A roadside Halloween display in West Cumbria is bringing joy for its seventh year running.
Rachael Shepherd, of Drigg, has been helping her mum and dad, Julie and Stephen Shepherd, create the displays for the past few years.
The 25-year-old runs the campsite for her family’s business Shepherds View Holidays, which operates alongside their farm, Drigg Moorside, both of which are based just off the B5344, where their displays can be spotted every year.
The family have run the farm for five generations and first started putting up a Halloween display in 2018 as a way to bring some seasonal joy to their campers.
Rachael said: “It was my mum who had the idea to do it in 2018. To begin with, it was just something for the campers to see when they arrived.
“People in the local area have been in contact since we first started them saying how much they enjoy seeing them and wondering where they are.
“We put them up on a different date every year, it’s just when we have the time to do it, but each year we change the theme and it just gets bigger.
“My mum is a big Halloween fan and so am I, but originally it was more for campers and people driving past.
“We’re on the B5344, so we have a lot of people driving past to go to work at Sellafield and things like that.
“But people do wait for them to go up!”
In 2018, the display started as a few well-painted haybales and has now grown this year to include a horror-themed caravan, gravestones, and various intricately painted horror character themed hay bales.
The family make the displays together with their family friends Dave and Marian Taylor, who come to help every year.
Rachael added: “This year I hand painted IT the clown and Mike Wazowski. My dad is more the craftsman, so he creates all the posts they go on.
“The bails are off the farm, so after Halloween, we take the wrap off, and the cows still eat the food inside of it, so they don’t get wasted.
“Most of the stuff we use is old recycled items and all the gravestones are handmade and painted.
“Beforehand we discuss what we want to do, so mum wanted to do Freddy Kreugger, so that’s in the middle and we wanted to do a bail that’s family friendly which is Mike Wazowski and then we did IT the clown.
“The caravan was one we had on the farm anyway that was of no use, so we stripped it out and decided to turn it into something Halloween themed and since we’re a campsite, it makes a lot of sense!”
Rachael, who took over the running of the campsite last year, said her family would love to keep up the tradition and keep making displays for years to come.
She added: “We do it every year, so we will continue to do it!”
