A Ghostbuster, the Child Catcher and NHS nurse are among some of the imaginative entries to a village scarecrow trail. A total of 88 straw-filled figures have been popping up in gardens, green spaces and streets for the fifth year of Ferring’s Scarecrow Festival. Batman with a very literal robin perched on his shoulder (Image: Simon Dack) The trail, which started on Saturday and runs until this Sunday, is raising funds for The Community Dementia Hive, a hub run by the charity Beehive Care, which provides support, advice and social activities for people with dementia.
Television fitness expert and presenter Lizzie Webb will be judging the scarecrows. Known as "Mad Lizzie", the famous Ferring resident regularly appeared on screens back in the 1980s and 1990s, encouraging viewers to get up and moving. Lizzie will have her work cut out selecting a winner as this year’s competition is fierce.
One scarecrow pays homage to former Ferring resident and survivor of the Great Escape, Major John Bigelow Dodge (Image: Simon Dack) Entries include Batman, with a robin perched on his shoulder, the Joker, a Ghostbuster, a policeman waiting to catch speeding vehicles, an angelic NHS nurse, the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and many more. One entry depicts a scene from The Great Escape in homage to Major John Bigelow Dodge, a survivor of the mass escape from the Nazi prisoner of war camp in 1944. He lived in Ferring after the Second World War and was played by Steve McQueen in .