Hundreds of people helped celebrate 80 years of community action at Ramsey Rural Museum in September 2004. Among them were the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, who opened the old-fashioned village fayre, the Bishop of Ely, the Mayor of Ramsey and the Mayor of Ely. The event was organised by Cambridgeshire ACRE, a rural community council founded in 1924, supported by numerous local volunteers.

The event had been promoted through a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Best Banger competition (not funded by the Local Heritage Initiative), the publication of a leaflet (with games entry form), advertisements in the local newspapers and other media coverage. A special brochure was also published to celebrate the occasion.

Many community and family teams from around the county took part in the traditional games: hoop-la, coconut shy, bowling for a pig, horseshoes, shove ha’penny, skittles, fishing, splat the rat, test your strength and guess the weight of the cake.

Other attractions included a traction engine, heavy horses, veteran and vintage bicycles, Punch and Judy, basket making, wood turning, bric-a-brac, swinging boats and the town crier of Ely, as well as the exhibits and facilities of the museum itself.

Ramsey Rural Museum is housed in a range of 17th and 18th century farm buildings. The collections include a wide variety of agricultural implements, restored farm machinery and tools used by local craftsmen.

Additional displays were mounted by Cambridgeshire ACRE, Patient and Public Involvement in Health Forums, Cambridgeshire Archives Service, the Cambridgeshire Collection from the central library, Cambridgeshire Local History Society, Cambridgeshire Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Fens Tourism Group, the Great Fen Project and the Huntingdonshire Forum of Voluntary Organisations.

The highlight of the day was provided by three performances of a brand-new drama, “Four Score Years and … Then!”, celebrating community life through episodes from the history of Cambridgeshire ACRE since 1924. The play was specially commissioned from locally-based actor and director, Michael Burrell, with music by Wisbech singer/songwriter Bondy. It was performed by actors from the Viva Youth Theatre in Soham, the St Ives Theatre Group and students from the Isle College in Wisbech.

In the evening there was a bangers and mash banquet (not funded by the Local Heritage Initiative) for the cast of the play and 100 invited guests, who were served sausages from the winner of the countywide competition organised by Cambridgeshire ACRE to find the best banger.