GALLERY: Spectacular fun at Staffordshire County Show
From sheep shearing to dog shows and giant tortoises, Staffordshire County Show had it all.
Tens of thousands of visitors came through the doors of the Staffordshire County Showground when the two-day festival opened yesterday.
Children and families were able to enjoy a number of activities throughout the day, with the show running into today.
This year’s sheep shearing competition was the biggest yet as two new categories – a novice blade shears and an open shears category. were introduced.
GALLERY: See highlights of the event
Alongside the usual junior, intermediate and senior competitions, they introduced a novice blade shears and an open shears category. All of the shearing competitions took place yesterday and today the sheep shearing will host a shearing demonstration by a local shearing contractor, John Froggatt.
It gives the public a chance to get closer to the action and ask questions throughout the sheep shearing process.
A wool handling competition, which was introduced for the first time last year, will also be returning.
An interactive education roadshow, which only appears at a handful of events each year, has also featured at the show for the first time.
Coming from The National Farmers Union (NFU), the Let’s Talk Farming Discovery Barn is designed to encourage children to learn about agriculture and where their food comes from. It is aimed at nine-year-olds and was improved in 2017 to teach children about food provenance and the work of farmers.
It combines games and fascinating facts for children to learn and it’s first year at the county show comes as the Staffordshire NFU group celebrate their 100th anniversary.
Throughout both days visitors have been able to enjoy a range of stalls, including crafts workshops, as well as a handful of local chefs taking to the demonstration kitchen stage to tantalise people’s taste buds.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive of the Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural Society, said: “We are really pleased with how well the first day has gone. There has been a steady flow of people coming in through the gates.
“We’ve been lucky with the weather so far and we’re delighted to see a constant stream of people, but the forecast for the second day was better so we are expecting a very large crowd tomorrow.
“With a weather forecast that is more settled and warmer we expect a lot of people will choose the second day to come.
“Our mission is to encourage excellence in agriculture through competition but additionally we aim to increase the education content of the show through farm to fork, the NFU discovery barn, which we’re thrilled to have here, and farm on wheels.
“The public don’t get the chance to see livestock up close and personal these days and the feedback we’ve had so far has been very positive. We’ve got interpretation boards around the livestock area, explaining what is special about a Tamworth pig.”
Raymond Nield, President of the society, added: “As you walk around you can’t help but feel proud of the number of stands we have got, agricultural and non agricultural, people are saying they have never seen so much farm machinery here.
“We are inviting the general public to come and see what we do.”
