Arkley Fayre - May 2026
This year’s Arkley May Fayre was blessed with glorious sunshine – perhaps a little too much, as the exceptionally hot weather meant that, regrettably, our popular Dog Show could not take place. Nevertheless, more than 1,200 people chose to spend their Spring Bank Holiday with us in Brickfield Lane, making the day another tremendous success. We were especially delighted to welcome so many local residents from the Arkley community.
As in previous years, stalls were spread across both the field and the Village Hall, offering something for everyone, young and old alike. Visitors enjoyed a wonderful selection of crafts, gifts, games and activities, alongside our bustling outdoor food court serving delicious dishes from around the world. Our own Pimm’s Bar proved incredibly popular and quite literally sold out! Meanwhile, our wonderful kitchen team kept everyone well supplied with homemade cakes, teas and coffees. A special thank you goes to Judith, who once again did us proud.
Our sincere thanks also go to all our returning and first-time stallholders, whose fantastic range of products and services included handmade knitted flowers, local honey, jewellery, clothing, glitter tattoos, free puppuccinos from the Barking Barista, wine gifts, veterinary advice from Wood Street (our local Vets) and much more. No Village Fayre would be complete without fairground attractions, and this year visitors enjoyed the Mickey Mouse strength game, a giant bouncy castle, gladiator challenges and inflatable slides.
Our raffle was, as always, extremely popular, with prizes generously donated by local businesses and residents. Winners enjoyed a variety of fantastic prizes, including dinner vouchers, delicious smoked salmon and the ever popular fish kettle, which found a delighted new owner. We are immensely grateful to everyone who donated prizes and supported the raffle.
Although the Dog Show had to be cancelled due to the intense hot weather, we were delighted that the talented children from the Susie Earnshaw Theatre School stepped in at short notice to entertain the crowds with a wonderful performance. We are incredibly grateful for their support. The London Fire Brigade also joined us once again, giving children the opportunity to climb aboard a fire engine, meet the firefighters and hear the various sirens – always one of the day’s most popular attractions.
The Vicar of St Peter’s Arkley, the Reverend Cindy Kent, spent much of the afternoon as our enthusiastic compère. Speaking about the importance of the event, she said:
“The Village Fayre is a wonderful occasion that brings the Arkley community together. It is a lovely event held on the field at the Village Hall and plays an important role in supporting our local community.”
The Fayre raised a significant sum, which will be shared between several community projects, including the maintenance of the Village Hall and playing field, support for St Peter’s Church, and the ongoing upkeep of the Hearts of Arkley defibrillator, which is available 24 hours a day for the local community. We understand it has already been used to save lives and remains registered on the British Heart Foundation database, making it accessible to GPs, emergency services and members of the public in an emergency.
Finally, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to every volunteer, stallholder, performer, donor and visitor who helped make this year’s Arkley May Fayre such a memorable success. Your continued support is what makes this wonderful community event possible, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back again next year!
Arkley Village Fayre & Dog Show 2025
Well, we did it again. Our ever-popular Arkley Village Fayre and Dog Show attracted over 1,700 people this year. And the weather behaved!! We had more stalls than ever both outside in the field and inside the hall. There was really something for everyone, both young and old. Great things to purchase, play on, and eat of course at our food court area outside with delicious food to savour from around the world & our own Pimms hub which was literally drunk dry!! Or if you fancied home made cakes and sausage rolls, teas and coffees, made by our fantastic kitchen team – with a special mention again to Judith, who made all the sausage rolls and cakes (what an achievement and they were delicious).
Thanks again to all our regular and new stallholders - everything from hand made knitted flowers, honey, candy floss, jewellery, clothing galore, glitzy tattoos, free puppaccinos from the Barking Barista, wine gifts, dog training and so much more. And no fayre would be complete without fun fair attractions - and we had our Mickey Mouse strength game for kids, a huge bouncy castle, gladiator games and inflatable slides!
We had entertainment by children from the Susie Earnshaw Theatre School, and our very own Katie Hanbaich who sang beautifully. Plus we had an informative demonstration and talk from the Medical Detection Dogs MDD.
Vicar of St Peter’s Arkley, the Reverend Cindy Kent, spent much of the afternoon behind a microphone as a show compere. She stressed the important contribution made by the annual Village Fayre. “It is a lovely event on the field at the village hall and really does bring the community of Arkley together.” The Fayre raised a significant sum which will be split among community projects such as the cost of maintaining the Village Hall and field, providing an accessible entrance to the garden of rest at St Peter’s Church; and cost of maintaining the defibrillator installed by the Hearts of Arkley locally for the nearby community - and we understand, has already been put to good use!
