Something quite unexplained happened in Horwich over the weekend... In the chill of the dark nights Little Monsters appeared across the town filling the air with squeals, screams and lots of excitement. Witches, Ghouls and Ghost accompanied their Little Monsters as they followed a map along the Haunted Horwich Pumpkin Trail to find lots of scary displays in local windows and gardens, plus mountains of Tasty Treats, which soon disappeared, in an exciting, creepy and innovative alternative to Halloween Night.
Due to the Coronavirus many children have missed out on so much already this year and when it looked like Halloween was going to be another casualty, local mum Kat Urmston, decided enough was enough and decided to save Halloween for her little monsters, so she set to work with her friend Jo Murphy to organise ‘The Horwich Pumpkin Trail' and as if by magic the amazing folk of Horwich got to work to decorate, windows, gardens and themselves to take part in the Pumpkin Trail and give the children a spooktacular event they'll never forget!
Organiser of the event Kat Urmston said, "I heard about the National Pumpkin Trail that had been set up and when I heard it was because Trick or Treating was cancelled I decided to take action and make the trail happen in Horwich.
Wondering how it would take off I asked my friend Jo Murphy if she would help me set up a Facebook page and that is where it started. As the Halloween weekend approached our orange pumpkin spread through Horwich and soon photos started coming in of some amazing creations. There were Lego pumpkins, handmade pictures, scarecrow pumpkins, window displays and more."
The Horwich Pumpkin Trail was a massive hit with everyone and as always the community of Horwich made it even more special, it really captured the imagination and messages came flooding in.
‘I don't have any children but I'm decorating my window to spread the cheer.'
‘Watching the excitement of the children search made my day!'
‘My grandkids absolutely loved it they drove round, definitely a huge success'
‘Well done everyone! Just what we needed. Great community spirit once again in Horwich.'
There are already plans for another event next year, but there's even more in the pipeline, as organiser Kat explained, "The Pumpkin Trail has been heart warming. People love the community spirit and we have been asked if it can be an annual thing. But we're not stopping there. We have already done a ‘Lest We Forget' window and garden display and are going to join the national idea of creating a ‘Winter Windowland' adding our own little Horwich touches."
Look out for more cracking community events ... keeping the spirit alive!