STAR of television and the silver screen Amanda Barrie made a special guest appearance at David Pipe’s racehorse stables near Culmstock on Saturday morning (April 4) to judge the yard’s Easter bonnet competition.

Amanda, who until recently lived just outside Wellington, appeared in the ‘Carry On’ films before taking on the role of Alma Baldwin, the wife of Mike Baldwin, in the television soap ‘Coronation Street’, which she played for 20 years, since when she has appeared on the stage and screen in a number of roles.

The idea for an Easter bonnet competition, which fired the imagination of everybody at Pond House Stables, in Nicholashayne, came from Carol Pipe, wife of the sport’s legendary Martin Pipe, who was the champion trainer on 15 occasions, and who is current licence holder David’s mother.

Carol said: “It was my idea and I thought that it would be a bit of fun for the staff to get together and as it has got nearer they have got more excited.

“It has been great fun and a good team building exercise, with the winner getting £200, £50 for second, and £25 for the third place.”

Amanda said: “When the bonnets were displayed all together they made quite a show and it was clear to see that the task of picking a winner would present quite a challenging task.

“All of the bonnets were absolutely brilliant, they are so clever and everybody must have taken so much time making them.

“I thought it was a blanket finish and everybody went past the post together in my eyes, but I had to pick the best three.

“I chose the winning bonnet because I thought that it was actually wearable, and very stylish.

“The second one I chose because there was so much work and so much detail in it and it must have been a huge job to put together.

“I chose the third because it was all about Coronation Street - I thought that I cannott make that one first, but how could I ignore somebody who has gone to that trouble.

“It has been a very, very nice morning and I feel so honoured to have been invited to come along to judge the Easter bonnet competition.

“I just love this place, I love the horses, and the Pipes, too.

“I have been coming here for years.

“I really do love horses and follow them on my phone, sometimes I even wake up in the night and watch famous horse races from the past and I find myself watching them all again and cheering them home.”

Afterward, Carol Pipe said: “It was a great morning and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.

“It was a really successful event and it is always lovely to see so many of the people who are involved at the yard getting together and having fun.”

Amanda and her author wife Hilary Bonner recently relocated to live in central London after many years of splitting her time between two homes.