Cottenham Ploughing Society revisited; 2 Oct 10

I’m of the opinion that bloggers who’ve got nothing new to say shouldn’t blog. So why should I do a blog on a subject I’ve already covered viz the Cottenham & District Ploughing Society (click here for that entry)?

The wife and I went to our third dinner/dance and it was all the same as the first: the same location (CVC), the same table with the same host (thank you Rick Bristow), the same catering (Housdens of Chatteris; no web-site yet, they don’t seem to go for web-sites in Chatteris), the same band (Rhythm and Rhapsody; not the south California DJ you get when you google it), the same speakers (mercifully with different jokes) , the same ploughmen winning the prizes, the same crazy throw money at the bottle game (as pictured above) and many of the same people (including the lady with the long hair and the Barbara Windsor look-alike) enjoying the evening. So why should I waste my time blogging?

Two reasons: number one because in these days of lightning fast change it’s really good to see some things remaining unchanged.  This event is a part of Cottenham’s heritage and it’s a part of what makes Cottenham the village that it is today. Cottenham is not a Cambridge suburb. It’s a fen-edge village and proud of it. If you read my business blog (www.i2i-management.com) you’ll note how firm I am on the need for companies which profess to manage ‘brands’ to treasure their heritages. Without a heritage a brand can be hollow. Cottenham’s brand is anything but. Click here for an article I wrote last year on the same theme (you’ll need to go to page 13).

Reason number two is that for all its appearance of not changing the Cottenham & District Ploughing Society does change: witness the ladies competition this year with four entrants including the vicar! and one of the stars of the junior competition, he didn’t win it but he did well, was 13 the day before the competition. So this event is changing with the times and rejuvenating itself. Long may it continue to do so.

Well done the Cottenham & District Ploughing Society and here’s hoping that I get invited again next year.