JUST as night was starting to fall on Saturday and dusk hid them from prying eyes, a couple of incognito yarn fairies made their way to Bolton Abbey where they placed their crocheted pumpkin topper on a pillar box in the village centre, before they slipped off again back home without being seen.

The gifted fairies, from Barnoldswick, have been making crocheted toppers for some time now and the friends have managed to preserve their anonymity while making people smile with their ingenious creations. Their toppers have popped up all round the district to mark special occasions and, as all great ideas, are regularly copied in other parts of the country.

The pumpkin-themed topper, complete with pumpkin house and the mice that live there, along with tiny pumpkins, is to mark the beginning of Bolton Abbey's Pumpkin Trail for families.

Hopefully the estate workers love the topper too.