It's a Saturday in mid-September and the man in an ankle-length purple velvet coat looks no more out of place at the Fleece Inn than the woman dashing past in traditional Morris dancer garb, her shoes jingling like sleigh bells. A hush falls over the crowd as a musician in a feathered top hat leads a procession through the courtyard, banging a drum to mark the entrance of a bride in a cerulean dress.
“It’s a pagan ceremony,” Nigel Smith murmurs quietly to the people next to him. His explanation is met with a chorus of understanding “ohs” that drift into a respectful silence as they watch the wedding party move into the barn. “They’re having it in a circle of green leaves,” he adds.
Weddings, wakes, baptisms - they all take place at Nigel’s pub. He reels off the other events and groups it supports: the silver band, the village show, an annual cider festival, Nigel Night - a semi-serious charity get-together of those that share his name. When it began in 2019, more than 430 Nigels turned up, creating a world record and making national news; the next one is this weekend, just in time to celebrate 20 years since its namesake landlord moved into this National Trust-owned pub.
