Despite COVID restrictions preventing groups from getting together to make scarecrows this year, there were still an amazing 31 in the Trail – and a pretty impressive crew they were.
Chorleywood responded to Chorleywood Magazine Scarecrow Trail 2020 theme with a variety of straw subjects from key workers to Boris and Captain Tom Moore as well as lockdown inspired characters and scenarios. We had scientists, volunteers. and a selection of things that made you happy whilst staying at home like dog meeting/walking, cooking, holidaying at home, reading and gardening, including a showstopping floral creation. Others highlighted what you missed notably Saturday football at Vicarage Road or represented the horrors of lockdown, summed up brilliantly by the Parish Council trio The Good, The Bad and the Ugly . There were a few reminding us that not all 2020 has been about the pandemic, two entries saluted Space X and Hillside Pre-School chose to honour Arderne Gillies, Minister of Chorleywood Free Church.
PHOTOGRAPHS © PETER FLEMING
The Trail was supported by Sewell and Gardner and John Robert Estate Agents
FIRST PLACE
Overall Winner (and Top school) (No 29)
Heroes in our hearts
Made by Old Macdonalds Nursery (MAIN PIC ABOVE)
A well-deserved winner, striking in its simplicity yet with detail relevant to each hero. This group of key workers sum up the year so well
RUNNER UP SCHOOL
Space X by Chenies School (No 26)
“To celebrate the launch of the first commercial launch to the ISS and inspire the next generation .”
An amazing entry with astronauts in a complete setting .. spaceship Interior with seats, displays and starry backdrop
SECOND PLACE
TIE
Rain and Shine (No 4) by the Addison Family , “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”
“This year has been all about the rainbows for the children. They have been very creative and made various window displays to cheer passers by up, hence the quote.”
This was one of the most colourful, happiest entries,
Joint with Captain Tom Moore (No 5) by the Henderson family
“.We are paying homage to Captain Tom Moore, our Lockdown hero. We found him completely inspirational would like to pay tribute to this wonderful man.”
Clever face sculpting and dressing
A brilliant duo ( or technically trio) in the same road!
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THIRD PLACE
Reading got fun! (No 7)
by Chorleywood Bookshop
“More time to read, more books to discover, more pages to enjoy”
How cute is this bear. and so expertly made – again
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CHORLEYWOOD MAGAZINE AWARDS
Thank goodness for flowers! (No 27)
An unusual but stunning entry by The Red Lion, Chenies who entered the scarecrow competition for the first time this year
“We chose this theme because, at the Red Lion, we take pride in our wonderful window boxes and planters. The Daffodils on the green opposite also give us joy. During this challenging year flowers represent vibrance, optimism, hope and nurture. When times are hard it is good to find your blessings in the simple pleasures.”
Amazing Arderne (No 9)
by Hillside Pre-School
We especially loved her animated face which really captured the vibrant personality of Arderne Gillies, Minister of Chorleywood Free Church who retired this year. Arderne left Chorleywood on 31 July this year to move back to the town where she was brought up.
She says of Chorleywood
“It is a unique and very special community and I feel an enormous wrench at the thought of leaving. I’ve had 18 very happy years here and will leave a lot of my heart behind.”
We loved the thinking behind…
Lockdown Mama ( No 19) by The Hammond Family
“Lockdown Mama pays homage to all the home-nurturers of Chorleywood! When you come to visit her, please enjoy a little explore on “the other side” of the common…take a look at the allotments (we’ve used our home grown vegetables to build Lockdown Mama)…go up into Lark’s Meadow and try to spot the cows (we used hay from the meadow to stuff Lockdown Mama)…enter the woods and see if you can find the newest Wildwood Den (we used some leftover wood for Lockdown Mama’s skeleton)…and finish with some refreshment at our lovely local hostelry! ”
And
Camilla’s Quarantine Coiff (No 3)
by the Langford family
So 2020 and the poem says it all
2020, the year the salons were all shut
Waiting for a haircut,
the salons are all shut,
feeling in a rut,
I want to hide in a hut,
tempted to DIY, but…
The days, the weeks, the months go by,
the salons are still all shut,
starting to resemble Cousin Itt!
The salons are all shut!
Then one day Mr. Bo Jo declares,
the country’s people are allowed to be dehaired!
(Poem by Harry & Alice Langford)
SPECIAL MENTIONS TO…
The Home Baker (No 23)
A special ‘well done’ should go to the scarecrow entered by our charity this year Mission EmployAble, The Home Baker (No 23) so enthusiastically created by Gregory and friends paid tribute to all those who re-discovered the pleasures of home-cooking during lockdown. Such an adorable and stylish home chef!
