistance was very much enjoyed and appreciated.
Looking beyond the FOAW stand, there were a wide range of interesting stalls and activities – of particular note, Alwoodley in Bloom, Walkabout (the walking group), the Alwoodley Community Association and the Parish Council.
The icing on the cake for FOAW was the arrival of Her Majesty in the afternoon to take part on this her Diamond Jubilee in entertaining and educating the local public on the wonders that are Adel Woods. Unfortunately, Prince Philip could not make it this afternoon but no doubt Her Majesty will tell him of a truly magical trip to Alwoodley. Long may she reign!
Two members of the committee hard at work!
Friends of Adel Woods 