So how did it all begin?
Heather Scarecrow Festival is an extremely popular annual event and was originally the idea of one local resident. The resident in question was Mrs. Diane Everett (Di to her friends). Sadly Mrs Everett has since passed away.
This is how it all began:
In 1996 Di and her husband John were on holiday in Yorkshire when they came upon one scarecrow perched on top of an old garage just outside the village of Kettlewell. Intrigued they stopped to have a look, pondered on it and carried on into the village. The village was full of scarecrows, and as this was something neither of them had seen before it caught the imagination of Di.
Our village could do something like this, she thought, and so the idea was born.
She sat on the idea for a couple of years until in 1998 she discussed her idea with two of her friends Linda and Chris and between them they constructed three scarecrows, put them in their front gardens and on one Sunday afternoon stood outside with a bucket to collect money for charity.
The following year they decided to include the whole village and although there were only a few scarecrows, it was a start.
After that they decided to expand and provide teas and coffee to make more money for charity, which was held in the Chapel Hall on Pisca Lane. This was successful and grew for a couple of years until they were offered the Football Club in the village where they really went to town with sandwiches and home-made cakes.
The festival has flourished year on year with the most scarecrows displayed in one year being over 100!
All from the idea of one imaginative lady.