THE Bulldog' British spirit kicked in at the King's Worthy village fete this afternoon (Monday May 26).

The event went ahead despite heavy downpours earlier in the day that caused flooding and travel chaos across the south.

It is the second year in a row that the fete, held on the village green, has had to contend with bad weather.

However, the organisers and participants put on a brave face and were hoping to better the £4,000 raised last year for the St Mary's Church fund and King's Worthy based charities.

Mayor of Winchester Cllr Mike Read, and his wife Jan, had come back from an official twinning trip to France early especially to open the fete.

Cllr Read said: "The trouble with the English weather and fetes, is you never know what events will take place, but when the weather is bad it brings out the British spirit."

Andrew Cooke, chairman of the King's Worthy fete committee, said: "It is obviously disappointing that the weather is so bad but we have good team support down here and we will get on with it. We will not let the weather put us off! The money raised today will go to the church and local charities. Last year we gave money to the King's Worthy Day Centre, for older people, and The Grove, a centre for mentally handicapped youngsters. We have not decided what charities to give to this year yet. We will decide when we know how much money we have raised, which will be in about two weeks."

New attractions this year included a magic show for the children and the opportunity for pianists to try their hand at playing the church organ, for a donation.

Familiar stalls included the coconut shy, cake and flower stalls and Splat The Rat', and the Wessex Chordsman Barbershop singers provided some uplifting tunes.

Robin Cook and his family were at the fete representing the Scouts.

Mr Cook is group leader of the 3rd Winchester The Worthies Scout group and aptly brought a canoe to the fete.

He was also helped by his wife Christine, a Scout Group leader with the 3rd Winchester The Worthies, and his 10 year-old son Jonathan, to erect a wooden bridge.

Mr Cook said: "The canoe was planned before the weather forecast came out! We are trying to show people we have Scouting in The Worthies and we do lots of activities. We also need Scout leaders so if anyone can help please get in touch."

Mr Cook can be contacted on 01962 884510, if anyone thinks they can help.

While the Scouts were canoeing, the Guides were in charge of the Splat The Rat and the Human Fruit Machine stall, in an attempt to raise money for their group, which meets in King's Worthy School Hall.

Church flower arrangers Gill Froude, Lis Piper and Gillian Roder, along with some of their 16 other colleagues, helped make bouquets which were up for sale on their stall to help raise money for their group.

Mrs Froude said: "We have a rota and two or three of us work together every fortnight to do the flowers. This year we have got a lot of weddings coming up so we are working very hard."