Hard to believe but that is now twenty-nine years of Garden Crawls!

Thankfully this year we were spared the heavy rain of 2016 and consequently we had a fantastic response in visitor numbers. There was a serious shortage of parking spaces within the village, so thank you very much to the committee at ‘Calon y Fferi for allowing us to use their car-parking space, a real bonus.

There seemed to be a constant stream of visitors coming into the Village Hall, buying programmes, raffle tickets and merchandise. Whilst the ladies organising the teas found themselves working in what amounted to a sauna in the kitchen area. They eventually raised a record £377 from their tea, coffee and cake sales a really fantastic effort. Thank you so much. Also thanks to Fraser who raised £124 from a merchandise stall outside his house and Mrs Field a new resident of the village who ran a Garden Sale on the day raising £100.

Live music has become such an integral part of the Garden Crawl and this year we were so lucky to have three events as part of the Crawl. Classical Music provided by Norman and Brenda at Bronteg, Jazz from ‘Silver Swing’ at Tony and Penny’s and ‘Super Hans’ at the White Lion courtesy of Sue and Dave, with Jesper providing a BBQ. In addition, Sue at the White Lion sold merchandise and ran the Raffle for us raising £368.

The event was supported by twenty-two Gardens, which again is fantastic for a village the size of Ferryside. Already I am hearing of other gardeners wanting to take part next year which is wonderful news, especially as it will be the Thirtieth Anniversary Crawl. We would be delighted to have even more if you are considering taking part. The Lifeboat crew cannot thank the Gardeners enough for their wonderful support, without you there would be no Garden Crawl and no funds for operating the service.

The ‘Scarecrow’ contest organised by Mike Bailey, again proved to be a big success, with the theme of Welsh Myths and Legends. Various Merlins appeared around the village, along with King Arthur, Rebecca and a number of incredible mythological figures from Ferryside’s past. We employed an independent judge this year and she found it difficult to pick the winning scarecrow, finally it was awarded to the School for their interpretation of Gwenllian.

Once again Alison and her expert team at Ty Elfed with their superb ‘Afternoon Teas’ were a star attraction raising around £600, along with the ever-growing Garden Railway, which Rob has put together with such expertise – including a Lifeboat, Helipad, Ski lift and Cycling Peloton et al.

New attractions at the Lifeboat Station this year were the Talus Tractor and, following successful grant applications, our new Hovercraft.

Although the Talus may seem rather large, it is a vital piece of equipment able to recover the Lifeboat from further out into the channel, plus it is equipped with a high-powered winch adding to our operational capabilities. It is fully waterproof, in fact it can be completely sealed and submerged to a depth of nine metres and then recovered at the next low tide. We expect it to give approximately twenty years of service, a great improvement on our previous agricultural tractors.

The purpose of the event is, of course, to raise funds for the continued operation of the Lifeboat (which has been involved in three search and rescue operations on one day recently). The event has raised what we believe to be the record amount of £3,270

A big thank you from the Ferryside Lifeboat Crew to all those who participated in the event.

Hope to see you at the Thirtieth Anniversary Garden Crawl.

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.

Sunday 5th May saw the annual Ferryside Strongman competition. Luckily the weather was good this year and we saw a strong turn out in the crowd. Six strong men entered altogether and cheered by the crowd they ploughed through the six events. The day was a huge success and raised over £300 for the lifeboat. Congratulations to Richard Holmes of Cynwyl Elfed who proved to be the strongest man. Not only did he win the competition but he also donated his prize money to the Ferryside Lifeboat. Many thanks Richard for this kind gesture.

Photographs below: