GREAT success: "People love to come to Farleigh because of the setting," said the organiser of the carriage driving trials, Angie Pickford.

Compliments flooded in from this year's competitors about the course - "tough but fair" - and the catering, particularly the hog roast.

Lord Portsmouth sums up this year's trials: "Wonderful weather. A most successful event with no mishaps, which showed the estate off to best advantage."

Ellisfield's Caroline Allen, who assisted one of the dressage judges on the opening day, presented the prizes in the Open Pony Class.

WET wet wet: Steve Ayscough and Roger Freeman won the annual Farleigh raft race for the third year, beating nine other entries.

"It was very good fun," reported Emma Sly, "and very wet for some people."

This applied particularly to the Demolition Derby. "As long as you started on a raft and finished on a raft it didn't matter which one or how you got around."

Andrew Crowther-Walker was there as Captain Hook, and the children's fancy dress was won by Amy Tibble and Matthew Iddeson.

IN BRIEF: Sad goodbye to Susan Hartlett, who left Ellisfield on Wednesday for a job developing a range of fresh food for a Welsh supermarket chain.

We'll miss this very talented cook and kindly Mem Hall committee secretary.

NICKED: A very expensive compressor, worth thousands of pounds, has disappeared from outside St Martin's.

Any information on its whereabouts is wanted.