Yorkshire’s annual country shows and fairs are a strong part of the county’s culture. They vary from the blockbuster ‘national’ Great Yorkshire Show each July to many dozens of smaller, field-sized village affairs. In the upper middle are grand events such as Reeth Show, up in Swaledale each August Bank Holiday Monday. Today was August Bank Holiday Monday, and I’d based a trans-Dales bike round it.
It was a wonderful thing, with every aspect of Dales life celebrated. Rare breeds of sheep. Sheepdog trials. Horse riding and carriage demonstrations. Vintage cars. Punch and Judy stalls. A drystonewalling competition. Outsize vegetables. Arts and crafts contests. Cake-offs. Fell running. Brass bands. Plus food trucks and local cask-ale bars (many of these).
I was there all day in the baking sun. My bike was safely locked, panniers and all, in one of the entrance marquees, generously watched for me by the volunteers. Miraculously my milk was still milk at the end of the day, and not yoghurt.
Here’s a few photos.
I am a drystone waller/
All day I drystone wall/
Of all appallin’ callin’s/
Drystone wallin’s worst of all