Last weekend was the Mid Somerset Show - it's a proper country fair that's been going for 161 years, the sort of show with lots of people in tweed jackets, people in riding outfits and farmers in white jackets showing off their livestock. Plus a gazillion cake and craft categories to enter and even a performance from The Wurzels to round off the day. (Coincidentially it's also held in the childhood hometown of Carrie from Wish Wish Wish).
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We've been going for 6 years taking along Andrew's lorry to exhibit in the Vintage Vehicle field and loads of our friends with vintage vehicles come along too so it's like one big fun picnic all day long.
In fact, I can't remember any miserable wet shows, I think the sun must always shine on the day!
Beacuse we were exhibitors, we managed to get in and around the show fairly early before the majority of the crowds arrived. My favourite tent is always the food and drink tent - plenty of free samples of cheese, sausages, bread, fudge, and this year, even some lemon drizzle cake (if you make your way round the tent a few times and were brazen enough, you could probably put together a fairly decent meal!)
I also like the vegetable show with giant leeks and daintily arranged onions, they all look far more professional than anything I've ever grown in my back garden, and the sheer amount of categories for flowers, crafts, cakes, jams, chutneys, photographs, and plenty more is pretty amazing.
Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone in Shepton Mallet who hasn't gone home with a prize!
Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone in Shepton Mallet who hasn't gone home with a prize!
Giant leeks!
Flower arrangements
A category called "tea for two"
Soft fruit display
A vegetable hamper
Another vegetable display
My favourite category - "make a vegetable monster!"
I think this category was "sweet jewellery" and the far category called "make a dinosaur"
Cheese as far as the eye can see!
And this only won second prize?
Maybe one year I'll get round to entering one of my own cakes...
Have you been to any county shows this year?
I haven't been to a country show since I was a kid and there to watch my Aunt show her sheep! I've often thought about going to the Bath & West one, but everyone always moans about the traffic jams so I've never braved it.
ReplyDeleteThe Mid-Somerset show looks lovely! I would love to take along a cake and have it judged. (I would nervously nibble my way through the cheese tent while I waited.) There are so many fun categories that I never imagined--love the vegetable monsters!
Angela xx
Little Apple Tree
Bath and West is good, but you're right the queues can be quite bad (plus it's quite costly to get in!). The Mid Somerset Show is on a smaller scale but is still fab, and it's free to enter! I think there is a car park charge but you can also park in the town centre and just walk 5 minutes to the show :-)
DeleteI've always thought about entering a cake or some biscuits but never seem to get round to it! Pehaps next year... :-) xx
I've just had a look at the show schedule. I can see why Kirstie Allsopp struggled a bit with her programme about entering country shows. The categories all make much more sense to regular entrants! (Should a finished article of cross stitch be presented framed, finished into an object, or left as is so that the back can be judged?) Still, I could do the 'three American muffins on a board' category...
DeleteHaha, I know, there seems thousands of categories! (and far too few instructions on what they need!) :-) x
DeleteOh wow, those are some big leeks! This looks like so much fun, the cows are so cute!
ReplyDeleteThey were huge! And that was just the leeks, all the vegetable entries seemed giant-sized! :-) x
DeleteWe have a flower show in our village that I have been going to since I was small, and this year my sister and I decided that we are going to enter in lots of categories next year, because some of them only have two or three entries!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good idea! I'm sure some of the categories at the Mid Somerset Show must've only had a few entries and I think I spied several winners all from the same people. It's definitely worth a go! :-) x
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