Priddy Harvest Sale 2011
The Harvest Sale has long been a part of country life, and it's good to see that this tradition is continuing here in Priddy due to the work and support of a group of villagers.
Thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful harvest are both worldwide and very ancient. In Britain, we have given thanks for successful harvests since pagan times. We celebrate this day by singing, praying and decorating our churches with baskets of fruit and food in a festival known as 'Harvest Festival'. The Harvest Sale, an auction, is usually held after the Harvest Festival church service,taking the produce and flowers from the church and additional donations on the night.
The venue was The Hunter's Lodge pub, which also hosted the Harvest Supper this year. The auction of harvest produce is a light hearted affair where people happily bid silly amounts of money for bunches of carrots, flowers, potatoes etc. The money raised at Priddy goes to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance which relies solely on the generosity of the general public to help raise the £1.4 million a year it costs to keep flying.
Most of the images are of Messrs Sparkes and Brown who were encouraging people to part with their cash!
Read MoreAll images copyright ©Caroline Shipsey