The new cattle building proved favourable, with competitors very happy with the facilities and visitors enjoying a much better viewing platform.
The Society is delighted with the success of this year’s show, especially considering the weather conditions two days before.
Supreme Sheep Champion for Saturday was Mr R Vincent from Oxford Down, Witney and Sunday’s Champion was M R & D P Thomas and Bevan Messers from Hill Radnor, Presteine.
Overall Supreme Beef Champion went to W J & M Mash Ltd from Brockurst Heavenly, Chesham and Supreme Dairy Champion went to Mr Elmes from Swallowdale Baxter Blackrose 5, Swindon.
And finally Interbreed Pig Champion went to Mrs Sue Fildes from Kilcot Mermaid 7, Dartmouth.
In the run up to the show, organisers saw a rise in social media engagement, with over 6.5k followers, reaching 214k people and over 55k post engagements. Twitter also saw a rise in followers and nearly 700 mentions over the show weekend.
The brand new Food and Farming Zone was buzzing with families and individuals enjoying the many hands-on activities and demonstrations on offer, such as apple pressing, beer sampling and wonderful displays illustrating what happens over the course of the arable farming year. Families also enjoyed a GPS tractor ride and operating a mini digger. The new zone’s main aim was to demonstrate the importance of backing the British Farming industry, which is even more important after the recent decision to leave the EU. The University of Reading certainly supported this with an exhibition based around the food chain, taking visitors on a journey from field to fork in a number of interactive displays.
Headlining in the main arena this year were the White Helmets, who didn’t disappoint. Crowds enjoyed the thrilling stunts and acrobatics as well as watching them jump through fire rings.
Pictures: Anthony Mosley. Tel: 01822 833204 Web: www.anthonymosley-photographer.co.uk
