CORSETS and boater hats were the height of fashion when Grange wound back the clock for its annual Edwardian festival.

Hundreds of people descended on Park Road Gardens on Saturday, many in elegant fancy dress, for the 21st year of the popular 17th century festival.

“It was a really good year this year,” said chairman and secretary of the festival commitee, Mary Ann Best.

“The weather was lovely and it seemed like everyone had a really good day. It was well supported by local people and visitors too.”

Visitors travelled from acr-oss Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Scotland to join in the celebration, which began at around 10am when dozens of stalls opened, lining the paths of the gardens.

Throughout the day visitors enjoyed a traditional Punch and Judy show, a miniature train, a children’s entertainer, a 10-piece band, a jazz band, dozens of stalls, and perfor-mances by morris and clog dancers.

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The town’s Soroptimists also held a traditional music hall event, with singers, danc- ers, a drama sketch, magician and monologue, to raise money for its dementia project, ‘Singing for the Brain’.

This year, for the first time, festival organisers also put on a red London bus to take visitors from the town’s Windermere Road car park to the festival site. This also gave them the option of stopping in the town to spend time in local shops.

“I’m hoping this will have encouraged people to spend time in the town,” said Mrs Best.

“The festival is all about promoting Grange, and letting people know what we have to offer here.”