FARINGDON'S famous folly tower has announced its opening dates for 2018 after what it said was a 'very successful 2017'.

The first open day of this year will be, appropriately, on April Fools' Day (April 1), which is also Easter Sunday, from 11am to to 5pm.

The tower will then be open on the first and third Sundays of the month until October 21, at the same times.

Entry to the 100-ft-high tower costs £3 for adults or £1 for under-16s, and the Faringdon Folly Tower Trust which now looks after it said last year's visitors raised thousands for its maintenance.

In an end-of-year report, trustees said the average number of visitors on open days in 2017 was 300, slightly higher than the average for 2016, and the number of private bookings almost doubled.

A special Halloween event attracted more than 200 visitors, they added.

All the takings help to cover the costs of maintaining the 80-year-old folly tower, built by Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners (known more generally as Lord Berners) while he was living at Faringdon House.

Among the most urgent repairs now ongoing are those on the 21 windows and places where water is getting in. The trustees are also planning to redecorate the Lantern and Belvedere rooms.

See faringdonfolly.org.uk