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Entertainment - The "Chelvestonians" 1948 witnessed a lot of activity in the village, from water and gas being installed to houses, electricity poles being installed ready to bring power to the village; and the establishment of a theatre/play group called the "Chelvestonians".
Mrs Ayton-Williams (the vicar’s wife) and my mother got together and decided it was about time the village had something in which the villagers could participate; after a meeting was held to discuss this with the villagers the decision was made to establish a play group with the aim of presenting a pantomime at the end of the year. Everybody was very enthusiastic and we found a lot of hidden talent we didn't know existed.
Mrs Ayton-Williams apparently had some experience in this area and undertook the production of "Sleeping Beauty" with the aim of presenting it in the village hall for Christmas. Dad and Mr A.Farrar designed and made the scenery and on the night of performances were the stage and scenery managers.
The performance was so successful that the "Chelvestonians" became a permanent feature of village life. 1949 saw the presentation of "Jack in the Beanstalk" not only in the hall of Chelveston, but also in the church hall of Stanwick. Attached are two photographs of this pantomime. We had arrived as a competent theatre/play group. To keep up the enthusiasm we started to include short plays during the year before starting rehearsals for the pantomime at the end of the year.
In 1950 the "Chelvestonians" performed "Cinderella", our fame had gone beyond the village because we were invited by the vicar of Irthlingborough to give a performance of "Cinderella" in their church hall. I have attached copies of newspaper articles extolling our talents.
The pantomimes usually had a cast of 30 and the plays a cast of 10, so we were all kept busy during the year.
Programmes, news clips and photographs from plays.
Football During the August school holidays a football team was created and called the Chelveston XI. The RAF were very good in creating a football pitch on the edge of the taxi ways on the aerodrome, I played Outside Left and I have been trying to remember who on earth we played against. I know we played the RAF and I'm almost certain we played against a Higham Ferrers team as well, not sure about Rushden. Our results were always rung through from the phone box in the village, to the local newspaper.
The player’s positions were the old 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 configuration; that is;
Outside Left, Inside Left, Centre Forward, Inside Right & Outside Right; Left Half, Centre Half & Right Half; Left Back & Right Back; and the Goalie. |
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The Chelvestonians 1948-50 & the Chelveston XI |
