On Saturday hubby and I wandered over to Stoneleigh to see the Kenilworth Agricultural Show, to our shame it is the first time we had attended and we should have gone sooner, we had a fabulous day.  There were all the usual suspects one has come to know and love at an agricultural show and  in no particular order included various hot food venders serving freshly cooked delicacies in buns, two beer tents, several fudge stalls, lots of tasters of cheese and beer and cake, pigs, sheep and cows, several large bulls. Tractors, there were lots of tractors and vintage cars.  A birds of prey exhibition, a side saddle demonstration, collies herding runner ducks (always a favourite!) and gorgeous stunt horses with stunt riders and a heavy horse and dray.  There was also a very well attended Home Craft Marquee with some very interesting and unusual entries my favourite being the lampshade made from old fashioned photographic slides, I wonder how that would look when lit up as your holiday snaps gazed back at you from your walls.

And the bits we didn’t get to see as we ran out of time was in the countryside area which included a dog show, clay pigeon and air rifle shooting, archery and crossbows, croquet and mini quads! A side saddle demonstration,a gorgeous collie herding runner ducks, always a favourite of mine, runner ducks are just so cute.  A few pics of the many birds of prey on display. And exciting times were had  with galloping horses and brave stunt girls and boys.A lovely heavy horse and dray, one of only two breweries still working their horses. These boys do a 3.5 mile round delivering their ales to the local pubs.  They keep three horses so one of them is always having a rest day to ensure continuity of service. There was a wonderful display of vintage tractors going right through to modern machinery.  I even managed to video most of it.  It was interesting to watch, I quickly spotted the tractors I knew as a young child which soon after had to have by law covered cabs and realised just how much tractors had changed in the last 45 years or so. It is kind of cute watching them go from tiny dots to huge mountains of a tractor, how much easier it must be to be a farmer these days than from when my father and uncle were working the land. I think this must be the best display I have seen with so many tractors all together, it must certainly have been a feat of organisation.

Last but not least and was certainly one of my favourite moments, the Grand Parade of the livestock, which actually meant cattle, I’m not sure what happened to the sheep. It was fun, there is nothing like watching a bull have a bit of a moment while being handled around an arena, the handlers certainly knew what they were doing.  After this we had a quick trip around the food stalls to gather essential supplies, bread, cheese and beer with which to have our own ploughmans supper and headed home happily weary having had such a lovely day.