Float builders were rocked this week by a delivery of rotten flowers. Ramsay Cudlipp visits St Peter’s Battle HQ to find out how they are coping
THE last time that I was involved in the Battle of Flowers was when I had to sit in a barrel atop a float (Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat) and throw flowers at strangers in the crowd.
I was six years old and it was great fun pelting holidaymakers with a variety of different blooms as they cheered us on our way down Victoria Avenue.
However, like too many Islanders, I now tend to avoid the annual carnival and will usually find something else to occupy myself come the big day. But it is all too easy to be cynical about an event that is enjoyed by thousands, brings a hefty dose of tourism to the Island and that has, at the heart of it, a healthy sense of fun.
The success of the Battle relies on the continued support of a dedicated band of float builders, harestail stickers, dancers, tea makers and many other characters. Each year, established groups battle to find the cash and volunteers to allow them to compete and while most make it, some have struggled to fill their quotas this year.
St Peter have been involved with the parade for nearly 20 years but they were dismayed this year at the lack of younger volunteers among their numbers. They issued a rallying call for Islanders to give up their time and help them complete their float and received a good response from Islanders.
I visited the temporary marquee outside St Peter’s Parish Hall which served as their headquarters just three days before the parade and the team, like many across the Island, were dealing with the news that thousands of their flowers have been delivered rotten.
Chairman Pauline Clarke looked relaxed amidst a hive of activity and hundreds of buckets of flowers. A chain of people were carefully selecting blooms, snapping off the stems and applying the first layer of glue as she explained how they coped with the problem.
‘We have had to compromise the design slightly because of the flowers we lost, but the end result will be fine,’ she said. ‘The main issue was that we were struggling for people. But the St Peter parishioners answered the call and came to help.’
The range of volunteers includes Arthur Shales (84), a clutch of young people and even visiting tourists who pop in every year to lend a hand during the busy few days that cap several months of labour.
It comes as a surprise to me to learn that some of the flowers are dyed. To create the vivid green, red and orange flowers, white chrysanthemums are starved of water for 24 hours after picking and then plunged into buckets of dye.
St Peter ordered about 150,000 flowers in total, of which Pauline estimates that they lost about 20 per cent. ‘We noticed the problem as soon as they arrived,’ she said. ‘It looked like wet rot. We could have scrapped the lot but instead we are selecting them carefully and because we have lost about 75 per cent of the reds we have changed the design.’
Despite the problem flowers upsetting the flow of things, Pauline and everyone else seemed very relaxed and confident about the outcome.
‘St Peter has made a float for the last 17 years and we always get there eventually,’ she said.
And how long has Pauline been volunteering her services?
‘17 years,’ she smiles.
With a core group of about 50 people in the marquee and parish hall at any one time, Pauline estimates that up to 400 people will assist them in one way or another with people coming from all over the Island.
The theme of their float – called Razzmatazz – is classic films. The weary workers will shed their paint-dappled clothes and don various glamorous outfits to accompany their construction along Victoria Avenue.
These include Marilyn Monroe, complete with fan underneath to recreate her classic dress-lifting pose (though with the winds forecast, the fan may not be needed), the Little Mermaid, and the role chosen for the team’s faithful chairman Pauline which makes her look worried for the first time since I arrived – Tinkerbell the fairy.
The marquee has been in place since March and every spare space denotes hard work and industry with piles of wood off-cuts, spare harestails and dozens of empty paint pots. For designer Tony Biard, the large white tent has been home for the last few months and he looks in his element explaining the features of the 43-ft construction.
The most fascinating feature is the cramped cockpit where driver Derek Pignon will guide the behemoth with the aid of pictures transmitted to a TV screen. Airless, claustrophobic and hot, the space looks uncomfortable, to say the least, and I can’t help but think Derek deserves a medal to spend the whole parade shut off from the sounds and sights of the Battle to ensure that all goes smoothly.
It seems an understatement when Tony says that it can ‘get a bit warm’ but he assures me that Derek receives a cold beer when he climbs out.
Tony has designed the St Peter float for the last sixteen years and is confident that this one, which runs on an old Hoppa bus engine, could reach speeds of up to 50mph. It includes a generator on the back to power the lights and music which will be booming out of huge speakers hidden within the shell of the float.
The last few days before the big day are when the flowers are attached to the floats and this process is when the fun really starts. St Peter shun hot glue guns because they cause the flowers to wilt and instead use contact glue.
This powerful stuff requires application to both the flowers and the surfaces of the floats. Even in a large marquee with doors and windows open, the smell of the glue is overpowering.
The heady smell of chemicals makes you giddy within seconds. At least I now know how Battle workers manage to stay awake working into the early hours.
‘It is because we are all high as kites,’ giggles Louisa Finch, Battle volunteer and Miss St Peter in 2006. Perched on the float, attaching flowers and trying not to breathe in the fumes, she explains that you need a straight eye to keep the flowers in line and that they are placed in a diamond pattern.
‘I have been helping since I was six or seven,’ she said. ‘I got the Battle bug early. It is a lot of work but I really enjoy doing it and I love a busy life.’
And a busy life it is. To see the amount of work that goes into a float is incredible. The sheer number of people involved across the Island and the hours they put in every year are testament to the spirit and the endurance of Jersey’s most famous festival. There was a great atmosphere among the St Peter team and their pride in their own efforts was evident.
Maybe the whole experience is summed up best by Tony, who, when asked if you have to be mad to be involved with the Battle, replied: ‘Not mad. Totally bonkers.’
The Battle in figures
28 – Number of entries for the 2008 parade
145,000 – Amount in pounds granted to the parade by Tourism
0 – Percentage of GST paid by entrants
20 – Age of Miss Battle Holly Fraser
59 – Age of Mr Battle Christopher Biggins
1902 – Year of the first Battle of Flowers
45 – Length in feet of the largest floats
10 – Local band Run For Cover will make their tenth appearance at the Battle this year
100,000 – Estimated number of flowers rejected this year for being rotten
60,000 – Largest ever crowd at a Battle, in 1969
13 – Number of judges choosing the winners
1990 – The year of the first Moonlight Parade
75 – The percentage of flowers which each float must feature
140,000 – Average number of blooms used on each large float
1934 – The year that the Battle’s longest-serving entrant, Florence Bechelet, made her first appearance
It’s all hands to the pump in the marquee Pictures: DAVID FERGUSON (00581402)
Article posted on 14th August, 2008 - 1.55pm
