A day off rarely starts well with an early morning, but if you are heading to the Royal Cheshire County Fair, it is well worth it. After a quick Starbucks stop, we still had a long wait in show traffic before reaching the ground. Wishing I had not ordered the large coffee, we headed straight for the gates.
The Royal Cheshire County Fair greets you with familiar country show sights and smells: cows to your right, pigs to your left and sheep straight ahead. We have been coming to the show for a good few years now, so no map was needed as everything is well signposted.
We started with the livestock, which was a good idea considering the heat, and all the tents with animals were pleasantly cool. An impressive display of sheep shearing gave me some knowledge to try out on the dogs later at home. The young lads worked quickly and precisely before explaining the age-old tradition to the audience.
The Royal Cheshire Show is also a good place to look at cars, yes, cars. As always, there was a strong line-up of automobiles in the middle of the showground.
Instead, we headed to the main ring and the always exciting Pony Club Games. I highly recommend checking them out. They are full of energy, impressive speed and competitive spirit. For those who do not know what Pony Club Games are, think of it as a sports day for kids on ponies, with challenges that involve passing items to other riders, collecting objects and placing them in set spots, all while travelling at speed. Teams score points by completing the challenges first, and the winners received a memorial trophy at the end of the games.
Being proud owners of a lot of poultry, one of our favourite parts of the show is the poultry tent. If you are like us and enjoy seeing the different arrays of chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese, I recommend visiting on the first day. By the second day, only the winning birds, pigeons and rabbits remain. Unfortunately, at this point, Mrs Davies noticed the Pygmy Goat Club sign. Luckily for me, she could not fit the goat she had grown attached to under her shirt, though I am sure she would have tried if my back was turned. I would also like to say a big thank you to the lady who took the time to convince Mrs Davies that the best dog to own is an Irish Wolfhound. The dog show features an array of breeds, from the great to the small, but all equally impressive.
The show arenas host all kinds of attractions, from the Scots Guards Association Pipe Band and falconry displays to the cattle parade and one of my favourite attractions, the Huntsman and Hounds.
We also took a trip down to have a go at clay pigeon shooting, with good incoming targets for first-timers. There was also an air rifle range and archery. It was good to see such a wide mix of people trying the shooting stand. Talking of shooting, back to work I go with a full week of lessons ahead. The Cheshire Show is a very good county fair and a good day off. But we are, as always, already looking forward to the year’s run of game fairs.
By Brett Davies.
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