Another trip down memory lane for me last week when I revisited a large pub in Dunwich, Suffolk. I was there to visit the nearby Minsmere Bird Sanctuary, but looked in on the pub because it was there, about 10 years ago, that I and a friend were asked to create a live bingo session for charity. We were asked to make it “thematic”. Well it didn’t take us long to come up with a theme given the beautiful countryside and beaches on the pub’s doorstep, and the history of the town. In fact Dunwich really doesn’t exist anymore… The last parts of the village fell into the sea many years ago- there’s only part of the churchyard still hanging on there at the edge of the cliff. Allegedly you can hear the sound of the church bell ringing under the waves in stormy weather.

So we decided the theme would be rustic/rural/days-gone-by with a nod to the village’s past. We decided that this would be a retro Bingo session. No new-fangled electronic random number generators, just my old trusty cloth bag of 90 numbered wooden counters, and a flip chart to write up the numbers. Also, as I was in good voice, we decided not to use any amplification. My practiced projection calling should be able to be heard in the main rooms and the nooks and crannies of the pub!

Food and real ale was carefully prepared- the local Adnam’s Brewery allowed us to re-brand one barrel of ale “Bingo Bitter” for the event. Food was along the lines of Ploughman’s platters and Fisherman’s pies, and the menus had the Bingo cards on the back.

In order to create the right atmosphere, I had a cassette tape of windy shoreline sounds, and dubbed in with it the sound of a mournful church bell- to simulate the Dunwich Church Bell somewhere out at sea!

I think that nearly a hundred people turned up for the evening event- many dressed in 19th century land-owner/country gent attire, which really made the days of yore atmosphere authentic. It was a great success, and we were asked to run another one the month following. Sadly that was not to be as the whole area was closed down for a while due to restrictions imposed following a foot and mouth epidemic outbreak.

As I was leaving the pub, someone joked that they had heard that instead of the tolling of the church bell out to sea in stormy weather, what people now heard was the underwater calling of Bingo numbers! Fame at last!