A wonderful time was had by all at Denbury's May Fayre on Bank Holiday Monday, writes Helen Davis. Crowds of three to four thousand people attended the event and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities, from fancy dress competitions and maypole dances to the crowning of the May Queen and the vintage cars and bikes on display. Some people enjoyed the beer so much that the pub ran dry by 2pm. Gross takings for the day, which will finance a multitude of village events and activities, were more than £6,000 before the deduction of expenses. This was £900 more than was raised last year. 'It was the most successful fayre yet,' said John Griffin, chairman of the Denbury May Fayre committee. 'The weather was lovely, people had more fun than ever and we raised a record amount of money.' The fayre began with a fancy dress parade, led by the JJ Jazz Band, from the primary school to the village green. 'The ventriloquist, Jungle Jim Tamley, was loved by the kids,' said publicity manager Bernie Duggan: 'He even got the head teacher to put a mask on, then he used his ventriloquism to make her promise the children free sweets.' Other events included a novelty dog show, a classic cars parade, face painting, a bouncey castle, a coconut shy and a human fruit machine. The WI cake stall sold out in the first half hour, and people loved the book and white elephant stalls. 'Abbey very generously sponsored our raffle, matching the amount of money we took,' said Mr Duggan. Cream teas were available on the lawn at Green View and the burger stall alone made £1,100. The money made by the fayre will sponsor The Denbury Devils netball team, the old and the new village halls, Denbury primary school, the cricket club. the pre-school, Denbury Archive Group, the church cottage project, the new Brownie group, the mother and toddler group and the Gardening Club. 'The nicest things about the day were the visitors' comments,' said Mr Griffin. 'They said it was so good to have a lovely day out where people weren't grabbing their money. They loved the traditional events and had good family fun.'