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REGIONAL NEWS
A Royal
Encounter in
Cornwall
There was an exciting start to
the summer season in Cornwall,
with the Group’s first outing to
Truro Farmers’ Market at the
end of May, where the new
merchandise proved a particular
hit. Adding to the entertainment
were the Buff Orpington cockerel
and hen who delighted the public
with previews of ‘Sex in the City 3!
Our major show, the Royal
Cornwall, was terrific with HRH
Prince Charles and the Duchess
of Cornwall in attendance.
Disappointingly, His Royal
Highness wasn’t presented to us
in the Rare Breed tent but we did
manage to meet up with him in
the native sheep tent where on
behalf of RBST, he was presented
with a painting of a British White
from artist Carol Payne. Prince
Charles was then introduced to
our Chairman Sue Howarth and
Field Officer Richard Broad.
The crowds were huge over
all three days and merchandise
sales were brisk with all the new
items selling well. On the Saturday
we took some of the Rare Breed
sheep to the new Shearing Shed
to add an extra dimension to the
shearers’ demonstrations and
it has to be said that ‘ Big Jim ‘
the Oxford Down stole the show.
An enormous beast, he was as
quiet as a kitten loving the public
adoration and allowing himself to
be patted and his fleece parted.
On the shearing platform was as
placid as anything.
We are deeply grateful to
Chris Riddle and the Royal
Cornwall Agricultural Association
Committee. for all the help and
support that they offer us.
As ever, should any RBST
members be visiting our beautiful
county and the shows, please
come and say hello.
Diary Dates:
July 31/Aug 1: St Buryan Steam
Rally
Aug 8: Tregony Heavy Horse Show
Aug 29: Young Farmers Country
Fair, Stithians, Redruth
Sept 4: Farm Walk, St Ives
Oct 24: Farm Walk, Morvah
Audrey Durrant
RBST Cornwall
38
A New Approach in
East Anglia
Observant readers of the Spring 2010
edition of The Ark may well recall that as
committee members of the East Anglia Support
Group we faced the 2010 Show season with
a good deal of enthusiasm, tempered with a
liberal sprinkling of trepidation since this was
to be the year in which the responsibility for
the planning, organisation, management and
execution of our two major shows was to be
totally re-organised and the workload spread
amongst a number of volunteers.
We had spent many hours in the winter
months unravelling and unpicking the key
tasks. Committee member Julie Price then
translated this into a series of meaningful and
easy to follow instructions for our volunteers,
broken down in to sections depending on
whether the instructions were aimed at helpers
on the stand, the overnight team, pre show
team or the post show team. The Oxford
dictionary defines a volunteer as a “person who
voluntarily undertakes a task” and our team
consisted of a good many of these. Whilst the
show may have seemed daunting at times,
the willingness and resourcefulness of these
volunteers enabled us to work together as one
cohesive team. RBST Field Officer Richard
Broad had kindly agreed to join us at the Suffolk
Show and his presence throughout provided
us with the continuity we needed for our “first
show”. Richard had said that he was willing to
help in any way, which included sleeping on
RBST North East Scotland
Weather conditions at the beginning of the
year curtailed some of our meetings at Fyvie
but a one day heatwave greeted the arrival in
mid April of Ruth Dalton our Field Officer. My
wife Joan and I met Ruth at Doonies Farm in
Aberdeen which, thanks to the persistence of the
Friends of Doonies, has avoided closure. It has
now been leased to the former farm manager
Graham Lennox and is once again open to the
public. It will, I am sure, go from strength to
strength. Ruth was very impressed with the
quality of livestock on show at Doonies and prior
to meeting the group at Fyvie we also visited
another farmer who would like to incorporate
Rare Breeds onto his land as part of leaving
a legacy for future generations to enjoy. The
group’s next meeting was at Thainstone Mart,
Inverurie for the Rare Breeds sale followed by a
One of the many willing volunteers, Jen Read,
manning RBST’s spacious stand at the Suffolk Show.
straw bales “backstage” in the marquee for the
first night. Julie’s strict rota for the two show
days meant that everything ran smoothly and
everyone knew precisely what was required
of them. We reached the end of the show with
the feeling that each had played a vital part.
We displayed a smaller number of animals than
in previous years, but the ewes and lambs on
the stand proved an attraction to the stream of
visitors passing through. But how does one
quantify success Is it the numerous visitors
to the stand, the new members signed up, the
livestock enquiries, the money banked from
the collecting boxes, merchandise sold, that
make the difference between success and
non-success Or maybe it’s the fact, that at
the end of the show there was still something
to smile about as we decided on the spur of the
moment, with a little encouragement from our
Field Officer, to rid the group trailer of a number
of unidentifiable items that had languished there
for far too long taking a collective decision to
condemn them to the Suffolk Show recycling
skip Now the Suffolk Show has successfully
been and gone, and as I write, final planning for
the Royal Norfolk Show is well underway, and a
new and very welcome challenge faces us: how
best to include the increasing number of willing
volunteers, many of them first-timers, who wish
to be a part of our growing team!
Gail Sprake
RBST East Anglia
couple of days at Easter Anguston. The last of
our events so far was an informative talk given
to us by a former gamekeeper who had worked
on some large estates in the North of England.
As can be seen in Diary Dates we have been
invited to the Jacobite Day at Braemar where it
is hoped some of the group will be spinning and
sheep shearing in authentic costume as well as
displaying details on breeds of animals that were
commonplace in the 18th century. This should be
a great day out.
Diary Dates:
July 25: Jacobite Day, celebrating the 265th
anniversary of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s arrival at
Braemar Castle.
August 21: Lourin Fair, Old Rayne
Ernie Strachan
RBST North East Scotland