Scarecrow festival returns to village

Vanessa Martin with her Wallace and Gromit scarecrow creation

A village is readying for its bi-annual scarecrow festival, which raises money for the local church.

The Longhope Scarecrow Festival, in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, has been running since 2021 and is organised by the Friends of Longhope Church committee.

This year's festival has 44 entries which will be ready for people to view from 09:30 BST on 11 October.

Vanessa Martin, the deputy chair of the committee and the creator of a Wallace and Gromit scarecrow, said it will be a "grand day out" for the public.

The Friends of Longhope Church committee are raising money for the church path to be repaired, which they estimate will cost £60,000.

They hope the festival will go some way to support this repair - although Mrs Martin said: "Everyone can come and they don't have to spend a penny. We know money is tight for families."

The event, which has prizes for the best scarecrow, will see entries made by local residents lining the main streets of the village.

Organisers say there will also be entertainment in the village pavilion throughout the day, and tea and cake will be sold in the church.

People can follow the trail starting at the church, where quiz sheets with questions for each scarecrow will cost £1.

Tina Coull says the key to making a scarecrow quickly is to re-use materials

Tina Coull, chair of the festival's fundraising group, said it will be a "wonderful" community weekend.

"It [the festival] has grown from strength to strength," she said.

Ms Coull, who will be submitting a pirate scarecrow this year, said it took her four nights to put her entry together after re-using last festival's entry - Joseph in his technicoloured dreamcoat.

Carryl Phelps, Longhope's church warden, said she'd witnessed "amazing spirit" at the festival over the years.

She said: "It's raised such a wonderful excitement in the village.

"I was involved in making one [a scarecrow] for the WI [Women's Institute] - it's a litter picking lady. We're calling her Lucy the litter picker.

"The whole village will be a buzz for the whole weekend!"