Agricultural Societies Alive & Well

I rearranged my schedule this week to catch the Okehampton Agricultural Fair in the South West part of the UK.  This one day event was a sight to see and I am delighted that I took the time to visit it.  Agriculture is alive and well in this part of the country and it was refreshing to see the community coming together to celebrate it.  After the hectic traffic and congestion that I have faced in other parts of the country, I was relieved to slow down for a day.  There was no midway to be found and I wish that Agiricultural Societies at home could have this type of success without the midway and overly commercial aspects that most fairs have adopted.  Even as the rain continued to pour down sporadically all day, it didn’t dampen the festivities or affect the competitions one bit.  

The cattle show was a small component of the day and by my estimation there were far more sheep entries than cattle (beef and dairy combined).  Exhibitors from the local area had however brought out their best Galloway, Limousin, South Devon, Blond Devon and Belgium Blue cattle.  You may wish to reread that list as I expect you are thinking I forgot a few breeds.  But, you have read it correctly there were no Angus or Hereford cattle at the show.  A bit surprising to me as we were mere hours from the birth place of both breeds.  The big framed Contintenal cattle were obvious the kings of this region.  Being in the Devon region I was not surprised to see the strong showing of Devon cattle there but have never been to a show where there wasn’t at least a handful of Angus.  

The display was impressive.  A lot of work went into the set up of those fairgrounds for a one day show.  I could compare the displays to that of Lindsay Fair (at least back 15 years ago) that is not taking the midway and demo/tractor pull into effect.  Much grander than anything we ever put on in Oakwood.  As I walked around I couldn’t help but think that perhaps the Oakwood Fair could have been saved if the community had rallied around it more and the ever growing Lindsay Exhibition wasn’t right next door.  (My apologies to my Western Canadian readers who may not understand my Ontario references)

The show went on through the pounding rain and I expect the tent selling Wellington boots was a hot spot through out the day.  It was a prime example of community spirit where you could tell friends were getting together and neighbours were catching up.  Amid all that as an outsider I still felt right at home, it was a pleasure to take in and a great day playing in the mud.