No picnic – extreme sport for teddy bears

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/24/village-festivals-somerset-hoedown

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It has been the time for seasonal festivals. Of our three local villages, Templecombe (inspired by its history of Knights Templar) has had its medieval pageant; Horsington its traditional fete and an open garden day at a fine 17th-century house, the Grange; and Henstridge has had its “Jostle”. Baffled by the name, I made enquiries and was referred to a dictionary: “Jostle (noun) An experience at which jostling (a crowding or bumping together) occurs”.

There have been Henstridge jostles on a royal theme, with the landlord of the Bird in Hand as a monarch knighting village worthies, but a clue to the character of this year’s jostle was a figure, seen for a while before the event, slightly less than life-size, leaning casually against a wall as you entered the village. He had grey whiskers, a black Stetson hat and a guitar, and looked like an extra from the hoedown scene in Oklahoma!, as did other figures dotted round the village.

On the day itself, we went to the main site, a narrow, sloping triangle of grass just below the church. A stage had been erected with a fine backdrop painted by a local man and, after the dance-troupe had done its stuff to enthusiastic applause from the folk drinking cider or eating burgers on the hay-bales, a melodrama featuring six-guns, bar-room disputes and a blonde, enacted to the narrative of a doleful western ballad, held the stage. There was a good deal of amicable jostling among the swelling crowd, and in the eager queue at the cottage temporarily re-invented as Rosa’s Cantina, and offering strawberries and astrological readings.

We had to miss the evening’s singing, dancing and a favourite event, the Teddy Bear Drop, but I have a detailed eyewitness account. Forty children registered their bears for either parachute or bungee jump from the church tower. For the bungee jumpers, lead weights were applied as necessary to achieve the correct weight (500g maximum). Only a few intrepid bears opted for free fall, but all were safely gathered in by children holding a sheet below.