Category: Days During 1983

Wiltshire Times And News, Friday 4th November 1983:

They ‘Gnomed’ The Streets For £650

Thirty gnomes, including a gnome baby and a gnome dog, went on a ten-mile sponsored walk round Warminster’s streets on Sunday afternoon and hope to raise nearly £650 for Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally handicapped adults.

At the start in Central Car Park, Gateway Club chairman Mr Charlie Murby judged 18-year-old Miss Helena Addley, of Woodcock Road, Warminster, to be the best-dressed gnome, and presented her with a book called Bestseller Gnomes.

The walk was jointly organised by Mr Danny Howell and Miss Nina Weeks. The walkers were CB enthusiasts and their friends who get together for charity events and call themselves The Lunatic Fringe.

The dog was Miss Weeks’ beagle cross Tara who fitted snuggly into a child’s red cardigan to keep out the cold wind. The baby was Mrs Sandra Vaughan who got accidentally tipped out of her pram en route, was unhurt and completed the course.

A coachload of Chinese tourists who happened to pass the gnomes could hardly believe their eyes, and apparently felt that all they had heard about English eccentricity was true.

Hot drinks and snacks were provided for the gnomes half-way round by Miss Weeks’ mother, Mrs Sisko Weeks, at their Deverill Road, Warminster, home.

As well as being sponsored the gnomes collected money from people they met along the way. During a social that evening in the King Arthur pub in Weymouth Street for the weary gnomes. There was a 34-prize raffle.

Mr Murby said it was a magnificent start to the fund for next year’s Gateway Club summer holiday.

The Lunatic Fringe’s only previous charity effort was on a much smaller scale when they raised £15 with a treasure hunt for the national Marie Curie Cancer fund.

The report in the Wiltshire Times also featured two photographs:

Gnome Man’s Land!
The streets of Warminster were ‘invaded’ by 28 gnomes on a sponsored walk last Sunday. It was organised by the Lunatic Fringe to raise money for the Warminster Gateway Club for the Mentally Handicapped. At the front as a pram-riding gnome is Sandra Vaughan being pushed by Warminster Gateway Club chairman Charlie Murby.

Ugly Gnome!
Bridget O’Neil, of Warminster, dressed up as an ugly old gnome in last Sunday’s sponsored Gnome walk around Warminster.

Thursday 6th October 1983

Warminster’s Lunatic Fringe held a car treasure trail last Sunday afternoon [2nd October 1983]. Thirteen teams took part in this event which was organised by Danny Howell and Jane Bright.

The fifty-five mile trail featured sixty-five clues and was divided into two stages.

Stage One began at Warminster’s Central Car Park and took the contestants through the delightful villages of Bishopstrow, Sutton Veny, Tytherington, Corton, Boyton, Sherrington, Stockton, Wylye, Teffont Magna, Chilmark, Fonthill Bishop, Hindon, and to the half-way point at Willoughby Hedge.

Stage Two continued from Willoughby Hedge, past the East Knoyle windmill to Mere, Alfred’s Tower, South and North Brewham, Maiden Bradley, Horningsham, and back to the finish at Warminster Car Park.

In the evening, everybody met at the Yew Tree, Boreham, Warminster, for the presentation of the prizes and to discuss the day’s fun.

The winning team with a score of 585 points was Kevin Phillips, Louise Kennedy and Gerald O’Connor. They received £10 and the Lunatic Fringe Car Treasure Trail Trophy.

Doreen Williams and Ian Phillips both tied with 580 points, so second place was decided by mileage. Ian’s recorded mileage was 67 miles compared to Doreen’s 65, so Doreen received the second prize of £5.

The booby-prize of a road map and a magnifying glass was awarded to Noel and Brigid O’Neill who failed to complete Stage One of the trail due to their over-enthusiastic stops for tea on route.

The event raised £15 for the Marie Curie Cancer Foundation, a charity nominated by the winning team.