A DISTINCT historic flavour characterised this year’s annual revel, organised by St Saviour’s Parish Church. Peter Ferris, one of the organisers of the Saturday afternoon event, said that good weather and parking helped swell numbers, along with the Living History performance of the Celebration 800 Play Festival, country craft demonstrations and Guernsey Dancers entertainment.

‘It’s been going very well. We arranged for a couple of showers this morning and this afternoon we have been very fortunate. We’re also fortunate that the neighbour opposite has allowed us to use the field for parking. We’re probably talking about 500 cars or more.

‘Last year, we moved into this field for the first time. It was a success and this year we expanded. We’ve got a very popular raffle so a lot of churchgoers took a bunch to work with them.’

Joint organiser Jill Nobes was pleased that the Salvation Army band had been able to play, along with amusements such as pony and miniature train rides, magic shows and children’s entertainment.

‘I think we’ve got more people here than we’ve seen for many years. We set out to give people a good afternoon so we’ve got a nice selection of stalls and sideshows. We’ve got games such as the traditional crockery smashing.

‘A lot of our stallholders have dressed up in costumes and we’ve got a real balance, with something for all ages. It’s just a fun afternoon out for everyone. What I’ve heard so far has been positive. People are going away with armfuls of goods that they’ve bought.’

* St Saviour’s Church rector, the Rev. William Prescott, was pleased to announce that the event raised £6,000.

‘It’s probably the best and most satisfying revel that we’ve had. More people stayed longer and had more fun. It was a really good afternoon out.’