The trail this year raised £800 forMission EmployAble, a new charity raising money to create a café inside Chorleywood Cricket Club’s new pavilion staffed by young adults with a learning disability Chorleywoof! (No 31)
“The Home Baker’ pays tribute to all those who re-discovered the pleasures of home-cooking during lockdown”
I didn’t have potatoes
so I substituted rice
I didn’t have paprika
so I substituted another spice
I didnt have tomato sauce
so I used tomato paste
A whole can not a half scan
I dont believe in waste
A friend gave me this recipe
She said you couldn’t beat it
There must be something wrong with her
I couldnt even eat it!
and Chorleywoof ! ( No 31)
by The Juniper family,
“We built a dog to remind us of the long walks around Chorleywood during Lockdown. We must have met every dog in Chorleywood!
Chorleywoof was so well made and such fun and it was great to have a canine scarecrow
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OTHER HIGH SCORERS
Chorleywood Bottom Lockdown fun (No 14)
Catherine and William Nice
‘We put on Chorleywood Bottom fun throughout lockdown and also for VE weekend. We turned our road into a playground of the Easter weekend.
Our scarecrow is a reminder of that.”
Bumbling Boris, (No 8) Papadopoulos family
“Bumbling Boris’s daily briefings – a staple of lockdown life.”
Back to the Pre Covid Future, (No 12 )
Fiona Richards and Viv Lantree
Captain `Tom Moore (No 10)
Sewell and Gardner
“The reason for our choice of Captain Tom Moore is because he has in total raised just over 32 million for the NHS charities, he accomplished this by walking laps of his garden during the pandemic at the age of 99 years old. We feel he is an inspiration to us all.
Space X (No 1)
Shurville Family
“The Space X mission that took place during lockdown caused much excitement in our home. It gave us a chance to forget about what was happening and was truly inspiring. We watched the launch with our hearts in our mouths! ”
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AND SO MANY OTHER BRILLIANT SCARECROWS…
We love the NHS (No 2)
Russell School
Boris Johnson (No 6)
Wonderlab
Thank You NHS (No 11)
John Roberts Estate Agents
“Thank you NHS and Key Workers”.
Professor Scarecrow (No 13)
Hearn Family
Junior Bake Off (No 15)
Simons Family
” We made Junior Bake Off – because we enjoyed watching the show in lockdown and getting ideas to try, like a marble cake.”
CCSG Volunteers (No 16)
St Andrew’s Church
“To celebrate over 250 local street volunteers that came forward to form CCSG and help the most vulnerable and isolated in our community during 2020 lockdown.”
Captain Tom ( No 17)
Pearson and McCall families
“We chose Captain Tom because of the inspiration he was to the nation at a time when we were all at a low during lockdown. Our kids sent him birthday cards for his 100th and they have created some new designs for his scarecrow.”
Troy Deeney (No 18)
Darren Dodd and family
“The reason for this is like many people this year we have had to miss many things, and there is nothing better than going to Vicarage Road on a Saturday afternoon to cheer on the Mighty Golden Boys. Without us this year is one of the main reasons that unfortunately led to our relegation and possibly with it the loss of our talisman the Great Troy Deeney. Hopefully he will stick with us but we would like to honour the man that has given our household so many good memories over the last 10 years.”
Lockdown Family (No 20)
(including Hamish who was socially distancing from his lockdown friends)
Mander family
The Scientist (No 21)
Christ Church School
.”Thank you to all the hardworking scientists, researchers and volunteers working incredibly hard to find a vaccine and help control & slow the spread of COVID-19″.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Chorleywood Parish Council:
The Good (No 22)
The Bad (No 24)
The Ugly (No 28)
The Children of Little Cakes Montessori (No 25)
2020 Where do we start?
We missed our friends, our school, our parks.
We were told to wash our hands and toys
We heard the news there was so much noise.
Noise of coughing and sneezes and colds
We were told to be careful and be strong, be bold.
Luckily the sun came out,
We played, we laughed and through Zoom we shout!
We got to see our teachers and friends, through a screen, a strange sort of lens.
We danced, we sang and cooked together,
We did nature hunts to find a flower and feather.
Some of us learnt to cycle and run, some of us just enjoyed the sun.
We now wash our hands many times a day and hope to be able to stay and play.
We love our school, our teachers and friends,
We look forward to playing and making our dens!
Our summer 2020 Staycation ( No 30)
Rousseau Family
“We would love to have been by the sea,
but this year it wasn’t to be.
So out came the paddling pool, an old plastic slide
and we had so much fun Cam and me.”
Massive thanks again to our scarecrow photographer Peter Fleming
And to Laurie McCall for the Google Map link!