Keep smiling and carry on! It's only a bit of rain

Smiling in the rain: It’s been a summer where people have had plenty of practice.  At first, Whaley Bridge’s 36^th Rose Queen Festival seemed to have escaped the 2012 summer curse.

WB Band leads parade start. The sun creates shadows in Canal Street

As the procession began, led by Whaley Bridge Brass Band, the sun still shone, with shadows on Canal Street.  By the time they were onto Market Street, the showers began and didn’t really end until the parade was over. The wind was strong enough to blow a visiting queen’s umbrella inside out. The band and walking parties returned soaked from the parade, the runners in the Whaley Waltz fell race even more soaked, but the spirit of Whaley Bridge could not be extinguished. Two hours after the parade began, the sun was out again.  There’s always another year!

Before the rain: sunny smile from new queen Annabel Grace Wilde

Ice cream before the deluge: Whaley Primary School children