I’m old enough to remember the first moon landing fifty years ago. In case you don’t remember, it was US Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin who landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969 and it was Armstrong who was the first person to step onto the lunar surface, pronouncing that immortal line “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”.

Many things rushed through my mind at that time as I gazed at the moon. I’d thought of the ‘Lunar landing’ sequence in the classic BBC radio series ‘Journey into Space’ and a line from Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’:  It seemed to me that the moon was no longer that ‘unravished bride of quietness’ but now another part of the universe, ready to be despoiled and polluted by man.

Now the Moon is back in the headlines with that extravagant person, Elon Musk, and his company ‘SpaceX’. Have you booked your ticket yet for the first private passenger spaceship he plans to fly around the Moon? Don’t be left behind!

The teachers of our local schools and their classes had great fun in thinking about ideas and themes for this year’s  Fornoli Carnival, the seventh so far. Just look at these snaphots I took of the event which took place in warm winter sunshine.

All schools were winners in their own imaginative way but, naturally, there was a first prize (Euro 250) and it went to the combined primary schools of Bagni di Lucca Villa and Scesta (Scesta’s school is being rebuilt so the two have been temporarily amalgamated).

Carnivals are wonderful ways of integrating communities, giving children one of the best times in their annual school calendars, enlivening educational themes and promoting friendly rivalry between different areas of our comune. I wish carnivals could spread more widely in the UK, too.

None of Fornoli’s great fun event would have been possible had it not been for the indefatigable efforts of Marco Nicoli and the Mammalucco association he is principal founder of. Seven years ago Fornoli’s carnival was revived and it has grown from strength to strength. Long may the carnival tradition continue at Fornoli and bring a smile, some colour and truly needed joy in these ‘tempi difficili’.