A wealth of young poetic talent in villages around Litcham has been unearthed thanks to the honed ears of residents in Tittleshall. Courtenay House Residential Home decided to hold a poetry competition open to schools in the area in order to help get more interaction between the home and surrounding communities.

A wealth of young poetic talent in villages around Litcham has been unearthed thanks to the honed ears of residents in Tittleshall.

Courtenay House Residential Home decided to hold a poetry competition open to schools in the area in order to help get more interaction between the home and surrounding communities.

More than 100 entries flooded in from nearby Mileham, Litcham and Great Dunham primary schools and the residents at Courtenay House had the job of picking two winners and a runner up.

And it was a poem about the sounds of the rainforest by six-year-old Great Dunham pupil Madeleine Ridout, complete with a drawing of a snake, that won over the judges.

Sue Bright, activities co-ordinator at the home, said: 'We are trying to liaise with the local community more. A lot of residents can't go out so we are trying to get things to come to the home for them.

'And I think we all had a lovely time. We certainly enjoyed it and the children did too.'

The judges didn't know the age or sex or even school of the author of each of the poems they read or had read to them.

But it turned out that second prize winner, Ethan Hood, 10, and runner up, Alice Bright, 10, were also both from Great Dunham primary.

The winners were given book tokens and a chocolate rabbit and the runner up got a chocolate rabbit.

Their poems and drawings that went with them will be hung on the home's walls.

Rainforest, by Madeleine Ridout, 6.

The snake goes ssss!

The birds go tweet!

The monkey goes oo oo ah ah!!!

The millipede goes step to step

The trees go rustle, rustle!!!

The rain in the forest goes drip drop!