MUSICAL character scarecrows in doorways, gardens and drives - Burley-in-Wharfedale residents and visitors were reminded of all the best in musical entertainment at the end of August during the week-long Festival.

There were the well-known musicals – Cats, Matilda, Les Miserables as well as the lesser known ones – including Rocky Horror, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, The King and I and Mr Men the musical based on the books of local born author Roger Hargreaves.

A record-breaking number of scarecrows were displayed and the spectacle made quite a sight around the streets, with visitors from surrounding towns making the journey especially to see them. One bemused Otley resident on a bus journey from Ilkley to Otley via Burley saw so many interesting scarecrows from the window of the bus, he told his family about it and they all made a journey the next day to walk around and see more. He said: “It certainly made the hopper journey so much more entertaining.”

They picked up a Scarecrow Trail Map but in addition entered lots of the other quizzes and trails that were going on across the village and that seemed to be a theme with everyone determined to make the most of all the activities.

After a very successful week where hundreds of families and individuals were able to spend time looking at scarecrows, finding treasure trail and cryptic challenge answers and working out the answers to the colour quiz the Festival team were pleased to announce the winners.

The winning Scarecrows in the individual category were: 1st Willy Wonka in Wrexham Road; 2nd Shrek in Heather Rise and 3rd Dr Dolittle in Grangefield Avenue.

The organisation category was won by Burley Barbers with Mary Poppins. This year the Festival Committee also presented a street prize to those that took part collectively in transforming Mill Close into Shrek Street complete with Shrek, Fiona in a tower, the scary dragon and many more.

The much-enjoyed treasure hunt had several tied with all the correct answers but Janet Birch was picked out of a hat to receive the prize. The cryptic challenge (which had several mostly correct answer sheets) was convincingly won by the Robinson family. The colour quiz prizes were awarded to three people: Andy Hellis; Roger Holroyd and Bruce Moore.

The Burley Festival Committee would like to thank all residents who participated in transforming Burley by building scarecrows.

They would also like to thank all those participants who spent time looking at scarecrows, voting and finding quiz answers.

The answers to the quizzes are displayed in the Roundhouse and on the Summer Festival website. Plus the Scarecrow photos are available on the website too in case anyone missed seeing them during the festival.

Visit: www.burleysummerfestival.org