A carnival atmosphere overcame the damp conditions as a host of community celebrations took place around the district at the weekend.

Wellington-boot clad people gathered at the recreation ground for Eldwick Gala.

And their reward for defying the conditions on Saturday was a series of displays, from sheep herding and duck rounding to dance routines demonstrated by the Starlight Majorettes, DM Academy and Dance Display.

Performing at the event were the Bradford Grammar School Band and the Felix New Orleans Jazz Group. Around 80 runners with the Bingley Harriers used the gala as a starting and finishing point for a three-mile, 300ft climb to nearby Hope Hill.

Over at Keighley Gala, Sophie Verity was crowned gala queen before a parade of floats and bands toured through the town on Saturday. Victoria Park was the centre of festivities with stalls, music and a funfair, and continued yesterday with performances from local bands.

One of the weekend's more bizarre pursuits was the annual Oxenhope Straw Race, which involved more than 175 two-man teams, donned in fancy dress, hauling a 40lb bale of straw on a three-mile pub crawl. It was all in the name of charity and started at the Wagon and Horses, in Hebden Bridge Road yesterday afternoon.

It was hoped to raise £10,000 for Manorlands hospice, Keighley Resource Centre and Oakworth youngster Jack Aggus who has spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families attended Wilsden Gala in the village hall yesterday, with the helter skelter kept busy by the throngs of eager children while the Women's Institute served mums and dads with cream teas. Local girl, Elizabeth Newman, a pupil of Wilsden Primary School, was the lucky gala queen. There was even a famous face among the crowd with Ken Kitson, of Thornton, who played the policeman in Last of the Summer Wine, invited to officially open the gala.

West Bowling Community Advice and Training Centre's first summer Mela proved popular, with families heading down to Clifton Lane on Saturday for face painting, henna tattoos, a puppet show and jewellery and job information stalls.

It was a more intimate affair at Holme View Resource Centre where the family of resident, Nelly Cheetham, gathered to mark her 100th birthday on Saturday.

Son Derek and two of her five grandchildren went along to enjoy the day. Nelly was born in the Wakefield Road area of Bradford and attended Lorne Street school. She then worked as a weaver in a mill in Laisterdyke where she met her husband. She stopped working in 1931 when Derek was born and took to performing as a pianist at weddings and in pubs.

Elsewhere, gardeners took part in a competition to judge their skills at the Great Horton Community Partnership's Party in the Park in Brackenhill Park on Saturday. Partygoers were entertained by music, dancing, a children's parade and fairground rides.