WITH drizzle throughout the morning, and on-off patches of sunshine seeping through the clouds, nothing could deter visitors, farmers, town and country folk to what was another successful Launceston Show.

With exhibitors waiting in the wings of the tents, hoping their cookery, flower or craft entries may just make it to the top, and farming exhibitors dressed in their finery and white coats, the 128th Launceston Show was well underway last Thursday, July 27, featuring many unforgettable items, people, events and entertainment.

The food and drink tent boasted a huge variety of delicious, homemade, organic and unusual local items; the performance tent rang out as Launceston Town Band provided a range of music throughout the day; and the WI, craft and flower art tents illustrated the true talent of local people.

Other features included children’s game stalls, a falconry expert showing amazing wild birds, a section of vintage cars — and, of course, who could resist a burger and chips, bacon butty, or pint of beer or cider?

New to Launceston Show for 2017 was the miniature horses classes, held by the Miniature Horse Club of Great Britain, and was set to be a real crowd-pleaser! Show-goers could also pay a visit to local businesses, organisations and schools who had a trade stand at the show.

With a buzz already evident during the early hours of the morning, the Post caught up with a very busy show secretary, Sue Williams, who was looking forward to seeing how the day would pan out, claiming the event was ‘a steep learning curve’.

She said: “It’s been a steep learning curve — it can’t all be written down. But we have had a good turnout and we’ve been lucky so far. The weather’s been good, so that’s lucky.”

This is Sue’s first year as show secretary for Launceston Show, after taking over from Naomi Hutchings. Sue has always been involved in agricultural shows, having been the secretary for Woolsery Show for 16 years, and has often been seen competing with her horses.

She had told the Post previously that she was keen on promoting the show to those who were not too familiar with agriculture and the countryside, wanting to be rid of the theory that agriculture shows are ‘just for farmers’.

This was evident during the show, with families on their summer holidays coming along to join the fun, and groups of young people all browsing the stalls, games and tents to see what was on offer.

This year’s show president, Leslie Vanstone, has spent four decades being involved in the prestigious event. During the show, he told the Post: “It’s going really well, the weather is really working in our favour, which is good because it had stopped the harvest before — so we’re hoping for a good farmer turnout today.”

For 2017, Mr Vanstone has produced a book, documenting all the moments, highlights and history of Launceston Show, dating right back to the 1850s. Speaking of his book, ‘Launceston Past and Present: An archive of the show’s history from the 1850s to the present day’, he said: “Forty years ago today, I became secretary to the show. It’s to commemorate my 40 years of involvement with the show, and also people turn out, but no one really records what’s going on.

“It’s a seed that’s been in my head for a while. I’ve been able to trace the history of it over the last few months, and I’ve gone right back to 1850. It was great fun to do, and an ambition achieved.”

He said the exhibits were ‘well up to standard’ for 2017, although sheep numbers were down a little due to risk of disease.

Speaking of highlights of the show that mean the most to him, Mr Vanstone added: “It’s generally the whole day. It’s been four decades of spending the show with old friends and family, really.”

Chairman, Robert Tucker, said: “I’ve been chairman for 13 years, and Leslie is the thirteenth president I have seen at the show. It’s been a privilege to spend the day with them (previous show presidents), and to show them aspects of the show that they might not have seen before. It’s a privilege to spend the day with Leslie.”

Mr Tucker wanted to point out the new feature of a poultry exhibit, adding: “This year we’ve now got the poultry exhibit. Due to bird flu, it is only an exhibit. However, in future years, I hope this can develop into a show.”

Finishing his talk with the Post, hoping that many show-goers would purchase Mr Vanstone’s book, Mr Tucker laughed, adding: “We’re looking forward to a cup of tea at the end!”

See the Post for all of Launceston Show’s reports and show results, covered by Rosie Cripps and Zoë Uglow.