Sunday 11th June 2017 – a date for your diary. On this day Staunton Harold will be hosting a major triathlon and showcasing itself to the world. Our Ferrers Centre craftspeople, the Garden Centre and the church will all be open, plus extra catering facilities and other activities.
The event is being organised by HUUB, a Derby firm making high quality wetsuits. There is celebrity involvement, Jensen Button and Gordon Ramsey on previous occasions, and considerable sums are raised for various charities. Swimming will in the largest of our lakes, the Serpentine, runners will set off from the front of the Hall in the Ashby direction, cyclists will head out towards Ticknall. These cannot avoid using public roads, so a fair number of marshals will be in evidence. HUUB can be contacted on www.huubevents.com.
An event such as this is unusual for Staunton; we mostly leave it to Calke Abbey to accommodate the big numbers. Entry and exit routes and parking are important factors, no one likes being stuck in traffic before they get to an event. Back in the days when the Hall was a Cheshire Home the annual fete grew in popularity till we were seeing seven or eight thousand visitors on the day. But that was in the 1960’s, when many people came by bus – how things have changed.
Another change is the way these things are advertised. Back then it was posters and space in the local press. Now it’s ‘social media’, and I understand the air waves are already humming with news of this triathlon. It promises to be a busy day.