A day of sunshine helped draw the crowds to the last ever St Keverne Ox Roast on a Wednesday.

From next year the event will be moved from its traditional day to a Saturday, to allow more people to attend without needing time off work.

This year still saw lots of support, however, with the village square filled with people as the parade of butchers made its way to the front of the church steps at around 2.30pm, ahead of the opening ceremony, with Phyllis Ely this year’s guest of honour.

This was followed by the auction of the first slice of ox, led by auctioneer Philip Care.

Winning it for the third year running was Matt Ferguson, landlord of the Three Tuns pub in the square, with a bid of £220.

The auction continued for the following few slices, before it was thrown open for general sale to the public, with a long line of people queued up to get a taste of the ox that had been cooking in the square since 9am.

Other entertainment included Punch and Judy, the Cadgwith Singers and St Keverne Band performing throughout the afternoon and into the evening, along with a new activity: peg racing. People were challenged to hang as many pegs on a washing line as they could in a set time, with a trophy for the winner.

Falmouth Packet:

Peg racing about to get underway

Colin Savage from the White Hart had a number of traction engines and vintage vehicles on display and there was a range of stalls.

Rock band High Voltage finished the day by performing a two-hour set outside, after the two village pubs joined together for the first time to provide outdoor entertainment once St Keverne Band finished playing at 9pm. It was a homecoming gig for member Mark Bosustow, who grew up in St Keverne.

The event is the band’s main fundraiser and, while the final amount taken is not yet known, band chairman Roy Jackson said they had raised more this year than in the previous five years: “A thank you to the local businesses that supported us and thanks to everybody that worked hard and helped to make it happen.”

Next year’s Ox Roast will be held on Saturday, August 1, after organisers took on feedback from people who wanted to enjoy the event into the evening but then had to go to work the next day.

Historically the event had been held on the first Wednesday of August due to this being ‘half day closing’ in Helston and St Keverne, giving the butchers the opportunity to take part.