I threw caution to the wind and headed to Westpoint to visit the first day (of 3, it's on until Sun 24 May) of the Devon County Show. The weather worried me a little. The forecast had been for heavy showers.
The Show was enjoyable. The weather was typically English. Heavy downpours (luckily, there is plenty of cover: marquees, trade tents etc) followed by glorious sunshine. I should imagine there were almost pitched battles between the welly and ice cream sellers.
The atmosphere was good. There were plenty of TV cameras and farmers in tweeds. There were some children (not ours), many animals, some amusing shows, and wonderful food and some crafts on display too.
Plenty to do for families: it looks like there are some serious rides at the fairground, some crafts and competitions, plus many many animals to look at. The size of some of the animals is awesome, and
I particularly enjoyed the competition in the Young Farmers' section. The decorated cubicles and buckets amused and inspired me. The TV presenter trying his hand at being a shepherd to use a sheepdog to round up some ducks was also entertaining.
The food marquee seemed more appealing than the Exeter Food Festival (which I wrote a previous post about). I think there was more space, plus the grass underfoot made it more authentic somehow. The producers were not just (although largely) Devon based. There were some from Cornwall, Somerset and Gloucestershire. Perhaps this extension to the South West was attractive to me. I sampled and bought some of this Cornish olive and pork salami. It's delicious.
UPDATE: the show was closed on the Saturday due to flash flooding making the parking fields very muddy. First time in many years. I feel a lot of sympathy for the exhibitors, organisers and the frustrated visitors.
The atmosphere was good. There were plenty of TV cameras and farmers in tweeds. There were some children (not ours), many animals, some amusing shows, and wonderful food and some crafts on display too.
Plenty to do for families: it looks like there are some serious rides at the fairground, some crafts and competitions, plus many many animals to look at. The size of some of the animals is awesome, and
I particularly enjoyed the competition in the Young Farmers' section. The decorated cubicles and buckets amused and inspired me. The TV presenter trying his hand at being a shepherd to use a sheepdog to round up some ducks was also entertaining.
UPDATE: the show was closed on the Saturday due to flash flooding making the parking fields very muddy. First time in many years. I feel a lot of sympathy for the exhibitors, organisers and the frustrated visitors.
