A picnic with Punch (From Basingstoke Gazette)

A picnic with Punch

11:00am Friday 30th July 2010 in

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THAT’S the way to do it!

Scores of children enjoyed their first taste of a Punch and Judy show at a new event in a Basingstoke park.

Punch’s Picnic saw five puppeteers from around the country perform shows in Glebe Gardens, near St Michael’s Church.

The event, sponsored by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and The Moose Centre, started with the fitting cutting of a sausage.

The audience of young and young at heart spectators then sat down on the grass to watch shows normally associated with the seaside. The event ended with a procession led by the Drum Runners group.

Ann Aymes, of Churchill Way West, watched a show with Ruby, her four-year-old granddaughter.

She said: “It’s a bit old-fashioned but you have only got to look at the crowds of children – they love it. They have all gone from one show to another just to see it twice.”

The inaugural event was the brainchild of Elisa Berry, who wanted to put on a show for her friend Professor Norman Morris, who has performed Punch and Judy shows in Basingstoke for the past 15 years.

They both used to study together at the Chute House campus at The University of Winchester, and thought it was time to put on a larger Punch and Judy festival in Glebe Gardens.

Ms Berry said: “Punch and Judy is perfect for Basingstoke because it’s a tale of the little man versus the bigger man.”