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Danby Show celebrates 150th year
DANBY Agricultural Show celebrates its 150th anniversary on Wednesday when the organisers hope to attract around 6,000 people.
It's the oldest agricultural show in the area and probably one of the oldest in the country, having started in 1848.
This year, the show promises its usual variety of displays and competitive classes, ranging from cattle and sheep to cavies, ferrets and walking sticks.
Always particularly popular are the horse and pony classes with magnificent heavy horses, among them the Cleveland Bays, a breed used to pull the Queen's coaches, hunters and a wealth of native breeds including Dales ponies and miniature Shetlands.
Vintage tractors and farm machinery are also a regular attraction. showing the marked difference in bygone farming methods with those of the present day.
Despite this year's unpredictable weather, there are more entries for horticultural and dairy classes but those in the children's classes are a little down on last year's.
There was a special children's class in last year's show that gave the youngsters the opportunity to design a poster and a catalogue cover marking this year's anniversary and the winning designs are now in use.
Farmers' children have the opportunity to show their skills in the pet lamb class for youngsters aged up to 11 years who have hand reared their own lambs.
Sheep dog trials are a regular and popular feature displaying the skills of dogs and their handlers – though there are times when the dogs are not as biddable as they ought to be.
But this year's special attraction is Elaine Hill with her sheepdog display. Her dogs are biddable and have a particularly difficult task in that they round up ducks, not sheep.
The organisers are keeping their fingers crossed for good weather. The show has never been cancelled and carried on even two years ago when heavy rain for some days before turned the show field and the parking field into quagmires. Tractors had to be used to pull out vehicles.
The show was started by Canon Atkinson in 1848 and the only time it had to be cancelled was during the war years and in 2001 due to the foot and mouth outbreak.
Canon Atkinson was the well-known author of Forty Years in a Moorland Parish and the show at first was only for horses and cows.
It started behind the Downe Arms Inn in Castleton and in the 1870s was combined with Castleton's annual cheese fair. It was moved to its present site on the vicarage field in Danby in 1953.
This year's show is open to exhibitors at 8am and to the general public at 9am when the horse classes begin. Admission is 5 adults, concessions 3, children aged five to 16 2, under fives free.
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Weather for Whitby
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South
