Scarecrows 2021 – Eat, Drink & Be Merry


The last 18 months has hit everyone terribly hard and however grateful we are to have gone through it in such a lovely place and in such a supportive community – nevertheless, it has taken a great toll on us all.

It was ‘Gin O’Clock’ – time to get back in touch with each other.

Sadly, Scarecrow weekend was cancelled last year with a single masked donkey marking the occasion. By August 2021 the uncertainty remained to such a degree that it simply didn’t feel safe to advertise as normal; it wasn’t fair to encourage our hundreds of visitors to join us in the usual way – you were very much missed but your patience was also very much appreciated.

Instead the village celebrated our community with a low-key, village-only event – no advertising, no fundraising – just an opportunity to get back in touch with each other after a tough time and before we succumb to the unknown of this coming winter …


It was Gin O’Clock and all was quiet in the village,

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

(The apostrophe was firmly in the right place) and all was well;

The Soup Dragon joined the Clangers,

Paddington changed into his marmalade making gear.

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The Caterpillar was very hungry,

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

The dogs were hot and sausage-like,

Winnie-the-Pooh & Piglet filled their rumbling tumblies,

And the banana did the splits.

Postman Pat returned (again!)

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

And the Dairy Milk man delivered.

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But …

The gingerbread men ran away,

Robin Hood’s men were very merry

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

And Spiderman (amongst others) got sloshed.

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In the September sunshine,

Hickling Ate, Drank, said ‘Hello’ to each other,

Had ‘one for the road’

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

and was Merry for a while.

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We’ll be back next year – FULL ON!

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As it turned out, word did get out and we did have cars parked solidly through the whole village – it was lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves but having to plan car parking hadn’t been anticipated.

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

Talking over the weekend, we heard that some people have been dropping in each weekend in September just in case the scarecrows appeared and now we can see that over 700 people have found their way to our local history scarecrows page in the last 30 days – looking for news or reminding themselves of years gone by.

(12th September 2020)

Anyway, to quote a ‘very involved’ committee member at the end of Sunday – the committee is already planning for September 2022 when Hickling will be going for ‘FULL ON SCARECROWS’!

Bring it on!!


Galleries

Please contact us with your photos and/or anecdotes to add to these galleries – thank you!

Scarecrows 2021 (JF)
Scarecrows 2021 (JF)

The Scarecrow Hop & The Plough Inn:

The Scarecrows – Eat, Drink & Be Merry: