What We Do

In 1979 the Eaton Socon Community Association was set up in the rapidly expanding village of Eaton Socon. In the early 1970's the A1 had been built to the west of the Great North Rd and with the old villages of Eaton Socon and Eaton Ford now being relatively traffic free the housing boom began.

In its first few years it aimed to welcome newcomers to the village and to keep the village atmosphere alive. Residents' problems could be shared and the Committee tried hard to find answers to any problems. There was a membership fee and trips and activities for children and families were arranged.

As Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon continued to grow rapidly it was felt that there was a need to collect information about life in the past. It was recognised that the old village life was vanishing and little had been recorded. ESCA also revived the ancient tradition of May Day with its May Weekend Activities. Through the last twenty years a young girl has been chosen as May Queen and with her two attendants she has been crowned at the Village May Day celebrations on the Green outside St Mary's Church. The village celebrations include entertainment with Traditional May Pole Dancing and a Sweeps Dance, as well as other local youth groups such as majorettes, dancers and live music. On the village Green stalls are set up with fun activities, crafts, plants and a Barbecue. Refreshments are available in the church and there is a local history exhibition with history booklets for sale inside the church. The May Weekend activities take place on the first May Bank Holiday every year.

The Eaton Socon Community Association then changed its name to the Eatons Community Association to reflect its role in both Eaton Socon and Eaton Ford - although the initials ESCA stuck! Since all the building in the 1980's there is now no visible line distinguishing the two villages and one of the aims of the Eatons Community Association is to keep the Eatons identity alive within the town of St Neots. Membership is free to all residents of the Eatons. A newsletter is published three times a year and delivered by volunteers to every household in the Eatons. Extra copies are available in St Neots Library.

As the community has grown, so has the range of activities we have been able to undertake:

• planting shrubs and bulbs throughout the Eatons to enhance the environment
• relaying hedging and planting flowers in Bunny Lane
• managing The Pightle - a field near the river left open and free from development (now an independent trust)
• opening the local 'Cage' or 'Lock Up' built in 1826 for confinement of local malefactors
• running our May Day Celebrations on Eaton Socon Village Green
• running Open Gardens, when you can visit a wide variety of residents' gardens
• Carol Singing around the Christmas tree on Eaton Socon Green in December
• Holding local history meetings and exhibitions
• Developing local history archives
• Mounting blue plaques on buildings of historic interest
• Writing books about local history
• Listening to local residents' views and concerns
• Designing and erecting the two Village Signs on the village Greens
• ...and generally helping out the community wherever we can.

Thanks go to all our volunteers whose efforts in looking after our community have been recognised!

We are not a political or religious group and all the political parties support us. We aim to represent Eatons residents' views wherever possible. The committee are all volunteers and apart from funding from a Local Heritage Initiative to fund the 'Eatons People and Places History Project' we have little funding other than money we raise through our May Day Celebrations.