For its 752nd year, the famous Egremont Crab Fair was met with sunshine, cheers, and of course, a brief shower of apples.

The weekend was opened with Dancing in the Street, featuring headline act Shayne Ward, which saw plenty of swooning and singing along with the X Factor and Corrie star.

After a quick rest, the people of Egremont were back on their feet for the apple cart to roll through at midday – and if they weren’t awake already, an apple being thrown in their direction definitely did the trick.

A jam-packed afternoon of funfair rides, sweets and field events was on the cards for the youngsters of West Cumbria, and four-year-old Annabelle Fitzwilliam from Egremont was certainly enjoying herself.

“I love the lollies best! But I also liked catching apples,” she said, clutching on to her multi-coloured sweet treat.

Annabelle’s mum Jane and sister Louisa, 12, were also having a blast, and were joined by friends Tom Kendal and his daughter Marnie, three, and Claire Hewertson with six-month-old Olly.

Jane, who was Crab Fair Queen “many years ago”, said: “We come religiously every year – rain or shine! It’s just a lovely day.”

And although two-year-old Finn O’Donnell was a bit flustered by the fun on offer, he was still enjoying his day at the Crab Fair.

Finn’s mum Amy Dorgan and godmother Rebecca Long moved to Egremont two years ago, but have loved the fair for years.

“We just love the sense of community, and that it gets everyone together,” Rebecca said. “It’s been going for hundreds of years – it’s so cool that the tradition’s carried on.”

Amy added: “We love the animals as well – Finn loves the dogs, and I can’t believe there are alpacas here!”

And the alpacas from Yeathouse Farm, Frizington, were certainly popular, and had fun wandering the field led by fairgoers.

“It’s their first experience away from home,” Mike Mawdling of Yeathouse Farm explained. “They were enjoying the music before!”

Mike’s younger sister, Natasha, added: “It’s nice to be here, and it’s been a really good day.”

While bikes and runners impressively did their rounds on the sports field, and friends gathered at the beer tent for an afternoon tipple, the other star-feature furry friends – a group of very friendly ferrets – enjoyed plenty of cuddles with excited fair visitors.

“We like to change people’s opinions of ferrets and bring them out to people,” Ferret Whiskers member Jane Butt said, with Freddie the ferret in-hand. “It’s great being here! The ferret racing used to be so popular at the fair, so we’re hoping to keep it going.”