‘Wayfarers’: A Children’s Pageant of Local History
Pageant type
Notes
Performed by children of Bassingbourn County School
Performances
Place: The Bowling Alley (Bassingbourn) (Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England)
Year: 1953
Indoors/outdoors: Indoors
Number of performances: 4
Notes
23 July 1953, at 3pm and 7pm
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Pageant Master: Harcourt, A.J.
Names of executive committee or equivalent
n/a
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
142Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
Coronation of Elizabeth II
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
n/a
Pageant outline
Prologue. The Roadmender
Episode 1. Ancient Britons cross the scene, 1200 BC
Episode 2. Roman Lady Returns to her villa, 200 AD
Episode 3. Basa and his family found Bassingbourn, 600
Episode 4. King Harold passes along Ermine Street, 1066
Interlude: Summer is icumen in
Episode 5. Peasants revolt at Morden, 1381
Episode 6. Pilgrim, soldier, monk, messenger and pedlar, 1450
Episode 7. Morality play at Bassingbourn, 1511
Episode 8. Visitors at Bassingbourn Fair, 1580
Interlude: A Psalm
Episode 9. Sir William Dowsing at the Church, 1643
Interlude: The Countryman’s Song
Episode 10. Footpads attack a coach, 1750
Episode 11. Rustic family and a train, 1851
Episode 12. Gentleman teaches lady to cycle, 1895
Episode 13. The Ford Car, 1912
Episode 14. Hitch Hikers, 1953
Interlude: An Airman’s Ecstasy
Tableau of School Children
Epilogue, The Roadmender
God Save the Queen
Key historical figures mentioned
- Harold I [called Harold Harefoot] (d.
1040) king of England
- Dowsing, William (bap. 1596, d. 1668)
iconoclast
Musical production
Music performed by Bassingbourn Choral Society and Instrumentalists
Newspaper coverage of pageant
n/a
Book of words
- None noted
Other primary published materials
- ‘Wayfarers’: A Children’s Pageant of Local History. Foxton, 1953. [Price 1s.]
References in secondary literature
n/a
Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Copy of Programme in Cambridgeshire Local Studies Collection, Cambridge, Reference c.44.3
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
Children’s pageants were held throughout the twentieth century. They were often organized by a local school or schools, as in this example(see also the nearby Elsworth School Pageant (1975)). It is unclear whether or not this pageant was associated with the coronation of 1953, but it seems likely. The focus of the narrative was on the local history of Bassingbourn from the time of the ancient Britons to the present day. One interesting feature was the attention given to modern developments, and indeed modern technology—in particular in relation to modes of transport. Trains, planes and automobiles all feature, as does the very modern pastime of hitch-hiking, which is the focus of the final episode.
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘‘Wayfarers’: A Children’s Pageant of Local History’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1482/