This year's Cheshire County Show took place on Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd June 2010. This year's show saw over 100,000 visitors attend over the two days. The Show is a must for anyone interested in the rural activities of Cheshire and provided an action packed day




With the last ever appearance of the the 160 year old Royal Warwick Show last year, the organisers were blaming poor attendance and the dire economy, has the organisers of the 2010 Cheshire Show got anything to worry about. Attention was drawn to the difficult financial considerations when staging a show of this magnitude when the bus shuttle service to the show from Hartford and Knutsford this year was shelved, which the show organisers said was a very difficult decision due to the economic climate and subsequent budgetary constraints, but this seems at odds with the environment they are trying so hard to protect.
However, judging by the 80,000 visitors to the show this year over the two day period, and the sunshine that blessed the event, the Cheshire Show has managed to grasp the nettle and turn it into one of the most successful shows yet.

In the main show ring, staged events attracted a large audience throughout the two day period with the RAF Falcons parachute team with their trademark 'stack effect' while on the ground quad biker, Jason Smyth leapt 30 feet into the air followed soon after by the Knutsford based Gaunlet Birds of Prey. Many more were attracted by the special marquees with themes from 'Plough to Plate' in the Agri-Centre where the main ingredient was education.

Visitors were taken along the food journey to show where food really comes from with a programme of events which included feeding the calves, how do farmers care for their cows and environmentally friendly farming.



New to the show this year was the Countryside Experience which gave visitors the opportunity, to try for themselves countryside pursuits, including archery and clay pigeon shooting. These main attractions were linked by seemingly endless rows of stallholders selling anything from Bentleys to Airstream trailers, lavender honey to farm feeds, solar panels to fair trade crafts.

The true stars, however, were the animals at the Cheshire Show, where farmers competed for coveted titles which could see the value of their livestock triple if they won. With so much at stake many farmers and their families camped out in the livestock sheds, amongst the cattle, pigs, sheep and rare breeds, aswell as horses, ponies, rabbits and poultry, where hopefully their dedication and committment would finally pay off. Nowhere was this dedication more conspicuous than in and around the exhibitors parking areas where an endless flow of the shows star attractions were being prepared, pampered, or rested in between events.

The Cheshire Show has had to continuously reinvent itself every year introducing new themes and attractions, facing the challenges head on, and that it will no doubt face in the years ahead. It has done this regardless of any obstacles thrown in its path, recession, foot and mouth, blue tongue and now there are concerns that TB might become another cloud on the horizon. Show your support for the future of the Cheshire Show, and the farmers and their families by thinking where the food comes from by Buying Local Produce and Shopping Locally.


CLICK HERE for more show pictures