VIDEO: It’s a fairy-tale ball at Slindon pumpkin display

Staff at Slindon Pumpkins have put together the annual pumpkin display, which this year depicts a scene from fairy-tale Cinderella, showing the princess dashing home from the ball.

Robin Upton, of the farm, who helped craft this year’s display, said he had been lucky with a bumper crop of pumpkins and marrows this season.

“Last year we had a 90 per cent failure of the crop. It was very bad,” he said. “But this year it’s gone mad. August is usually a nice quiet month but this year it was incredible.

“Everything was doing very well.”

It took Ralph and his team a total of 66 hours to arrange the display.

It’s part of a tradition that has been going on in the village since 1968, and was the brainchild of Robin’s late father, Ralph.

The family used to dry the pumpkins on their roof and people would come along and see them. So Ralph decided to turn the pumpkins into a display.

Now, more than 40 years later, it’s still going strong, with hundreds of people from across the country making the trip to Slindon every year to see the design.

Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert, who visited the site on Friday (October 4), said: “The pumpkin display is quite spectacular and I’m not surprised that so many people visit Slindon to see it.

“Not only that but there is every variety and of pumpkin imaginable on sale, ready for Hallowe’en.

“What an amazing feature Robin and his team have created.”

The display, with sales of marrows, pumpkins, squashes and gourds, is open from 10am to dusk daily at 4 Top Road, Slindon.