Thursday 31 May 2018

The Suffolk Show Part 1

Our county show has been held on the Wednesday and Thursday of half term week FOREVER! and we are always being told it's one of the best in the country as it has kept it's true agricultural roots.

We used to go quite often when I was a child and took our own children a few times. Once we had the campsite we were usually busy at home through half term week so I'd not been for maybe 15 years, since Colin got me a Day Member ticket for my birthday. That was a good visit as members get into a special enclosure close to the Grand Ring and use the posh loos!

Anyway, I decided to go this year, it's something I'm happy to go to on my own......no one to dictate what stands to look at or to decide when to arrive or leave. My only worry was losing the car in the car park among the many thousands of other cars. You wouldn't believe how many small silver-grey cars there are in Suffolk!

My plan was to arrive early, just after 8am and be close to the front of the car park and I was waved into a space right on the end of a row - no problem losing the car there.

I got the show guide from Brother in law last week when it was free with his East Anglian Daily Times (he gets in the show for free......lucky thing..... because of his 40 years Suffolk Agricultural Association long service award with the farm he works for) and found that if I got a EADT goody bag on my way into the showground - for £1 - it would have a newspaper, a bottle of water and some edibles - bargain!

I made a note on the map of the stands I wanted to visit because I like to see how many free cups of tea/coffee I can find!

Also noted down the times of the show jumping which I wanted to watch. So first stop The Grand Ring at 8.30 for the "The Welcome Stakes".

I would have liked to take my big camera but it was too big for my bag and I wanted to 'travel light' so it was the little Canon with the blob on it's lens!


I watched all the competition and then started to wander. This is one of the big ol' helicopters that flies over home sometimes.


Time for a free cuppa and  free cup-cake with entertainment by the Co-op Brass Band in the East of England Co-op tent.........just by showing my Co-op card.

And more wandering took me through all the stands selling posh country clothing, jewelry, hats, horsy things, doggy things, hunting shooting and fishing things and round to the sheep tent, some being judged here.
I popped into the goat tent but as always no-one there to speak to, no information about goats, not even anything on each pen to say what breed they were or who owned them. No wonder the BGS are short of members .....(it's something that annoyed me way back when I wanted to know more about goat keeping!....Nothing has changed)


Back to the Grand Ring to get a seat for the next showjumping and I arrived in time for the heavy horse pairs turnouts. They come from all over the Eastern Counties and further afield for this competition.

It takes hours to get them ready.

Then the 'International Trial' Show jumping was a good competition. Only 4 clear rounds out of over 20 entries. Top 5 come back for a second round against the clock and only one clear round which took the top prize of £2,000 - I think.

With 2018 being the 100 year anniversary of the ending of WWI there were several displays. This is a re-creation of the FANYS. (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.A rather select higher-class organisation that had existed since formation in 1907, the FANY worked with the Red Cross organisations, principally as ambulance drivers. There were just fewer than 120 members of the group in France in August 1918. FANY went on to survive another war and indeed still operates today, (SEE HERE)although the nature of its work and the make-up of its staff has changed somewhat since 1918.)


More from the show  tomorrow................


Sue


23 comments:

  1. It looks like a lovely day out Sue.I love things like this!We have got the Riverside Festival in Leicester this weekend and I go every year.There is music with live groups playing,loads of stalls some with free activities for the kids,even free food on the No Waste stalls.I just hope that the weather is kind to us!xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. You packed all that lot in and there is a part two, to come? You really do know how to get the most out of a county show, without spending a fortune. The horses would have been my main focus, but there is so much more to be enjoyed at these shows. I didn't know about the modern version of the FANY's.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Losing the car is always a fear of mine. The size of the car parks at these events is mindblowing. I love that you planned your route round the various free coffee opportunities, what a brilliant idea 😊

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad to hear you are getting out and about. Show sounds a good 'un
    Arilx

    ReplyDelete
  5. It all looks absolutely brilliant and I love that you manage to find so many freebies and frugals. Well done with the parking - it's horrible when you can't find your car again.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks idyllic...I love to see heavy horses...they are such majestic animals. If I get really desperate about losing my car one day I may just be tempted to tie a pair of not so smalls to the aeria. Well nobody else would!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Royal Norfolk Show is in June and has a bit more pomp and ceremony.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's even bigger than the Suffolk Show! No royals that I heard of at the Suffolk Show this year, they used to have people like Duke of Gloucester etc

      Delete
  8. How wonderful! I would love all the animals, especially the heavy horses. Just a little helpful thought... you may try putting a brightly coloured stuffed toy on your dashboard, or the rear window of your car which would be easy to spot, for those times when you are in crowded parking lots. Quicker to see than reading license plates, maybe. Thanks for sharing your photos. -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  9. It sounds like you had a very enjoyable day. We like going to events like that also.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a lovely day out. I know what you mean about going to events like this, sometimes it's nice just to be able to wander around and look at what you want. The heavy horses are magnificent aren't they and remind me of the album by Jethro Tull, one of Mark's favourite bands. Looking forward to part 2. xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do love the fact that our counties still hold shows, with do many old traditions during out it's great to see. Free cake and tea....good old coop!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It looks like you had a good day out. I enjoyed your wonderful pictures. I couldn't help but laugh when you mentioned all the small silver grey cars because I have the same problem here. I drive a small silver grey toyota and there are many other cars just like mine. I have even walked up to a car thinking it was mine until I looked inside it! I'm so glad you had a good time and I look forward to part 2!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got as far as trying a key in a car door and wondering why it wouldn't open and then realising mine was the one beside it

      Delete
  13. Thank you for taking me to the Suffolk Show. I loved going to it and the Norfolk. The last time was just before we left for Canada in 1980. The show jumping was my favourite and then the animal judging. Nice to know you can still get free tea and cake. I once walked out of the back door of a tent and there was the Queen Mother taking a break. I was too shy to say anything and did my best to melt back in to the tent.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Our local show is coming up in July and it's a favourite family event. I love the pavilion filled with the arts and crafts, baking, plants and photography. I could spend hours wandering through there! Sounds like you found lots of interesting things to see at your show Sue. Meg:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. It looks good. We used to go to the Essex show which we enjoyed but haven't been for years since they moved it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. We were visiting in MN and went to the State Fair in Saint Paul. My mom and I headed for the horse and cow barns, always interesting. We also went to the bull judging ring and saw some of the young people using human hair products like sleek and shine on the young bulls to make them look good. LA County always has their county fair in September when it's hot and icky. Besides it's 60 miles away from us.
    Looked like you had a good time, and can't wait to see the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It looks like you had a grand day at the fair! If you want to know anything about goats, just ask me. I was the 4-H Dairy Goat leader for 5 years and we raised a lot of Nubian Dairy Goats over the years. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved keeping goats. We kept them for 20 years at the smallholding and I did all the milking. I liked Toggenberg goats best or Golden Guernsey

      Delete
  18. I love watching jumping as well. Those large horses are gorgeous and what well turned out wagons.

    I think you had a wonderful time and I am looking forward to some more pictures.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a lovely day out. I used to love going to Romsey Show (I never missed it when I lived in Hampshire) and there are a couple of good local shows here too, but I missed our one down in the village last weekend as busy elsewhere.

    Glad you found some free tea, and what a good selection of things to see and watch. Shame about the goats though . . . The breed societies need a shake up.

    I used to love watching the showjumping too, and back in my day it was David Broome and Alan Oliver competing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't recognise any of the names although they did say one of the men was part of the Whitaker stable.

      Delete