DESPITE a cloudy start the sun put his hat on in the afternoon and greated the many showgoers at this year’s Holsworthy & Stratton Agricultural Show.

The show was officially opened at 8am and it was a fun filled day from there, jam packed with entertainment.

The Post caught up with the show president for 2019, Mr Arthur Burnard of Pyworthy, as he was perusing the cattle lines to see how he was finding his first show as president: “It looks like there is good attendance so far, there were certainly plenty of cars in the car park this morning — all those eager visitors, they were there very early this morning making sure they could get a space.

“I will be going over to see the sheep in a minute but I always like to come and see the dairy cows first — I was a dairy farmer up until five years ago so it is still of great interest to me to see what stock is about.

“I am pleased to see so many youngsters getting invovled. There is some good competition in the young handlers classes and it is so important that we keep them interested — they are after all the future of the industry.”

As always the weather is a hot topic of contention for any show but Mr Burnard said he was very pleased with what Mother Nature had provided: “The weather is fine so far, wonderful show weather in fact — that is really half the battle with these shows.

“If the weather is good you are bound to have a fantastic show day!”

Throughout the day there was lots on offer, as usual, with Killatree packed to the rafters with local business stands, entertainment including falconry, horse and gun dog displays and much more.

The children’s Tractor Trail proved a huge success once again with children eagerly searching out each station to collect all the stamps in order to earn themselves a very colourful rosette (pictured right).

There was a ‘Guess the weight of the bull’ competition that members were eager to enter, with half the proceeds going to Children’s Hospice South West.

After a busy morning looking at all the livestock, visitors could get some local food and drink from the many stands around the show or pop into The Watering Hole for some refreshments. They were then able to pop in to the WI and flower tents to see what delights the members had created — each year surpassing themselves with more elaborate displays.

In the afternoon visitors could sit and watch the driven horses and the cup presentations to the worthy winners of the cattle, sheep, goat and horse sections of the show. Three special awards were presented by this year’s president Mr Burnard and his wife Anita, of Pyworthy, to three long standing members of the show. Austin Prouse and Guy Ley were awarded with ‘Life Membership’ and Annette Dennis received her ‘Long Service Certificate’ for 50 years’ service.

This was followed in the dog show ring by the family dog show, which this year was raising funds for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.

Then came the long awaited tug of war competition with teams of six from various local groups taking part. In the end, after much excitemnet, Stratton Young Farmers emerged victorious closely followed by second place Boscastle & Crackington Pilot Gig Club.

It was an enthralling sight enjoyed by all show goers to round off a very enjoyable show day.