BBC Radio Treasure Hunt

COVENTRY & WARWICK RADIO TREASURE HUNT

And we won!

It all started with a phone call from the then Chairman of our Parish Council to Avril Salmon.. “Avril – I hope you don't mind, but I have given your number to the Coventry and Warwick Radio people· They have phoned me, wanting to do some sort of Treasure Hunt in our village which seems to involve children. And this really isn't a Parish Council thing. Can you deal with it Avril? You know all the children in the Parish. May I leave it with you?”

Di, one of the people in charge of this Treasure Hunt explained on the phone to Avril when she rang, that her team were going round to all the villages to get them all to join in with this Treasure Hunt.

The 'treasures' the villagers of each Parish were to find, were all connected in some way with their individual area. So far, one village had found all their 'treasures' using various means, including transport, to find them. The last item however had to be found in a very short time – seconds more than minutes, though minutes were counted and this one village had managed it in a fairly good record time – which could be beaten!

And the prize was 50 tickets to the London Show “Starlight Express”.

But when she told Avril the date and time the team would be coming to our village, her heart sunk. All her family the day before would be attending a wedding in East London and coming back home late, and the next day, she would be taking Quest Club at the very time this Treasure Hunt was to start.

Worse still, Lawrence wouldn't be there to help. As an Officer in the local Boys Brigade, he had to attend, with the Stratford Branch, a Sunday morning Parade in Coventry that morning, taking Henry their youngest son with him.

Avril started the organizing. She hoped that by doing that, she wouldn't have to join in the game. All the children, once they knew about it became VERY excited. The older ones were not sure, but when as the day approached, they became more keen. However, Avril began to realise that the parents were assuming she would be there in charge. Janet Reason was her helper on that day at Quest Club, and she was willing to take the Club on her own. Sara, Avril's daughter, was taking the 3s to 4s at Quest Club at the same time and she was willing to carry on, while the Treasure Hunt went on.

Quiet a crowd of children plus Avril all waited on the morning of that day, on the pavement outside the Salmon house for the team to arrive. Di went into panic when she arrived. “Avril, where are the cars and the adults? We need them. Some of the 'treasure' can only be found with people driving cars.”

The children went dashing off in all directions to get their parents and ring their friends to come and bring their parents, and by the time broadcasting started, we had about five adults there, including Sue Jackson who came along to find out what was happening – and she had her car nearby! In fact, she was a great help dashing off in her car to find 'treasure'. One of the 'treasures' we had to find was someone who had the same surname as a member of the Cabinet. We had to do some real thinking for that one. Did we know any!

All Avril could think of was Clarke – but then, was the Mr. Clark in our village spelt with a 'e' or not! No-one knew, but Sue solved the problem of a finding someone who shared the same surname as a Cabinet member. She dashed off in her car to our local Garden Nursery and brought back with her Mr. Lamont – after she had dashed in where he was working saying “Oy! You've got to come with me. You're needed as part of the treasure of a Treasure Hunt. Come on! I'll bring you back.”

Di Sage in Shipston Road, had driven her two children to join in the Treasure Hunt, dropped them off and went back home, turning the radio on, so she could listen. She also found a tape so she could record the programme.

Then came one of the' treasures' to find! A tent, with ground sheet, sleeping bags and two people in it, drinking mugs of hot cocoa. She put the kettle on, dashed upstairs, grabbed two sleeping bags; collected the tent, and ground sheet;threw them all into her car, and then went back into the kitchen to make a flask of cocoa. Picking up also two mugs, she soon turned up at the village with everything that was needed to score several marks.

After that, she found things so exciting, she decided to stay until the end, leaving the tape running back at home. But of course, there was no-one there to turn the tape around when it reached the end, so although we have a good recording of most of it, the last bit was not recorded.

And here is that recording:-

And so we have no recording of our triumphant end – unless someone DID record it and we knew nothing of it. So – here's hoping!

And the last 'treasure' to find was a remote control. Paul Sage, standing by the open window of the Salmon dining room, plunged his hand in, and grabbed the remote control that was on their windowsill. “Here it is!” he shouted.

“What” shouted the man at the radio station. “You've found it! In three seconds? I can't believe it!” But Di gave him a description of the remote control she had in her hand and the answer came back from the Radio Station, “Well – congratulations Clifford Chambers. You have won 50 tickets to Starlight Express”.

And what a cheer went up from all our crowd - heard throughout Warwickshire I would imagine – well, to those who were listening to their local radio station!