and, fortunately, we have help.

 

 

Forty gnomes have scattered themselves around the village and we need to find all of them.  There are puzzles to solve, too, so it’s a good job our team are good at that kind of thing.

 

 

Each gnome has been sponsored by a local organisation and has been given appropriate things to pose alongside.

 

 

We’ve not been going long before one of us needs a hanky.  Good job someone came prepared with her handbag!  (Thanks, Eleanor, I forgot to put one in my pocket before I left home)

 

 

Some of the gnomes are easy to spot, because they’re standing in the middle of a garden.

 

 

This one was showing off his (her?) fresh manicure.

 

 

We were keeping an eye on the dark clouds overhead as the rain threatened and thought this gnome had chosen his hiding place well.  Hmm…we spent a little longer in this spot than in others, tempted by all of that pink!

 

 

So far so good, the rain was holding off and there were lovely views across the valley.

 

 

So, I imagine this chap wouldn’t have much trouble renting out his holiday cottage!

 

 

Leaving the road behind, we took the path – we hoped James knew where he was going!

 

 

We could see the gnome…

 

 

but had to find a different way to get to it.

 

 

What a good job we did – otherwise, we’d have missed this one in the field next door.

 

 

Answers carefully recorded, we were thinking about that first puzzle.  Which pop group sang about gnomes?  Surely you know that, Mark?

 

 

The village pub sponsored this one, who has downed his beer in one and was hiding behind a tree.  Took a while to find him but our team have got eagle eyes.

 

 

Looking back over the village from this spot, we can see all the other gnome hunters out there.  We have competition!

 

 

No time to spare, then, and someone has spotted that there’s ice cream for sale in the next garden and Eleanor tells us she has brought her pocket money with her!

 

 

Walking around the village like this enables us to spot all kinds of details we’d overlooked till now.  These beautiful faces adorn a lovely old house, tucked away down a small lane.

 

 

We’re starting to get tired and the lanes are rather steep at this point.  But, so far, it’s all downhill and we oldies are the only ones to realise what this means…

 

 

We all love the gnome who came prepared for his spot by the stream, though and are giggling enough that we hardly notice the climb back uphill!  Oh, and that P is a clue for the group who sang about gnomes, by the way.

 

 

Got it!  Now we need to think of the singer who also sang about a gnome whose name has a V in it.

 

 

One of the last gnomes holding a clue is outside the old Red Lion pub – love the old sign, don’t you?

 

 

Just a couple more and a last sneaky look into another lovely garden. 

 

 

Done it!  All forty gnomes found, four puzzles solved (the name of a place where no gnomes can be found, one where gnomes were allowed in this year,  the names of both a pop group and a singer who sang about gnomes – I’m sure you guessed them all!)  We each won a gnome for our garden and some lucky ones won a keyring too.

Great fun – and believe it or not, the clouds parted and the sun shone too!