Bishop Monkton’s first Great Potato Challenge has been voted a success after almost 100 people turned up at the school on Saturday to show off their growing skills.

Champion of the competition was Dave Whincup whose crop won in several categories – heaviest crop, heaviest individual potato, and most potatoes (49!)

The Challenge, the brainchild of Reverend Robb Wainwright, was organised by Sophie Carruthers and many others with Tim Abel providing a tractor for the occasion as well as the original seed potatoes.

The event was a joint fundraiser for both the Anglican and Methodist Churches and it’s expected to have raised around £1,000.

But the biggest cheer of the day went to Andrew and Maureen Kinnear who turned up not with a potato but a confession. They were making dinner one night recently and realised they had no potatoes. Instead of rushing out to buy some, they sacrificed their competition spuds and turned up on Saturday with some McCain chips instead plus a poem of apology!

The event was supported by a number of sponsors who donated prizes – the Masons Arms, the Little Ripon Bookshop, the Harrogate Garden Centre and Bud Floral of Ripon.