Strand on the Green Jubilee party – Dame Eileen Atkins announces Competition winners

Image above: Dame Eileen Atkins at the Strand on the Green Jubilee celebrations reading out the winners of the competitions; photograph Alan McBride

Dame Eileen Atkins announces the winners

For the Platinum Jubilee on Sunday 5 June the Strand on the Green Association organised a party and ran photography, art, poetry and limerick competitions. The winners were announced and their work read out by one of our greatest actors, Dame Eileen Atkins, who happens to live on Strand on the Green. She told the crowd:

“I’m delighted to be able to announce the winners of the 4 competitions, which were open to everyone in the community, be they poets, photographers and artists, fans of doggerel, happy snappers or enthusiastic daubers.”

Limericks

Adult limerick winner

Winners of the adult limerick competition were Abi and Chris Pitcher with this verse:

A drinker from Strand on the Green
found a pub for a toast to the Queen.
The river then flooded
and everything muddied,
his beer, nowhere to be seen.

To see all the limericks entered go here: Limerick competition (adult)

Under 19 limerick winner

Winner of the under 19 limerick competition was Asia from Strand on the Green Junior School, class 6N. This is her entry:

There once was a good ice-cream man
who had a wonderful van,
then he got a bike
but he wanted to hike,
the Strand on the Green ice cream man.

To see all the limericks entered go here: Limerick competition (under 19)

Image above: Wisteria at Strand on the Green; photograph Jennifer Griffiths

Poetry

The brief was to compose a poem inspired by ‘what Strand on the Green means to you’.

Adult winner

In the adult section, the winner was Diana Martin with her poem Six weeks of Spring:

The doctors called it post viral fatigue.
I must rest, stop work for six weeks.
Baffled by inactivity
I sit on the steps by the river and watch birds.
Two herons busy with sticks,
Sizing them up in their beaks
Dropping them, finding others
Returning to the first,
Always, ignoring each other, making no eye contact.
Behind me the wisteria flares up, then calms.
The tide retreats further; the river shallows and thins
One bridge balletic in the silver light, gleams and fades.
Buses, like red toys, roll across the other,
Which sits solidly, concealing the river’s bend.
I try to still my mind, slow my pulse, make choices.
The tide turns, the sun goes in.
Together, with sticks in beaks, the pair of herons fly off.

Matt Fisher also received a ‘special mention’ for his poem River Thames Tamed. To see all the adult poetry entries go here: Poetry competition (adult).

Image above: Canada goose at Strand on the Green; photograph Anna Kunst

Under 19 winners

In the Under 19 category there were two joint winners: Lilibet Bellamy and Tabitha Miller

Lilibet’s poem

Strand is the place I feel most like me and this is why –

The river runs and rolls and purrs,
It’s as smooth as silk,
It’s where nature sings,
Ducks quack,
Geese hoot as if laughing with joy,
The wind whistles blowing life this way and that,
It’s a busy place Strand,
But there are always quiet spots,
Away from the hustle and bustle,
Spots where a whole new world opens up,
Hidden away from anyone and everyone else.
This is why Strand is part of me.

Tabitha’s poem

Our Strand is something special,
Something we enjoy
Something that brings together every single girl and boy.

Our Strand is something special,
A place to make us laugh,
A place where we are wrapped in a big, blue, watery scarf.

Our Strand is something special,
Where people talk and chatter,
We all love this place, and that’s the thing that matters.

Our Strand is something extraordinary,
A place that I love dear
I wrote this poem primarily to make that point most clear.

To see all the Under 19 poetry entries go here: Poetry competition (Under 19).

Image above: Strand on the Green Jubilee party Photography competition winner Sue Coggins’ photograph of the RNLI stopping off for an ice-cream

Photography

Adult winner

The winner of the photography competition was Sue Coggins with her picture of the RNLI lifeboat crew stopping off to buy an ice-cream.

The entries were judged by Alan McBride and Aubrey Crawley, who said: