Bisterne Scarecrow Festival Trail 2021

The Community of Bisterne and its surrounds are to be congratulated on recovering this event in the time of Covid 19. Although there were fewer displays than normal we enjoyed many of the old favourites on our drive round on this overcast morning.

‘Rapunzel’ came on first, letting down her golden locks at Kingston Farm, North Cottage.

Her provenance was noted on her lonely wooden tower.

Ashbourne cottage at Kingston displayed both

‘Doctor Jock’

and ‘Duggee and the Scarecrow Badge’.

Outside 2 Avondale Cottages Colin Furze advertises his website.

‘Bear’ of Cobbs Cottage is a genuine figure of straw.

Celebratory punsters produced ‘Hip HIPPO ray. The Scarecrows are Back’, outside Iona, 18 Christchurch Road.

Unfortunately the woman who made ‘Wish you were ‘ere’ was not at home today when I knocked on the door of Rose Cottage, Bagnum to congratulate her on the first prize in her category because when I had spoken to her about her excellent entry two years ago she had been disappointed not to have won. I hope she sees this.

37 Sandford always give us an excellent tableau.

This year’s ‘Sandford Grand National’ was no exception.

Their neighbours at 39 Sandford produced both

‘Cosmic Horoscope’, with its pinned predictions and

penned posting with which I heartily agree;

and ‘Santa’s Workshop’ where we are invited to write a letter to him and post it in the pillar box provided.

Two displays, ‘Orinocho Womble sez Please Pick Up Your Litter’ on the driveway to Stable Family Home Trust;

and ‘Reuse & Recycle’, were messages to those who deface the environment with their rubbish.

With ‘Free Britney’ The Stable Family Home Garden Cottage sought justice for Britney Spears.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabbiata with which she drank more of the Greco di Tufo and I drank Faugeres 2019.

87 comments

  1. Such a wonderful display of creativity! Thank you for sharing these, Derrick.
    “Wish you were ‘ere” is marvelous! (But I enjoyed all of the scarecrow displays.)

  2. It’s so cool you see this every year and remember your favorites from previous years. It was so sweet of you to want to congratulate the winner, Derrick. I hope she sees this, too.

  3. OH! There’s Santy Claus!!! Hey, Santy!!! 😀
    ALL of these scarecrows, animals, and scenes are so GREAT!!! 🙂
    I always look forward to you showing them to us!
    <3 "Wish you were 'ere" and the Hugging Teddy-Bear! <3 Both smile-bringers! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  4. A fantastic collection of Scarecrows Derrick … and I have the perfect poem for you, this wonderful piece is by a poet friend of mine , Robert Okaji (Texas) … https://robertokaji.com/category/poetry-2/

    Scarecrow Dreams

    If by night I move without aid,
    what then? Precious flesh, precious
    bone, never mine to lose – the difference
    between nothingness and no thing. A
    pity that my friends fly at the merest
    movement, but when the air’s breath
    stills, they sing and rattle among the
    grain, scribing their days in song
    and footprints, seeking the available
    on the ground. And what scrolls lower
    than the sound of sunflowers turning?
    The laughing daughter runs around
    my lattice spine, scattering joy like so
    many seeds, and when my hollow
    fingers clench, the earth quivers, or
    so it seems. Then midnight returns
    and I disengage and stalk about,
    scaring rodents and their predators,
    hooting in harmony with the owls
    reveling in the night air, remembering
    the holy shirt, a yellow glove, corn
    silk’s gleam at noon and the warmth
    of your fingers against my burlap skin.
    I do not breathe, I say, but I exist. By
    morning what joins me but the tune
    of yet another bird, unseen, melodious,
    the pulse of morning’s dew. Eternity.
    How my straw tongue longs to sip it.

    “Scarecrow Dreams” first appeared in the summer 2017 edition of Eclectica. Many thanks to poetry editor Jen Finstrom, for publishing several of my scarecrow poems.

  5. This is so much fun! Gladys really gets around. I have to commend the displays encouraging trash clean up and recycling, and poor Brittany gave me a chuckle. The Wish You Were ‘Ere couple seems very, um… relaxed.

  6. This certainly seems a fun event, although the ‘scarecrows’ weren’t exactly what I was expecting. I’ll confess it: my favorite was the bear made of bales. What can I say? In some ways I’m a traditionalist!

  7. Thanks, Derrick. I look forward to this every year! My vote would have gone to 37 Sanford, although the Santa’s Workshop sure showed a lot of work went into it.

    1. Thanks a lot, GP. Your choice was a good one. We were too late to vote because the last day was today. I would have probably gone with the header photo because of the earlier conversation I had had with the creator.

  8. What a super scarecrow hunt. You’ve shown some excellent ones.

    This is the second year running due to Covid that our village hasn’t held one. Ours is run by the primary school and volunteer parents and is usually a splendid sight.

  9. What fun, love the “wish you were here” beach scene but also the story Rapunzel – now I think you need a scarecrow somewhere in your garden…

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