These Charming Folk

Our next stop on our journey around the back roads and byways of Britain was at a school field tucked away in Willaston. It was time to meet some charming folk.

Sadly we were a little late, having been delayed first by a Rose Queen’s parade and then by the need to pull in and wait for a magnificent steam engine as it passed. But that’s fine, we were in search of B-Road Britain – and we found it.

Our late arrival meant we didn’t witness much of the World Worm Charming Championships, but we were still in time to be astounded at the bewildering array of devices used to persuade the local worms to appear and be counted: garden forks aplenty, sticks, basketballs, xylophones and even a euphonium. Baking hot sun and a spell of dry weather meant that records were unlikely to be broken, but we didn’t stop to see the prizes awarded in any case. We’d spotted something interesting earlier in the day and decided to head back for a closer look.