Thanks to King Charles III, this year we’re getting no less than THREE Bank Holiday Mondays during May.
For most villagers, the most significant of these is this coming weekend, 6th to 8th May 2023, when Ruddington will once again be pulling out all the stops to celebrate the Coronation of our new monarch. Village centre businesses such as The Honeycomb Christian Charity Shop (pictured top) are already decorated and stocked up for the occasion!
Before that, this Friday (May 5th) children attending St Peter’s Junior School will will be having a special Coronation assembly led by Dame Elizabeth Fradd – who is Vice Lord-Lieutenant and The King’s representative in Nottinghamshire. Weather permitting, this will be followed by a whole school picnic on the field at lunch time. Across Ruddington, road closures have been granted for neighbourhoods to hold their own street parties through the long weekend – but there are plenty of other events organised in our village centre, too.
Back in January, Buckingham Palace announced details about the ceremonial, celebratory and community events that will take place over the three days – and some of those arranged in Ruddington, and listed for reference below, are based upon these suggestions, as well as shaped by the schedule of Coronation Day itself.
Saturday 6th May:
His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort will be crowned at Westminster Abbey at 11am – with televised processions before and after. Whilst Ruddington Village Market will take place from 9am to 2pm as usual, organisers from Ruddington Village Community Partnership are also providing a ‘Coronation Screen on the Green’. It comes complete with deck chairs and beer benches, and market visitors are invited to sit down with a drink and some street food to take in the historic procession and ceremony as it gets live-streamed on the 5 metre outdoor screen.
Once the coverage of the main event is over, at around 3pm the giant screen will be continuing the Royal theme of the day by showing the 1994 Disney animated classic ‘The Lion King’ – with the Market Bar and Street Food stalls remaining open into the late afternoon. Attending either of these big screen events is FREE.
Sunday 7th May:
St Peter’s Church will hold its morning service on The Green, followed by the big ‘Ruddington Coronation Picnic’ from 12pm onwards. Everyone is invited to bring their own food and refreshments – although there will be ice cream available to buy onsite. Nottingham Concert Band and other musicians will be entertaining those gathered, while Barbara Breakwell and the Ruddington Scouts will have games organised for children during the afternoon.
If the British weather won’t permit these events to be held on The Green, alternative plans have been made to accommodate the day inside St Peter’s Church instead.
Monday 8th May:
It’s ‘The Big Help Out’ and, with that in mind, Ruddington Parish Council and Ruddington Scouts have organised a village-wide community litter picking day. If you’d like to take part, please contact the Council as soon as possible by emailing office@ruddingtonparishcouncil.gov.uk or calling 0115-914-6660 with your details.
Gavin Walker from The Village Museum will be offering further walking tours on Bank Holiday Monday for all those who’d like to discover more about the history of Ruddington. You can just turn up outside St Peter’s Rooms at either 11am or 2pm, and his ‘Guided Historical Walks’ are FREE. They will be quite leisurely, around one mile long, and take 1.5 to 2 hours to complete.
Also on the Bank Holiday Monday, at 3.15pm, there’s a FREE Puppet Show called ‘A Village Coronation – The Lost Shoe’ starring ‘The Royal Family and their animal friends’ in St Peter’s Church.
Liz Mack, from St Peter’s Leadership Team, says: “One of our team has written an original script for the puppet show. It features all the main family members of the royal family plus an assortment of animal puppets, with a special appearance by Megan and Harry. There also be will be sweets for the kids and free refreshments after.”
For classical music lovers, an event marking the Coronation the following weekend may be of interest, too. On Saturday 13th May at 7.30pm in St Peter’s Church, Ruddington & District Choral Society and the Ruddington Chamber Ensemble presents ‘A Birthday, A Funeral and a Coronation’ with works from Purcell and Handel. Tickets cost £12 on the door. There’s more information >>HERE<<.
Finally, the Ruddington Yarn Ninjas have been very busy again – and you can see more photos of their fabulous ‘Coronation Yarn Bomb’ and find details of their Kids’ Bee Trail >>HERE<<.
If you’ve also organised a Royal event in Ruddington, on or around Coronation weekend, but we’ve not yet listed it above, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting RUDDINGTON.info >>HERE<< or via our social media. Thanks!
