The Addingham Gala on Saturday was one of those vintage occasions that will live on in the memory - a true village affair.

In hot sunshine the colourful and regal parade left The Green.

All the parade entries reflected the 1950s and several had a Jubilee theme with children dressed as Kings and Queens.

Worthy winners of the Best Float and Best walking group were the Gala Queen Float - a wonderful Golden carriage and the Addingham Primary School, with the children dressed in royal costumes as varied as Queen Amidala from Star Wars and the Last Emperor of China to Elvis 'the King' and a Snow Queen.

Going down Main Street the parade passed many decorated properties entering the best-dressed frontages competition.

Winning the competition was Ding'em Movies featuring 1950s film stars and the judges were delighted to see so much effort going into a range of ideas with 50s artefacts and memorabilia and in particular, reflecting the conquering of Everest.

Once at the field, Gala Queen Rebecca Roberts opened the event and she and her attendants Bethany Plummer, Madeleine Lingard, Alex and Callum Morman received their prizes. By strange coincidence, Madeleine Lingard's aunt Michelle, was an attendant in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee Gala.

Compere, Roger Ingham, kept the afternoon to schedule and the huge crowd was entertained by a variety of competitions and displays. The Mellin family's display of sheep dog handling was a delight, giving children a close-up view of this special skill and was all the more amusing as it was geese and ducks, not sheep that were being herded! The children's races were as popular as ever with extra classes being added to allow all the willing competitors to take part.

The pub teams fiercely contested the tug of war and the Craven Heifer 'A' team the eventual winners.

Other popular events included the Straw and Wheelbarrow Races on the Main Street and the Craft competitions, which were featured at the Memorial Hall, and which provided an interesting diversion for those having the delicious teas.

Gordon Campbell, chairman of the Parish Council, particular enjoyed his opportunity to judge Gala day's neatest ankle.

Rebecca Carter, of the organising committee, said: "Ever-yone who attended the Gala declared it the best ever and the Gala Committee would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the day such a success.

"The committee hopes to rest on its well-deserved laurels for at least a couple of months before starting to plan for 2003."

Councillor Campbell said: "It was excellent. The crowds were absolutely wonderful which was just reward for the committee whose members had worked really, really hard to organise everything."

Coun Campbell praised the volunteers who had worked almost unseen in the background from early morning to make the day a roaring success.

"The field was packed and everybody recognised it has the best ever in recent memory. The committee worked well as a team and deserve the thanks of the whole village.

"There were more side shows than I ever remember and the weather was glorious and did not let us down. The sun shone the whole day."