The Queen’s representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Mrs Julie Spence, opened Whittlefest with a warm speech, reminding us of the eight village pubs of former times, and the royal connections of the village, not the least being that the Lawn, which was a gift from the George V memorial fund.

Two pupils from William Westley School, Rufus and Rose, presented the Lord Lieutenant with a posy and then she enjoyed a concert from the School choir, led by Sally Thomas. Andrew Westcott, the school’s new Headteacher, thanked the choir and introduced himself the village.

David Toop escorted the Lord Lieutenant around the Lawn, visiting stalls, to a lunch in the URC, hosted by Revs Olivia Coles and Phil Nevard. There she met members of three local Ukrainian families and their hosts, along with a few of the many villagers who make Whittlesford such a special place.

At one point, I counted over 800 people on the Lawn. All the food vans and drinks stalls ran out of products well before the end of the day!

Twenty local clubs, societies and charities held stalls around the Lawn boosting their organisation’s funds.

Eight musical bands or orchestras performed throughout the day, for free, invited and organised by Martyn Postle. The Sawston Village College Samba band; Martyn’s PinkyOnTheGString; the Duxford workshop’s Jazz Band; Caryllion; Suzanne Harper; Camus;  the Four Villages Orchestra; Storm Petrel; The Nod; and the Silverbacks.