A SPA custom has been revived in Harrogate and could become an annual event.

Driving rain kept onlookers down to a few hundred people as the Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Caroline Bayliss, stepped out to lead a well-to-well walk through the town at the weekend.

The walk also revived the tradition of well dressing, decorating the well-heads with floral displays.

Coun Bayliss decided to resurrect the walk, from Tewit Well, in The Stray, to the Royal Pump Room and Harrogate's Valley Gardens.

The idea was to raise the profile and importance wells played in the development of Harrogate as an inland resort where thousands of visitors came to "take the waters".

Coun Bayliss said the custom of marking the importance of Harrogate's spa waters had been allowed to die out.

She said: "With a floral reputation second to none, and more springs than anywhere else in the world, Harrogate is ideally made for this tradition."

More than 150 walkers joined the celebration. Some dressed up for the occasion, a few in bath robes to spell out the link with the town's Turkish Baths.

Morris dancers defied the rain to display their nimble footwork outside the Valley Gardens and there were bands to liven the walk.

A few sheep made a return to The Stray where they once grazed in great numbers.