And of course, our biggest attraction, the Dog Show, open to all-comers, run by Rachel Burke of dog groomers Beauty Barks of Borehamwood. We had even more entrants than last year for all categories – and the class for golden oldies among local canines proved especially popular.
SPECIAL THANKS…
To SoundDivision for all their help. And of course, Steve Gray and his team from the Hadley Rangers FC and Village Hall. Thanks to all the helpers, volunteers and members of the committee.
IN MEMORIUM
We are sad to report the loss of one of our committee members, the wonderful Maureen Stevens, who passed recently. Maureen did so much for so many, and will always be part of everything we do. Rest in peace Maureen.
Christmas Bazaar
ARKLEY’s Christmas Bazaar at the Village Hall on 23 November 2024, was a great success, with overall attendance (including Dan Tomlinson MP, his wife Rachel and their eight month old son) close to 1,000. This was in spite of poor weather which caused some of the outside activities to be abandoned midway.
Santa was extremely busy (of course) seeing nearly a 100 children, who were queuing with great excitement to visit him in his grotto! Visitors were not disappointed with the great array of stalls with gifts to buy ranging from local honey, homemade candles, crafted cushions, chocolates, jewellery to name but a few. And of course, our now famous bakes and treats, with warming Gludvine at the Winter Café! A good time was had by all…
We raised money for our various community projects and sponsored a joint project with the local Morrisons in Borehamwood at their Christmas event to help raise money for ‘Kids in Crisis’.
Fayre Well!
The day came upon us after much preparation and trepidation, and worrying ‘what if it rained….. heavily? No one turns up, the field is muddy’? Will we have enough cake?
Well, we needn’t have worried. All our prayers were answered. After a little obligatory sprinkle of English rain, during the set-up, the weather set fair and the day was AMAZING!
Volunteers turned up in the early hours of a murky, grey Saturday morning and like clockwork, the vendors followed their instructions and set-up their stalls and got ready for the crowds. The dog ring and podium awaited the contestants.
The sound booth blasted out music tracks to suit all genres and the microphones tested. The Village Hall got ready to serve their first cuppa and homemade cakes – and the stalls inside were selling to each other and trying on clothes!
Our wonderful Hayley Lehmann, was in charge of traffic control at the front of Brickfield, co-ordinating the cars with Steve and Ollie at the Hadley FC to ensure everybody got parked. Our first members of the public arrived, ready for the day before 12.00pm. We had a steady stream of public from far and wide until it closed at 5.00pm.
We were told by the number of cars and footfall, we had approximately 1,200 people attend!
THE DOG SHOW
Here are some more pictures from the show taken by the fabulous Rachel of Wynn Photography.
The Dog Show hosted by Rachel of Beauty Barks of Borehamwood was a great attraction + 23 stall holders outside in the field – a mix of dog related stalls, jewellery, accessories, The National Foster Agency, hand crafted gifts, swimming lessons, wood turners, The Wildlife Trust, UW, homemade honey, tombola and charity related stalls. And of course, the most amazing Raffle with prizes donated by our fabulous locals.
On the top slope we had our food court with an amazing ice cream vendor, specialist burgers and fries, Chit Chaat Asian food, Deli Bagels and Salt Beef, West Indian barbi, Donna’s Cakes, not to mention a popular Pimms table for people to enjoy into the early afternoon.
To give the doggies a rest, we had 2 mini concerts from a wonderful singer, Katie Hanbaich, who was truly sensational. She offers singing camps/workshops for kids and lessons – and donated to the raffle. Very popular with the audience. As was the 9-piece, Ukulele band, fronted by Ralf Samel of the U3A who entertained the crowd with some golden oldies.
Other entertainment included 2 bouncy castles and a gladiator ring and hit the hammer game for children. Plus, an appearance of a Fire Engine and the Paw Patrol characters and our own Theresa Villiers MP came to say hello.
Special Thanks…
To SoundDivision for all their help and donating the sound equipment and microphones. And of course Steve Gray and his team from the Hadley Rangers FC and Village Hall.
Thanks to all the helpers, volunteers and members of the committee – especially Judith Heineman who made all the cakes that nearly sold out in the Village Hall and was a great contribution to the total.
Tying it all together was the unforgettable Rev Cindy! She opened the Fayre, made all the announcements and got everyone to buy the Raffle tickets. I even got to do an ABBA tribute! What an amazing lady. A real crowd pleaser. Thank you.
We’re still totalling the money we made for our charitable causes and hope to make a significant amount which, on top of a great community spirit and event, made it all worthwhile. Suffice to say, despite the sore feet, we would love to do it again (one day) see you at the next one!
