ITS organisers claim to run the best village show in Hampshire.

And with near-record numbers on a cold day like Saturday, you wouldn't bet against the Littleton and Harestock show.

Around 2,500 people flocked to the Recreation Ground to see old friends and experience the quintessential English fete.

Soundtracked by the ATR Military Band, families enjoyed ferret racing, archery, a climbing wall and, new for 2015, the talents of a sculptor who crafted a wooden owl from a chainsaw.

The WI made their teas and children played their football, but also making their debut this year were the Crawley modellers, a youth project run by Patrick Hendra.

Angus French, 15, entered the fold to help him craft a model boat. From there, Angus has designed award-winning models, appeared on national television and found his dream career.

Showing off his drone on Saturday, Angus, of Main Road, Littleton said: "That's where it all started, really, because there's a youth club in Crawley. and Patrick did a summer school where lots of kids from the village would build their own models.

"If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have done any of it. It's set me up for a career, almost, because it's something different to what other people are doing."

Hampshire Chronicle:

Angus French with his drone

It was the first time models were judged in the show, with Terence Brown's fine wooden ship taking the top prize. Organisers strive to offer something for everyone, with categories for handwriting, poetry and painting as well as the usual plants and produce.

Saturday's main event followed a pet show on Thursday, where around 200 people showed off their dogs, cats, guinea pigs and, in one case, an African millipede.

Committee chairman Alan Brookes said: "Last year was a record attendance and we're looking to be about the same this year. The sort of thing that we're here for is, first of all, for everybody to have fun, second, to meet each other again because a lot of us only see each other once a year, and lastly to raise money for charity."

This year's beneficiaries are family support charity Home-Start and the Kevin Lay foundation, founded after the death of the local churchwarden who died in an air crash in Kosovo in 1999.

The foundation raises money for local children to travel on international aid missions of the sort Mr Lay was on when he travelled.

The total raised was yet to be counted as the Scouts held their Race Night in the marquee on Saturday.

Pictures by Chris Moorhouse. For more photos from Littleton and Harestock Show, pick up the Hampshire Chronicle on Thursday