There seems to be a new tourist venture afoot, and that is the “Scarecrow Festival”. Quite a few of the local dales villages now have an annual festival, and Malham and Kettlewell are both well known on the “scarecrow circuit.” I get lots of queries about them when I am doing my voluntary day at the TIC - Tourist Information Centre.
As I mentioned in yesterdays blog, we took the grandchildren up to Newby Hall for a day out and some outdoor activities in the adventure playground there, but on the way there we were tempted to call in to the village of Ripley, which is famous for the delicious ice creams you can buy there.
On entering the village we saw signs proclaiming a “Scarecrow Festival”, and never having been to one we stopped to have a look at the exhibits, which were placed all around the village. The locals had certainly used their initiative, and there were scarecrows of all shapes and sizes – some dressed to depict topical events, and others making a play on the word pig or hog (because all the scarecrows were pig faced – I think the pig or hog theme probably came about because the village hostelry is called the Boars Head Hotel.
The Boars Head Hotel in RipleyIncidentally I came across this little piece about the Boars Head in a travel guide:
The Boar's Head Hotel is one of the country's celebrated inns, and was named in remembrance of King Edward III's brush with death when he fell from his horse in the forest and was nearly gored by a wild boar. Thomas Ingilby of Ripley, hero of the hour, swiftly killed the animal which was promptly turned into the main course at the ensuing banquet, and earned himself a knighthood and family crest for his trouble. The hotel wasn't opened until 1990, however, when Lord and Lady Ingilby re-opened the former Star Inn after a 75-year dry period. There was such relief among the villagers that the vicar called in on the opening night and blessed the beer taps.
But back to the scarecrows (Hog Crows?) - a selection of some of them follows below
City Banker punished for having his snout in the trough
I don't recall the two on the left and the one on the right being mentioned in the list of exhibits!
Miss Pigtails
The Butchers Hog
Note the wings on the large pig
- this was called "Swine Flew (oops!) Flu"
Hoglets (Hogwarts) School
Borat Hog (in Ripley Stores)
Michael Jackson
Hog (Bob) the Builder
High School Musical (in the local school playground)
The Statue of LibertyThis part of the day was totally unplanned, and due to the sunny weather, (and delicious Ripley ice cream which we all partook of) was a most enjoyable added extra! Who knows? - next year we may be tempted to visit the Kettlewell or Malham Scarecrow Festivals!
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