A SCARECROW trail with a theme of fictional characters from children’s books has raised more than £500 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
A bumper crop of 18 entries in this year’s Holwick Scarecrow Trail saw a huge number of people take part in the trail, held over a fortnight last month. Organiser Jennie Lee said: “It’s a massive thank you to everyone who took part, either by doing the trail, sending a donation or making the scarecrows themselves.
“We raised a staggering £550 for GNAAS.”
Award-winning children’s author Anne Fine had the difficult job of picking a winner from the 18 scarecrows. First place and a hamper from Samuel James Deli as awarded to Karen Scott for her depiction of Postman Pat, complete with his post van and cat. Lisa Lowles’ Treasure Island scarecrow bagged second place and a takeaway fish and chips for two from the Fox and Hounds, in Cotherstone. Wurzel Gummage, made by Ray Thompson, was third with a free MOT from Mickleton Service Station.
Two other scarecrows – Little Red Riding Hood and Room on the Broom – were highly commended and the families who created them were presented with signed books by Ms Fine. Ms Lee added: “I just want to say a huge thank you to local businesses as well who have supported the trail, either by donating prizes or selling a good number of trail sheets. Lastly to Jane Ayre for helping me organise the trail again.”
As well as choosing the winning scarecrows Ms Fine also picked out three winners who completed the trail trails correctly. First prize was awarded to Adam and Noah, who won a Sunday dinner for two at the Farmhouse Kitchen. Second prize, a £10 voucher for J Raine and Son, was won by Phyliss Ayre. Third prize, a sweet box donated by Sweet Tooth, was won by Hannah Jones.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
