A LIGHT shower of rain at lunchtime did not dampen the spirits of all who attended the recent Burnsall Sports and Charities Day.

The highlight of the day was the Classic Burnsall Fell Race, a good field of runners took part and the junior fell races were also all competitive. The fell races were started by Rev Matthew Wood, Rector of Linton, Burnsall and Rylstone who also doubled up cooking on the barbecue.

The winner of the senior race was Tom Bell from Fellbeck, Ted Mason from Appletreewick was third on the way up but managed to race into second place only 200 metres behind the winner. Will Walker from Clayton-le-Moors was third, and the first lady home was Rachel Pilling from Pudsey and Bramley.

Race Marshall, Jim Stockdale, was very pleased with the way the race was run and thanked all his helpers who handled the entries, marshalled the course and the finish.

The children’s races, superbly organised by Wendy Gibson, provided great entertainment for the onlookers, as did the adults races on the village green.

A total of 23 well-behaved dogs were entered in the pet show. In first place was Marvin a two year old Beagle owned by Caroline from Manchester; second was Bolly, a two year-old Cocker Spaniel owned by Beatrice from Skyreholme, and in third place was Bruno a four-year-old Bordernese owned by Daniel from Leeds.

Sadly, the fast-flowing River Wharfe on the day of the event meant the cancellation of the duck race - it being too dangerous for people to go into the river after they had been dropped from the bridge.

The ever-popular egg-throwing competition, now a firm favourite at Dales shows, was won by reigning champions Ted Mason and Sam Watson; Sam celebrated by smashing the egg on Ted’s head.

All the stalls were busy especially Chappo’s Corner, where children could have a go at different novelty games, and the coconut shy. Members of St Mary the Virgin Church from Embsay travelled over the hill and had a successful afternoon as did the St Wilfrid’s cake stall which sold out early in the afternoon as did the sport’s tombola run by the Scriven family.

The sports organising committee said it was grateful for the support from Fell Rescue and St John’s Ambulance and the music provided by Skipton Brass Band. Thanks also to The Red Lion for sponsorship of the programme and to all the businesses who donated raffle prizes.