Capturing a day in village life

A group of photographers will capture a Day in the Life of Collingham as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the village.

The project is the idea of villager Mr Nick Fairfax. He will be helped by his former neighbour and friend Mr Graham McMorran. Both are keen photographers.

Two professional photographers who live in the village, Mr Ian Blyth and Mr Michael Davies, are also taking part.

Mr Fairfax, an administration manager at the Magnus Church of England School, Newark, will start his snapshot of village life with the arrival of the milkman just after midnight and end it with the last train to Newark at 10.45pm.

Photographs will be taken at the newsagents, school, churches, pubs and medical centre.

Others will show activities such as skateboarding, horse riding, Zumba and pilates.

The pictures will be taken on Thursday, May 31.

Mr Fairfax said he wanted a typical village day but also hoped to show people preparing for the jubilee weekend.

“The project seems to have captured people’s imaginations,” he said.

Mr Fairfax wants anyone celebrating a special event such as a birthday, wedding anniversary or embarking on a special journey on that day to contact him.

He took part in a similar project when he was a 15-year-old living in Sheffield.

The Sheffield Youth Theatre Group organised a Day in the Life of Sheffield that was used as the basis for a theatrical production.

The project has been arranged with Collingham and District Local History Society, which has also organised an exhibition of old photographs of Royal occasions to go in the village hall on June 2 and 3.

The chairman, Mrs Liz Addington, said: “The project will give us a living history of events and provide us with a record of what is happening in the village.”

The photographs will be on show over the jubilee weekend with a further exhibition in October.

Mr Fairfax can be contacted on 07890 493566, or email nicholas.fairfax@btinternet.com