Hethe was closed to all traffic except ponies and traps while the Edwardian Spring Fair was held. The fair was a revival of the old village day held in the village until the late 1920s.
The day began with a procession through the village and the crowning of the May Queen (13 year-old Jane Gough) and continued with maypole and country dancing, children’s sports, a cross-country run, wellie throwing and a tug-of-war across the brook. In the evening there was a barbecue at the Whitmore Arms (later known as the Muddy Duck) and disco in the village hall across the road.
The streets were lined with craft stalls, games, sideshows and swing boats on the Village Green. Exhibitions of photographs, lace and artwork were held in the village hall.
It was a very warm day for villagers to be dressed as Edwardians with their plumed hats and long elegant dresses with stiff, high-necked collars! Jane Mansfield commented:
We chose the Edwardian period because the older people in the village remember Hethe as it was in those days and still have the costumes.
They have been able to tell us a great deal about the old days and have loaned photographs for an exhibition
There were also “toffs” in top hat and tails and various country folk from milk maids to barmen wearing belts, braces, bowler hats and gaudy waistcoats.
Flags and bunting decorated many cottages.
Ian Robinson commented:
We have had fetes before, but they have always been run-of-the-mill things and this year we wanted to do something different which people could dress up for.
The village centre is almost the same as it was shortly after the turn of the century. The only thing which has altered is the roofs. Now we have less thatching
The festival made £1,475 profit. This were put towards renovating the village hall, which was then in Hethe House, and the building fund for a new hall.
