The Great Glebe Scarecrow Trail

Glebe's first scarecrow trail set out along the lanes on Saturday, and twenty three entries later nobody was quite prepared for how competitive a bale of straw could become.

Entries ranged from a carefully researched Noah, complete with two of everything, to a figure outside the post office that bore, by common consent, an uncanny resemblance to Rev'd Paul Thompson. Its maker has not come forward. Rev'd Paul Thompson considers the likeness flattering to the scarecrow, and was awarded second place in the Portraits category, a placing he accepted with visible reluctance.

Cyril Bostock entered on theme rather than technique, fixing one of his prize marrows atop a boiler suit and calling it Goliath. The judges, familiar with his form in the vegetable classes, awarded it Best in Trail and moved briskly on to the refreshments.

Doreen Pickles' tea urn presided over the judging tent for the full four hours without complaint, which the organisers regard as the real achievement of the afternoon. The trail raised £215 for the Wesley roof appeal, bringing the fund comfortably past the four-figure mark for August.

A second trail is already being discussed for the harvest weekend, on the strict understanding that entrants leave the clergy alone this time.