The new Speen Marquee

The first Speen Marquee was bought in 2000 to provide a facility that could accommodate larger events than possible in the Village Hall. A 60ft x 40 ft, second hand marquee was purchased at a total cost of £6000 following fund raising by Stuart Newman.

The New Marquee

The Marquee is mainly used for local village events (Fetes, Funday, Festival, etc). It is also available for hire by villagers of Speen, Hampden and North Dean. The hire income covers repairs and insurance costs, with any surplus being put into a reserve for the Marquee’s eventual replacement.

The marquee is managed through a small management group and a team of trained (well, enthusiastic!) volunteer erectors Each hiring requires a team of 8-12 drawn from a pool of about 100 volunteers who were each persuaded in a weak moment to give over their email address.

After 9 years experience the erections now usually go very smoothly. They also provide much amusement (both for team members and spectators!) and a good opportunity to meet other villagers.

The first marquee reached the end of its usable life at the end of the 2008 season. So it has been replaced with a new one of the same size and type, made by Weatherills at Thetford, Suffolk. The Grand Opening took place in June 2009 when Andy Gower led a mass blessing by villagers.

Marquee interior

The new marquee cost £10,000 including new matting and groundsheets etc. We sold the old on eBay for £1,650, used £8.700 from our hirings reserve, and raised the remainder from a Grand Draw. Nearly all villagers bought tickets for the Draw – many thanks for your generous support.

James Entwisle, Trevor Dunnington, Jeremy Symondson and Ashley Cooper will again be leading the erection teams this season. New volunteers are very welcome. We have four bookings for village functions and two private bookings in 2010. The dates for the erecting teams are:

For information on the availability and cost of hiring the Marquee contact John Holmes (01494 488420 or jholmes@nildram.co.uk).