This year, the Garden Crawl required a very necessary addition – an umbrella!

The forecast all the previous week threatened poor weather, then changed its mind and then changed it back again. However, the Lifeboat crew was delighted that large numbers of people were still willing to turn out and support our event, visiting the Gardens and seeking out our new attractions, the numerous ‘Scarecrows’ that had suddenly appeared around the village.

The rain forced the Classical Music provided by Norman and Brenda at Bronteg indoors into the village hall, where a large crowd much appreciated the performance.

Equally the Jazz from ‘Silver Swing’ at Tony and Penny’s and the Band at the White Lion had to perform indoors, but still attracted plenty of support.

The event was supported by twenty-four Gardens, which is fantastic for a village the size of Ferryside, but we would be delighted to have more next year if you are considering taking part.

A new attraction of a ‘Scarecrow’ contest suggested by Mike Bailey, proved to be a big success, with another twenty-four official entries, but almost twice as many actually appeared. Thank you to all those who made an effort to take part, there were some fantastic creations.

The voting by the Garden visitors resulted in a tie for first place between the School and the Church – though there were so many deserving prizes – seeing a Morris Minor eating a scarecrow, a Skeleton scarecrow on his bony chair, Darcy Muscle lifting her weights, Dave Coles whole collection of amusing characters, numerous Pirates and the Hippy on the corner were just a few of the highlights.

The inclement weather resulted in a high demand for refreshments and we at the Lifeboat are very grateful for the sterling efforts of the Ladies at the Village Hall (Yvonne, Rosemary and Shirley), for Alison and her expert team at Ty Elfed with their superb ‘Cream Teas’ and this year for the first time the team at Calon-y-Fferri who opened their café and allowed us to use their car park.

In addition, our thanks to Ferry Cabin, The Post Office and The shop for selling programmes.

So far the event, despite the poor weather, and with a few collecting tins to come in, has raised over £1,600. A big thank-you from the Ferryside Lifeboat Crew to all those who took part.