Cheshire County Show is a record breaker

A RECORD attendance of over 85,000 people attended this years Cheshire Show, which was a celebration of all that is great and good about the county.

Crowds were greeted by temperatures of 24 degrees and a range of exciting attractions including the Bold Dog Lings motorcycle display team, The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas and a breathtaking display from Gauntlet Birds of Prey.

Nigel Evans, Executive Director of the show, said: The record number of visitors is proof that the show continues to go from strength to strength despite difficult economic times. I believe the secret of our success is offering a fantastic spectacle that is also good value for money.

Achieving this would not be possible without the amazing efforts and hard work of our team of over 300 volunteers and I must congratulate all those involved in the show for making 2010 another hugely successful year.

Visitors had the opportunity to get a stunning aerial view from the UKs largest viewing wheel, which at 33-metres high offered a spectacular glimpse of the 250-acre showground and surrounding countryside.

The sun was out on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 22 and 23) and so were the stars as famous faces and voices from television and radio joined the gathered throngs.

Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennett, from BBC Radio 4s long-running soap The Archers, met the public and also took part in a live cookery demonstration in the Roberts Bakery Food Hall which once again proved to be one of the shows most popular attractions.

“It’s great to be here and celebrate farming and agriculture which is the essence of The Archers. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself at this fantastic event, said Charles.

Former Emmerdale actors Chris Villiers and Matt Healy also mingled with visitors as they helped to promote the 50^th anniversary of Leukaemia and Lymphoma research.

The real stars of the show, however, were the hundreds of livestock and other animals that came from all over the country to compete for the coveted titles.

Show chairman Tony Garnett said: This years show was a great celebration of Cheshires farming heritage and its strong roots in agriculture.

It was heart warming to see visitors of all ages coming to the show and there are probably few counties in the UK that have as genuine a love for the countryside as we see here in Cheshire.

Some of the competition highlights were the cattle, light horse and dog shows which all saw a massive number of entries with some of the finest animals in the country.

The main aim of this years show was to bring the farming community and the general public closer together and the Sainsburys Agri Centre helped to do just that by giving people of all ages the chance to meet farmers and see animals up close.

Sponsored by leading supermarket Sainsburys for the first time, one of the key aims of the Agri-Centre was also to educate the public on where their food comes from and the journey it takes from plough to plate.

The public could also try a range of other countryside pursuits such as clay shooting, archery and even duck herding in the Countryside Experience area, which has now been part of the show for three years.