We jingled, we didn’t mingle and we all had the most wonderful time!
Nancy May's solos were an undoubted highlight of the event
David Knight, CPRE Essex chairman, joined some 500 others for the hugely successful Essex Farmers’ Drive-in Carol Service in Chelmsford
Advertised as Jingling without the Mingling and held at Chelmsford City Racecourse on a chilly, grey and wet December afternoon, the brilliantly-organised Essex Farmers’ Drive-in Carol Service was an absolute pleasure.
Led by Rev Canon Janet Nicholls, the event was just what the good people of Essex needed at the end of this very challenging year.
From the moment we were ushered to our socially-distanced parking spaces to the final rendition of Jingle Bells, we experienced the perfect balance of music and thought.
The solos sung by Nancy May, clearly an up-and-coming star of the future, enhanced things, while there was also the address by Rt Rev Roger Morris, Bishop of Colchester. And we can’t forget the musical medleys sung by the teachers of New Hall School.
However, what made it such a delightful event was the 500 or so people making their appreciation know by tooting their car horns!
But the event had a much more serious side as it helped fund organisations such as the Farming Community Network, which does great work in these stressful Covid and Brexit times.
In addition, of course, it was a safe way for all us to jingle if unable to mingle with each other!
Essex Young Farmers were out in force and their Christmas-decorated tractors were great to see.
