By Kelly Eve

Last updated 14:44, Monday, 06 October 2008

Heavy rain failed to stop hundreds of visitors flocking to a small parish hall near Carlisle for its first Applefest celebration.

Vicar Gill Hart with the Burgh Beauty apple

• Photos: pictures from Applefest 2008

The downpour washed out all of the outdoor activities and sports that were due to take place at Beaumont Parish Hall, west of the city, on Saturday.

One Applefest marquee was lost to the wind and rain and dancers from Solway Morris ploughed on until the weather got too bad and it was decided that entertainers could perform inside on the small stage.

Inside the hall, hot drinks and homemade scones were served up to thankful visitors who sought refuge from the soaking.

As friends chatted over tea, villager John Edgar played on his sousaphone surrounded by friends from the Band Oil Traditional Jazz Band, just one of the acts entertaining visitors.

Susan Cartwright-Smith, squire of Waverton-based Solway Morris, said: “It has been absolutely brilliant. We danced in the rain in the morning but then we were invited to come inside.

“The event itself has been brilliantly organised and we’ve been made to feel very welcome.

“Looking on the bright side, if we didn’t have the rain, we wouldn’t have the apples.”

Saturday’s Applefest was part of the week-long Solway Autumn Festival – a series of harvest events held to bring together the people of Beaumont and Burgh by Sands.

Local vicar Gill Hart, one of the organisers, said: “It has been good, despite the bad weather. It has brought people together, almost like the old Dunkirk spirit.

“We’ve had local chef John Crouch doing a cookery demonstration and Janet Queen, gardening expert at The Cumberland News, opened the family fun-day with an introduction from Councillor John Collier.”

Other activities going on in the packed hall on Saturday included an auction of apple tree saplings, christened the Burgh Beauties. The first sapling alone was sold for £45.

All proceeds from the festival are being donated to local groups and Tree Aid.

Apple expert Hilary Wilson from Tebay proved popular with visitors. She was accompanied by Brian Gable, of the Northern Fruit Group. Many came with bags of their own fruit grown in nearby gardens and orchards to find out what kind they were.

Hilary, who also put together a display of 49 different apple varieties found growing in north Cumbria, said: “There have been about seven that I need to go back and do a bit of work on.

“People always want to know what is growing in their garden or their orchard. It’s always the question people ask, once they’ve moved to a new house.”

Local groups supporting Saturday’s Applefest included the Solway Flower Club, the ladies of St Mary’s Church and Kirkandrews-on-Eden WI, the Solway Folk Bank, Burgh by Sands School and Solway Morris.

Villagers also enjoyed a jazz hoe-down at Burgh village hall. Yesterday there was a harvest festival and open afternoon in St Mary’s Church.

• Hilary Wilson will be among a team of six identifiers meeting visitors to the National Trust’s Apple Day next Sunday at Acorn Bank Garden, near Temple Sowerby.