St Mary's Church Gardens Sunday & Scarecrow Festival 2010
Sunday 4th July

Eleven gardens were opened to the public and visitors also had the chance to view over 60 scarecrows around the village - some are pictured here.

Prizes were awarded for the winning entries in Class 1: Children (under 11), Class 2: Household and Class 3: Business/Organisation. This year there are Traditional and Novelty sections in each class. The results can be seen here (Acrobat pdf file).

Many thanks to all those makers and shakers who made this year’s Scarecrow Competition such an exuberant and enjoyable experience. Eventually more than eighty scarecrows made an appearance in our village. We are grateful to you for your creative energy and marvellous sculptures. Your straw folk attracted large numbers of people to our village. It was good to see family parties pushing their bicycles as they searched out our guests and then involved themselves in intimate conversations with them.

This year, their appearance stirred a powerful breath that filled their dusty lungs with a vigorous energy. In the breeze they danced a jig until some collapsed with exhaustion! Some kind locals were seen to administer to these exhausted dancers the ‘kiss of life’. I hope these paramedics did not suffer from hay fever!

We are particularly grateful to our judges, Peter Evanson and John Read for their painstaking professionalism. The decision-making was not easy. It involved considerable deliberation and frequent re-examination of digital photographs. The standard was so high that it took them more than six hours to complete the route and then make up their minds. Special thanks also to Mick Bradbury for his kind sponsorship and superlative chauffeuring.  

The following pages show more of the scarecrows on show! If your scarecrow is missing, and you would like it to appear, then please send a photo to the village webmaster.