THE weather did nothing to deter or dampen the spirits of the hundreds who turned out to enjoy the second Bude-Stratton Heritage Day on Sunday.

The threat of showers did mean, however, that most of the stall-holders set-up in the Parkhouse Centre, while the vintage, classic vehicles and activities remained outside.

It was a day of something for everyone, young or old: fairground rides, a dog agility course, sea shanties, a canoe regatta, brass bands and jazz, model railways, lots of local history and the chance to hear the lovely Cornish language spoken by experts.

Mr Showers strode among the crowds on his stilts, twisting and teasing balloons in to all manner of shapes, while in the afternoon he led a thrilling circus workshop.

The afternoon also saw children of all ages entertained by two showmen at the top of their profession; master of close-up magic and sleight of hand Richard Ready and Professor Dan Bishop with his ever-popular Punch & Judy Show.

The day's musical contributions came from two of the area's favourite brass bands —Bude Metric Brass and the Bude Town Band.

Jazz-lovers were delighted by the inimitable Pig Ankle Quartet with their own foot-tapping style of Trad Jazz and visitors were also treated to a lusty performance of sea shanties by The Barrel Rock Boys.

Their performance was followed by Bude Folk, who you need only to hear once, to know they are passionate about their music, ancient and modern, local and from further afield.

"We are very pleased with the day and we've had a great response," said town clerk Christine Kett. "The weather didn't look too promising to begin with but when you look at all the activities now going on, the crowds, number of exhibitors and stallholders who have turned out, you can see that the day has been a real success."

The classic and vintage vehicles on show attracted much admiration and not a little envy. The Bude Motor Club had a wonderful range of classic cars on show; there was a variety of vintage tractors and engines chugging away and whistling up a head of steam Kevin and Gordon Burrow's small steam engines and John Briggs with his miniature steam engine.

Penzance's Dr Robert Dyke brought his beautiful 1902 White Model B-6hp Stanhope steam car, and his son Bill Dyke upheld the family tradition by driving over from Exeter in a 1920's vintage car.

Two newcomers to the event were Nick Olgard and David Smale. Nick, a member of the Military Vehicle Trust, drove to Bude in his Second World War US Army jeep and had on display a selection of weapons — the type that would have been used by the US Rangers who trained on the Bude cliffs in preparation for the D-Day Landings.

See the 'Post' for a full report and more photos.