Shropshire villagers team up for scarecrow trail

More than 200 people turned out for a scarecrow festival at Moreton, near Newport.

A total of 75 scarecrows went on display in Moreton for the first time, which saw the village join forces with the neighbouring Outwoods and Bromstead.

Cartoons, films and television were theme as scarecrows of all shapes and sizes helped keep the birds at bay on Saturday.

Bill and Ben, Mikey from Monsters Inc and the Minnions also lined the trail, which spanned the three villages.

Local band Vinyl Tap got the event into full swing with gig in Moreton's Millennium Community Centre during the evening.

Jackie Brookes, who helped organise the event, said there was also a classic car display, vintage tractors and army tanks.

She said the idea had been to bring the three villages together through a free event, which included an open bar and pork baps.

"We tend to get spread out a bit, so we wanted to do something that we could all take part in," she said.

The festival also included a craft exhibition and a second-hand toy sale, while the famous Lady Wulfruna fairground organ pumped out some tunes.

Refreshments were available at the Millennium Community Centre and maps guided visitors through the array of different scarecrows.

Mrs Brookes said the event had really captured the imagination of the people in the area, with a great deal of effort going into the scarecrows.

"I was absolutely amazed at the response from people. It was incredible," she said.

"People went to so much trouble and the scarecrows were really lifelike. They had not just been thrown together."