The West Country Halloween traditions that could be making a comeback

With just a couple of days to go before Halloween, thousands of people have been visiting pumpkin farms.

But here in the West Country, vegetables like turnips were often traditionally used as lanterns.

'Punkie Night' is still held in Hinton St George in Somerset on the last Thursday of October.

'Punkie' is another name for a lantern made from a Mangelwurzel, a cultivated vegetable with large roots that was grown to feed animals.

As part of the evening, children march around with a Jack-O'-Lantern singing a song. In earlier times, farmers would put a traditional 'Punkie' on their gates to ward off evil spirits.

This year turnips could be making a comeback, as the dry summer means pumpkins are in shorter supply.

• Watch Adam Mounce explain how adverse weather has impacted pumpkin yield this year

Adam Mounce from Strawberry Fields Farm Shop in Lifton says the weather conditions have made a difference.

He said: "The lack of moisture and rain, the dry summer, and the excess temperatures we've had have made a difference.

"We really have struggled and we have got less [sic] pumpkins, perhaps than normal."

Dr Faye Prior, who is an associate collections curator, has been exploring the roots of the Halloween turnip.

She said: "Initially for Jack-O'-Lanterns people used to carve turnips. It seems the origin of having a lantern on Halloween comes from mischief nights.

"So, the lads out playing pranks on people would hollow out turnips and field beats, pop a little light inside, and light their way home with them."

But there is no need to let the Halloween fun be squashed this year as ghoulish faces can still be carved into turnips - just as people would have done in centuries gone by.

However, turnips are more difficult to carve. Tips for carving them are to use a good quality knife, to have a scoop handy for the inside and some elbow grease.

Here are the vegetables some people in our region have been customising recently: