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125th Lincs Show a vintage event
Friday, 10am: THE 125th Lincolnshire Show is being marked down as a vintage one, with glorious sunshine bringing out bumper crowds and high spirits.
The sun had its hat firmly on for the full duration of the two days, forcing many showgoers to do likewise as they strolled about the showsite enjoying the varied tastes of Lincolnshire life.
Although show organisers the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society are still crunching numbers, they know that Wednesday's gate sales were 40 per cent up on last year and with Thursday's crowd seemingly just as large they are expecting a near-record attendance.
The Royal visit as the Princess Royal opened the centrepiece ecological EPIC centre attracted enthusiastic attention and added an extra dimension to the agricultural showcase.
Princess Anne had been the society's president in 1988 and visited twice since, in 1999 and 2004.
In her speech she told how she admired this latest development on the Grange de Lings site north of Lincoln – home off the show for a 50th year.
"It helps in the promotion of Lincolnshire and all that's good in it," she said
She congratulated everyone involved in the concept and reality of the building, which sprung from a seed of an idea held by Lincolnshire Agricultural chaplain and Wragby Methodist minister, the Rev Canon Alan Robson to have a building that promoted environmental sustainability and the part farming can play in promoting innovation.
She praised the investment in 'time, effort and certainly cost' for coming up with the 6m 'truly original' building.
"The agricultural history of Lincolnshire is extremely important, in defining what we mean by sustainability, and Lincolnshire is clearly set to play a great role in helping to raise that awareness and knowledge of what sustainability is going to mean for the future."
The Earl of Yarborough, this year's society president and the fourth of his family to take the role, was delighted to see the enthusiastic turnout by county folk showing that the Lincolnshire Show 'remains the highlight of the county calendar'.
"Over the years it's broadened its appeal from a purely agricultural show to the show it is today celebrating so many aspects of life in this great county, without ever losing site of its agricultural heritage," he said.
The EPIC building – already proving its popularity in its first year of trading with a 1m turnover for bookings, exhibitions, conferences and functions, an award as one of the country's leading green buildings and an inspiration to the construction industry – may never have been built, he said without the generosity of many members of the agricultural society, the Lincolnshire and West Lindsey councils and others.
Once again there were many exemplary animals on show in the competitive classes, fine flower arranging and displays by Women's Institutes across the county and, as ever, commercial enterprise and machinery which rivalled any county show.
Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, making his first visit to what he said was the premier agricultural county, and said there were few other shows with such a strong turnout of machinery and livestock.
"It's a shame that other shows have not retained their agricultural bias as you see here and that's a true reflection of Lincolnshire as a premier farming county."
The show organising society's chief executive Mark Farmer has come to the end of his first year in post, delighted with the universally acclaimed success of the 125th show.
"There is no secret recipe," he said. "It's just a combination of it being a true agricultural show that shows off to its county and the region what Lincolnshire does best, the superb displays of machinery, livestock and trades and great entertainment that appeals to the wide public as well who come for shopping, the food courts and to socialise."
That said though, the society is welcoming suggestions for moving the show forward into the future, to ensure ongoing success for June 23 and 24, 2010.
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Weather for Market Rasen
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -3 C to -2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
