DEVON COUNTY SHOW KNITTED
BUNTING ALMOST DOUBLES
EXISTING RECORD AT 14.27kms
IN LENGTH
The Devon County Show has today (Monday 25thMay)
measured a line of knitted bunting which has almost doubled
an existing Guinness World Record in length.
79,001 knitted flags were created by thousands of contributors
from across the world, way over double the amount made by
the previous record-holders, according to Deborah Custance
Baker, Chief Steward for Crafts & Gardens at Devon County
Show who came up with the idea and lodged the attempt with
Guinness World Records.
A continuous line of bunting was laid out, with each knitted
pennant positioned at no more than 2 inches apart, across the
4590 square metre floor space of Westpoint Arena in Exeter.
The measuring was performed by Chartered Surveyor and
official measurer, Will Morrison from Strutt & Parker in Exeter
with a measuring wheel and a total of 14,279 kms in length was
recorded, verified by Will Morrison and witnessed by thee
adjudicators – Lord Devon, Cllr Phil Twiss and TV Presenter
and crafter Kirstie Allsopp.
The existing record is held by Upton House and comprises
31,119 flags and measured 7.5kms in length.
Deborah Custance Baker said: ‘The crafts and garden marquee
is one of the most popular sections at Devon County Show and
all of our stewards and visitors are really hands-on. Every
challenge we’ve set them so far they’ve not only succeeded in
achieving, but have blown our expectations out of the water.
The bunting is no exception. We cannot believe people’ s
dedication and commitment to the task. We thought we might
just beat the existing record but doubling it is a truly astonishing
feat.’
We do know that this is partly to do with lockdown. Many of
our contributors have commented on how knitting has really
helped them through this difficult period of self-isolation by
giving them a sense of purpose. Several who had committed to
making just a few, suddenly found they had both the time and
inclination to double, even triple their original pledges.’
Witness to the record, Kirstie Allsopp, although known for her
crafting capabilities has never mastered the art of knitting. She
said: ‘This staggering amount of bunting is just incredible and
has really given me an incentive to give it one more try!’.
20 | Rural Life