Photograph by Andrew Curtis under Creative Commons licence

Children and parents took part in pumpkin carving and a ‘Bogus Boo’ themed night-time walk around Jesmond Dene on October 28th.

The two events, daytime pumpkin carving and a night-time Halloween walk, organised and ran by park rangers and volunteers, proved just as popular as previous years with both events fully booked.

Full-time park ranger Sarah Capes told JesmondLocal that Halloween is “the next popular thing to Christmas”.

The recent clown craze which reached Newcastle, with sightings near Jesmond, along with major supermarkets selling controversial kids costumes and accessories, hailed by acid attack victim Katie Piper this week as “offensive”, perhaps explains why organised Halloween events for children are popular.

When JesmondLocal asked ranger Capes, who organised the sold out events, about the recent sightings of prankster clowns, she said “it is important to keep it [Halloween] accessible for young people”.

The pumpkin walk began at Fisherman’s Lodge. The group of children and their parents walked together through the wooded area, decorated with glow in the dark mice and skeletons, searching for letters and clues. Carrying their lanterns, the group met a witch at the end of their walk, who read them the story of Bogus Boo, a boy who lost his parents in the woods. The witch then revealed the word made from the letters the children had found. The night was topped off with hot chocolate and pumpkin soup.

The walk allowed children and parents to walk the woods at night in a “marshalled” and “safe” way. Something they otherwise wouldn’t do. Capes said that Jesmond Dene is “magical in a night-time setting, as a family unit”.

Capes also spoke about how she felt it was important to offer these community events and make them good value for money, stressing that they needed to be cost-effective due to tight budgets across the council.

Despite this, events are well attended and well run, mainly by the two paid rangers who manage Jesmond Dene, Heaton-Armstrong Park, Paddy Freeman’s Park, and Jesmond Vale, but also by a small army of volunteers who help with everything from forest maintenance to organising events such as these.

Northumbria Police have offered the following advice to parents whose children want to take part in trick or treating: “plan ahead and preferably visit homes where people are expecting you”.