Community fun in the sun at Manorbier and District Village Show

SEPTEMBER saw the second ever Manorbier and District Village Show take place at the Giraldus Centre. 300 people enjoyed arts and crafts, games and activities, waggy tails, and a once-seen-never-forgotten mutant carrot!

The show was held on September 6, from 1pm until 7pm. A morning downpour had sent volunteers scurrying outside to salvage the bookstall. But by the time the last paperback was indoors, the sun had got his hat on again.

The local pooches basked in the good weather, putting their best paws forward in the dog show. Pet services provider The Paw Path managed proceedings over six categories, including fancy dress, waggiest tail and fun agility. Shadow, with owner Joan Stace, won Best in Show.

There was plenty of agility on display from the humans too, with an outdoor wheelbarrow race around the community garden.

Other activities included a human fruit machine, tombola, picture treasure hunt, face painting, pebble painting, Tin Can Alley and Splat the Rat. There were prizes for correctly guessing the name of the panda and the number of sweets in the jar. And brand-new for this year was a fascinating workshop on fossils.

In the hall, visitors voted for their favourites from 100 entries across 36 competition categories. The ‘Best in Show’ cup went to Sian Cromwell, while Zane’s miniature garden was the ‘People’s Choice’ among the children’s entries. Zane’s prize was a bug hotel handmade by Sam Cromwell. Sam, meanwhile, won the ‘People’s Choice’ shield in the appropriately named “Adult” category for a spectacularly well-endowed carrot.

Stalls included plants and flowers from the Manorbier and District Gardening Club, second-hand books, artisan breads and cakes from Manor.Bio, hand-spun and woven rugs, wooden gifts, and hand-knitted and crocheted items.

A barbecue on the patio kept up the energy levels, while music came courtesy of the fabulous Slipway Ukes.

Pembroke’s Mendus Pharmacy sponsored the competition winners’ cups and shields. Raffle prizes were donated by Tenby Sainsbury’s, Castlemead, Castle Inn Pub, Manorbier Stores and Post Office, Manorbier Castle, Carew Castle, Heatherton, Folly Farm, Manor Wildlife Park, and many more.

Centre Supervisor Deb Roberts said: “It’s been wonderful to see so many local people and businesses supporting the village show, and so many smiling faces and wagging tails on the day! As ever, we couldn’t have done any of it without our amazing volunteers, so huge thanks to them all.”

Deb and the team are already looking forward to organising next year’s Village Show. If you’d like to be involved, drop her a line at [email protected] .