STORM Brian did its best to cause havoc for the organisers of Poundstock Gildhouse’s annual craft fair and pumpkin festival, but some quick rearrangements meant that the event was a great success.

Graham Jones, from the Gildhouse committee, said: “We knew from the forecast that the wind was going to be a problem so we decided to not put up the marquee for the pumpkins, but moved the competition into the Gildhouse.

“Then, just as the craft fair was opening on Saturday, a very large tree bough was blown down across one of the access roads to the Gildhouse. Luckily, help arrived very promptly in the shape of a man with a chainsaw, and the road was cleared in time to allow the public to reach the craft fair.”

The bad weather on the Saturday didn’t deter people from coming along to visit the craft stalls in church and buy lots of local products ready for Christmas.

Graham added: “We moved the food stalls to the upstairs of the Gildhouse, and that was a success for both the public and the stall holders. Storm Brian caused several power cuts during the day, but none were long enough to cause problems for the refreshments team and the pumpkin soup didn’t cool down!”

There was great surprise in the pumpkin competition when Peter Roberts, from Morwenstow, appeared with his heaviest pumpkin entry — he was able to carry it!

Last year his entry was a massive 366kg, but he only managed 18kg this year. However this was still enough to beat off all the competitors.

This year Steve and Julie Pawley were the judges for the carved pumpkins classes and they had a wide selection of entries to choose from.

Steve, chairman of Poundstock Parish Council, said: “The standard was very high with two topical entries on a theme of Brexit and a very clever carving of a small gourd inside a pumpkin prison. However, the clear winner was Rowan Fawdon with her extremely intricately carved pumpkin of boxing hares.”

The junior carved class was won by Tom Knight, with a cleverly carved cat.

Graham added: “The weather on Sunday was better and overall the event was a success, raising over £1,000 for Gildhouse funds.”