THE village of Oakhanger staged its 49th annual May fayre on Sunday, attracting sunshine and the crowds to the village green.

It was officially opened by Mark Kemp-Gee, newly re-elected as county councillor for Alton Rural and who was presented with a buttonhole by Poppy Clayton.

Arguably the highlight of the day was the arrival of 14-year-old May Queen Emma Foulds, and her attendants Kaitlyn Nicholson, 12, Tegan Nicholson, 10, Mollie Wright, 9, and Sophia Tucker, 3, aboard Onward – a magnificent steam traction engine owned and built by villager Dave Eves.

Harry Myers carried the May Queen’s crown for previous incumbent Robyn Myers to crown Emma.

She then received a bouquet from Florence Leadbitter, one of the maypole dancers. Lillian Wright and MJ Shadey helped Emma to hand out gifts to her attendants.

The afternoon’s entertainment began with a display of maypole dancing, courtesy of pupils from Binsted and Bordon primary schools, trained for the occasion by Louise Myers and Jane Roper.

The dancers were Alice Roper, Freya Cowie, Neve Randall, Lillian Wright, MJ Shadey, Tilly Henderson, Maisie Hester, Poppy Clayton, Mollie Wright, Harry Myers, Florence Leadbitter, Grace Dorans, Yasmine Bekhite, Stella Lanport, Fabian Birch, Darcy Haines, Lucy Walker, Brianna Harriott, and Darcie Cannon.

While visitors enjoyed the stalls they were entertained throughout the afternoon by the Flames Cheerleaders, Alton Concert Band and The Hilary Bishop School of Dancing, and kept refreshed by visits to the beer tent, tea room or ice cream stand.

May fayre co-ordinator Alice Cowie said: “As always, the success of such an event depends entirely on the volunteers who generously give up their time and energy to support the village hall committee. You know who you are…some of you are not even from Oakhanger.

“It was a fantastic team effort.”