Friday, June 06, 2008

 

06 June The South of England Show

The South of England Show is a huge affair, which takes place each June at the Ardingly showground.
The sun shone down and we enjoyed ourselves.
If only our stamina had been up to seeing and doing everything.
We have almost 100 pictures now in our files from yesterday - it proved hard to narrow it down to share with you a flavour of the day.

We began at the cattle judging, because we knew that Bill's cousin David would be there with his Ayrshires.

The cows, bulls and calves were impressive in all manner of colours and shapes.


The owner of this mighty bull won first prize in his section.

It is hard to believe that this Charolais bull was sucking milk from his mother a year ago.
We chatted briefly with the owner as he waited to take his turn before the judge.


Another fine specimen. It is only at an agricultural show that one would get so close to massive and beautiful bulls.

Not every cow was on her best behaviour for the judge! This skittish young Highland mother was probably fretting for her calf, who would have run amok in the cattle pen if the handler hadn't had a very tight hold.
The winning cow and calf strutted so calmly - but it was these 2 who captured the hearts of the onlookers.


Ayrshires are dairy cows and therefore their bodies are a lot leaner.
Here, cousin David takes 3 cows round the ring with Sally, his daughter and Magenta, his grand daughter.

The three generations and the three cows await their turn in front of the judge.


I love sheep and wish we had had more time to watch the judging.
We chatted with a lady from Ardingly as we watched the Lleyn breed (originally from North Wales) being judged.
Above the judge in the Suffolk sheep class hands a red rosette to the winner. I so admired her stylish outfit!


We saw many things as we crossed the show ground, including birds of prey. The eagle owl is a fine bird.

We were heading for the flower tent. Flower growers had put on magnificent displays and there were a few tiny courtyard gardens created too.
And then there were the flower arrangement competitions.

The display of pitcher plants was fascinating and wonderful. We were almost tempted to buy.


There was a mgnificent display of flowering cacti.



The orchids were so beautiful.
They are flowers to specially cherish in this country because they are so fragile and don't like the cold. Jamie has orchids growing in his garden in Thailand.




The flower arrangers are very imaginative. I didn't seem to agree with the judges very often.
Neither of these arrangements were singled out for special prizes.
The second one was titled nouvelle cuisine.



After our lunch in the sunshine we still felt weary and so we made our way to the main arena and watched some show jumping.
One could sit all day by the arena and see interesting things - but we wanted to get back to the cattle.














After all the judging the cattle take their ease in the cattle shed and the public are free to walk through and admire them and pat them.













We spent quite a while chatting with David and Jeanne.
David posed for us with one of his Ayrshires.
As ever we said that we would get in touch with them at the farm at Sheffield Park..... and we must.
David is becoming increasingly interested in his roots and we started to tell him a few things about his grandmother for example that he didn't know.
I think we might go to the show again next year. We could have seen so much more.
....................................................................
Today has been mundane - but busy.
I spent the morning on Ebay business. Bill cut the lawns out the front and did some odd jobs indoors.
The cheque for the car arrived today and so this afternoon we went into town to bank it, in readiness for buying the replacement next week.
We are still tired, Bill is still coughing.
Time for a cuppa and bed.
Goodnight.

06 June The South of England Show
posted by Grandma P on Friday, June 06, 2008