DESPITE a few showers on Friday, May 16, the sun burst through by the Saturday of this year’s 124th Devon County Show.

The three-day show — held from May 16 to 18 — is constantly evolving and this year, as well as the usual strong displays of cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock, the show teamed up with Plymouth University to present an ‘Ocean Discovery Zone’. The interactive space provided an incite into the fascinating world of marine conservation — not something you see at every agricultural show!

Continuing the environmental theme, with the Devon County Show’s new president, Sir Harry Studholme being the chair of the Forestry Commission, it was no surprise that much emphasis was made of the Forestry Commission’s centenary year. The show received a donation of 100 trees to mark the event which were planted around the showground. The 100th tree to be planted was a Luscombe Oak, a tree first grown in Devon.

That wasn’t all that was new; in a bid to take the much-visited food section onto an exciting, new and international platform, this year’s show hosted a diverse selection of exotic cuisine from around the world.

There was also exciting news for local dog lovers with the introduction of the new premier open dog show, which contained 355 classes, welcomed a number of new breeds and gave entrants the opportunity to qualify for the prestigious Crufts 2020 event. Among those to pick up a coveted rosette was Amanda Carter of Camelford who was delighted to win best of breed with ‘Bolt’ the Ibizan Hound.

At the heart of any agricultural show though is the main ring displays of livestock and equine strength and beauty. The cream of the crop from the Post area included Mr E C Haste of Beaworthy with his Beef Shorthorn champion breed winner ‘Techra Lovely Knight’ and the Ley family were delighted to win their namesake award the William Ley Dairy Pair Competition for the best pair of dairy animals.

Once again there was strong competition in the sheep pens. It was a family affair when Abigail Cornelius showed a Scotch Blackface sheep on behalf of her grandad Philip Cornelius of Launceston to take breed champion and young Bella Martyn-Uglow, five, once again impressed the judges coming away with a number of first place ribbons including best wooled exhibit for both the Border Leicester and Texel breeds and reserve champion female for her Border Leicester.

Yet again the horse show field did not disappoint with displays of strength from the Heavy Horses and rosettes a plenty for local riders including champion ridden Anglo Arab or part bred Arab for Miss L Davey of Launceston with ‘Carrhouse Boston Legal’.

Thanks to the good weather conditions and the number of attractions available to the public it looks as though this year may have been Devon County Show’s most successful to date.

So, as the sun set on another Devon County Show, new show manager, Sam Mackenzie-Green said: “It’s been a fantastic experience, driven by an incredible team of dedicated people who have worked tirelessly to put on this vast spectacle. We were fortunate enough to go into this show on a hugely positive note — with the most trade stands booking than we have had in many years, as well as advance ticket sales up by 10% on last year.

“Early indications suggest that numbers are up on last year but we will need to have this verified once all the sales information has been returned from our retail partners.

“It’s a positive note on which to end 2019 and a great way to go into 2020, to which we are already looking forward. Next year is our 125th year as a show and we have a number of ideas up our sleeve to celebrate this milestone which will be revealed in due course.”