Winter Droving.

Penrith is a market town in the middle of a stock rearing area. For a number of years now the winter/Christmas festivities has started with the Winter Droving. There are a number of events during the day but as darkness falls there is a procession through the town.

The procession consists of bands, torch bearers in fancy dress and masks of animals and birds. The highlights being "lanterns in the shape of farm animals. I say lanterns but as you can see some of them are truly huge as in this Long Horn Bull. I am not sure what lights them but it can't be a naked flame as that wouldn't agree with the tissue paper they are made from.

This year the animals included a wild bo9ar,geese,the bull, horses, sheep and birds. The procession ends in the centre of town where there were a one man band and two girls doing a variation of "fire poi". It appears to have been a highly successful day we stopped in Sainsbury's for a coffee on the way to the procession and were told the day had been so busy they had ahd to call in extra staff. The pavements were absolutely solid with people and the procession was 5 or 6 hundred yards long.