Discover the country ways of Hungerford with heritage festival

A celebration of country ways is promised to visitors attending a Heritage Open Days celebration in Hungerford this weekend.

The Hungerford Heritage Festival will champion rural traditions and give people an opportunity to try their hand at some of these activities, including dyeing, spinning wood and woodworking.

There will also be opportunities to try making butter, learn more about beekeeping, and venison.

A special attraction will be ferret racing, with talks explaining the history of the animal which goes back to the Middle Ages.

And there will be demonstrations of thatching, used to cover rooves of country cottages.

Visitors can also enjoy music, morris dancing displays, street food, and browse a range of stalls.

Many will offer locally produced food and gifts from farmers and artisan creators. Goodies promised by organisers include bread, honey, cheese, pies, meat, produce, cakes and preserves.

The event runs from 10am to 3pm on Sunday (September 8) and takes place in The Croft Field, off Old Field Road.

It is organised by the Hungerford Food Community, who say well-behaved dogs on leads will be welcome, and the day is free to attend.

Due to limited street parking, visitors are encouraged to park in a car park in Hungerford town centre. To arrange blue badge parking, call Penny on 07768 981658.

For more details, search Facebook for Hungerford Food Community.

The group is also organising an apple day with a food and artisan market. This takes place from 10am to 1pm on Sunday, October 13, in Hungerford’s High Street.

It will be the last street market of the year and gives people a chance to bring along their apples and pears to be pressed into juice.