It's Scarecrow Time Again

I've blogged about this scarecrow festival before. For a week in August, the village of Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales hosts a fantastic event which attracts around 15,000 visitors every year. It's such a great day out which doesn't break the bank, just £3 for car parking and £1 for a trail sheet if you want one. We don't go every year but we've been quite a number of times over the twenty nine years that it's now been running. The themes this year were classic kids TV and 100 years of the BBC, and as Mick's holiday from work coincided with the festival, we decided it was high time we visited again.

Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire. The census taken a couple of years ago lists the population as 321. The Scarecrow Trail takes you right through the village so you get to see all the sights and beautiful scenery too.

It's a lovely quiet village with some pretty cottages.

The River Wharfe flows through the village.

Back to the scarecrows. There's usually a theme to entertain the kids and another for the adults. I wouldn't have known Mr Tumble, a children's TV character, but all the younger visitors were delighted to see him.

One for the children and the adults too, Dr Who. I'm not sure which Doctor this was though. Peter Capaldi?

There was another Dr Who. No mistaking which Doctor this was, just look at the scarf.

I think you'd have to be of a certain age to know about the test card. This was broadcast as a test signal when the transmitter was active but no programme was being broadcast, very rare these days when you can find hundreds of programmes 24/7.

The Fab Four.

Ken Dodd, minus his Diddymen. He does have his tickling stick though. He was one of my dad's favourite comedians.

'Bring me sunshine'. More comedians, Morecambe and Wise. My dad loved these too.

Elsa and Olaf from Frozen. Another one to delight the little ones.

Compo, Clegg and Foggy from Last of the Summer Wine.

The original scarecrow. Worzel Gummidge and Aunt Sally.

Status Crow!

Jim and Barbara from The Royle Family. I think Jim's just about to play us a song.

As well as single scarecrows there were some scenes too, such as this David Attenborough one, "BBC Bringing Wildlife Into The Living Room", with the cameraman filming him and the polar bear. It carried important conservation messages just as David would want it to.

This scene was the BBC Through the Ages with Dixon of Dock Green, Peggy, Grant and Dot from Eastenders, Noddy and Big Ears, Steptoe and Son, amongst others. This won Best in Show.

Nessie. Another one which really captured the children's imagination.

Even the church joined in. I've never been inside Kettlewell church before, it's absolutely beautiful. It was decked out in fragrant flowers, the scent hit me as I walked through the door.

You can't really see the window in the first photo so I took another photo of it. Stunning. This is the East window and shows Christ looking over the battlefield of 1916. It's a memorial to the novelist Charles Cutcliffe Hyne.

And another of the windows. I just love stained glass.

This was just a very small selection of the scarecrows, there were nearly two hundred all told. It was a great day out and I can definitely recommend it if you're in the area. Perhaps we'll visit again next year.