During the run up to the annual RAF Harrowbeer 1940s weekend, shops in Yelverton dressed up their window fronts with flags, 1940s signage and pictures to commemorate the special weekend.

The RAF Harrowbeer 1940s Weekend took place on August 16 and 17 and saw hundreds of people get into the spirit of the 40s with WII re-enactors, vintage cars, posters and activities.

The Larder produced a hand-painted timeline picture, decorated the shop with bunting, and all the staff wore 1940s costume during the week before the two-day event at RAF Harrowbeer.

Mansbridge & Balment printed all their property details in sepia, created a video of 1940s events for their display screen and used vintage items and recreated food tins to decorate their window.

Mansbridge & Balment shop were joint winners with The Larder in the Shop Window Challenge.
The presentation to staff at Mansbridge & Balment (Stephen Fryer)

Highly commended were the Co-op and Moor Cards for their displays.

Stephen Fryer, lead organiser, said, “We really appreciated the effort the shops put in this year and were blown away by the displays. The shops looked terrific and in the end, we just couldn’t decide which was best and awarded The Larder and Mansbridge & Balment joint winners.”

Unfortunately the RAF Harrowbeer 1940s weekend did come across misfortune when the organisers discovered a water bowser was taken from the site.

The missing water bowser.
The missing water bowser. (Stephen Fryer)

On Facebook, a RAF Harrowbeer 1940s Weekend spokesperson said: “Following our hugely successful 1940s Weekend, someone removed one of SWWA's water bowsers from the site on Sunday night. They would like it back. Not sure who would want a water bowser but can you bring it back please. It was next to the NAAFI tent. The police have been informed.”

If you have information about the missing water bowser, contact: [email protected]