ALL the right ingredients made for another excellent Salterforth Fun Day on Sunday.

The tried and tested recipe of stalls, games, rides, entertainment and sport once again brought the crowds flocking to the West Craven village, encouraged by that vital extra ingredient - sunshine.

The event was opened by Barnoldswick Town Crier Kevin Griffiths, but before the fun began the crowd observed a minute's silence to remember the two 10-year-olds, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, from Soham, in Cambridgeshire.

Salterforth Fun Day is all about boosting the local community, and the field was lined with stalls and games organised by local groups.

They included Salterforth Kids for Park Improvements (KPI), a group of local youngsters who are raising funds for new facilities at the park where the fun day was held. The young people, who want facilities for stunt bike riding and new play equipment, were kept busy at their various stalls and games.

The first fun day was organised by and for Salterforth Boys' Football Club, which still retains strong links with the event. Now merged with Barnoldswick Park Rovers, the young footballers also had several events on the field.

In the main arena there was entertainment from comedy duo "What a Palaver", whose circus-style antics ranged from lying on a bed of nails to juggling with fire. Another big attraction was a sheepdog and duck display.

One of the annual highlights is the Salterforth Drag Race, a punishing run up the steep road out of Salterforth to the Fanny Grey pub and back again. This year the event was on the same day as Barnoldswick's Weets Fell Race, and although that would put some local runners off, others ran in both races.

The drag race always draws a good number of youngsters and this year was no exception, with 43 competitors lining up at the start. Among them was the famous Silentnight hippo, brave Tony Holian donning the heavy suit on a hot day to run the race and raise money for the young footballers.

First back was 20-year-old Lee Athersmith, of Skipton AC, who had finished eighth in the Weets Race. Second was Richard Johnson, of Ripon Runners and in third was Rob Weir, of Barnoldswick. First lady home was Erika Nutter, of Ripon Runners, closely followed by Sheryl Slater.

Bringing up the rear, but helped along by a gang of children, was the hippo. Emerging from the suit, Tony panted: "It was tough that! But I can't blame anyone - it was my idea to do this and Silentnight have been fantastic in supporting me and putting up a luxury three foot divan as the prize for guessing my time."

More lung power was needed back on the field, where West Craven's award winning town crier was running a junior town crier contest. Competitors in two age groups rang the bell and yelled their "Oyezs".

Once again the day ended with a bang, when John Stather, landlord at Salterforth's Anchor Inn, staged a fireworks display.