Daffodils bloom just in time for Cambridgeshire village

Flowers have begun to appear after temperatures rose

Flowers are blooming on cue at an annual daffodil festival in Cambridgeshire after fears the cold winter would prevent them appearing.

Organisers of the Daffodil Weekend in Thriplow had feared visitors would see nothing but green shoots.

But flowers have started to appear after temperatures rose in the past week and officials hope scores more will blossom over the next two days.

Villagers started the festival to raise cash for charity 40 years ago.

Thriplow receives up to 10,000 visitors for the Daffodil Weekend which began in 1969 when the village's St George's church needed £1,000 for repairs.

Ups and downs

Some parishioners offered to open their houses and gardens to the public in early spring when the first flowers would be in bloom and the excursion season was just beginning.

Publicity in Peterborough, Bedford, Stevenage and Bury St Edmunds brought in visitors but the date had been changed when the weather became very cold.

The flowers were past their best when 1,500 visitors arrived but the parishioners raised £206 and the festival was on its way to become a tradition.

There have been ups, downs and near misses. In 1977 the weekend was fine but snow fell on the Monday immediately after.

In 1979 the winter had been hard and long and the weekend could muster only one daffodil.

In 1994 the village woke up to an inch of snow on the Sunday morning but still the visitors came.