Mary Berry declares new knitted bunting world record

Mary Berry was at Upton House, the National Trust house near Banbury, to declare an incredible new world record yesterday (Thursday).

More than 900 volunteers have been hard at work for months knitting, threading and sewing tens of thousands of red, white and blue bunting triangles as part of the bid to challenge the current world record for the longest line of knitted bunting, set by Woman’s Weekly magazine in 2011.

After receiving official confirmation from officials at Guinness World Records, Mary declared that Upton’s stretch of 7.55km of bunting easily thrashed the previous record of 3.2km.

The record attempt has been part of an ongoing series of events at Upton House, including Banking for Victory which takes visitors back in time to the Second World War, when the house served as the headquarters for the Bearsted family bank.

The bunting will eventually be turned into blankets for a charity for the homeless.

See next week’s Herald for more on this story. December’s Focus magazine carries our exclusive interview with Mary Berry – and a chance to win a copy of her latest book, Family Sunday Lunches.