I was lucky enough, once again, to be invited to cover the Lincolnshire Show for this little blog and, once again, I was delighted to do so. It's such an event in these parts, everyone makes the effort to go along and it allows me to indulge my passion for all things Lincolnshire. I am so proud to live here and occasions like this, where the county gets to celebrate and showcase its many talents, remind me again how lucky I am to be part of it.
That said, it was an entirely different experience this year. Last year Forrest was a mere seven months old, newly weaned and content to sit in his pushchair and take in the many sights and sounds of the Show. This year, as a rambunctious and confident toddler, he was less keen to sit still and far more interested in getting stuck in, taking part, touching, trying and making a bid for freedom whenever possible. Frankly, he was exhausting! It made it harder for us to get involved as he wanted to be off exploring all the time. I'm sure next year will be different again and it will be fun to look back at which bits he has enjoyed the most each year throughout his life.
This year it was tractors. Forrest is heavily into anything to do with farms and is completely, totally, utterly obsessed with tractors. So as you can imagine, he was on cloud nine when he found himself surrounded by them. And in one!
Children are really well catered for at the Lincolnshire Show. Not only is there an abundance of things for them to look at but there are plenty of demonstrations and thins for them to get involved in too
I found myself a new car (a girl can dream)
Uncle Henry's - a firm favourite in this house (AMAZING SAUSAGES!)
And of course, there was the food court ...
As you'd expect from a county famous for its produce, there is always an abundance of local food to sample and local producers to meet, from established household names to brand new start up companies.
I was pleased to see that one of my favourite cheese producers, Lymn Bank Farm, were also in attendance. If you like strong, creamy Cheddar then you must try their Just Jane - it's the best there is.
It was all too much for some ...
We grabbed ourselves a quick coffee and a sit down whilst Forrest gave us half an hour's respite but he soon awoke, clamouring for food, so we found ourselves with a difficult decision to make. Which of the amazing foods on offer would be treat ourselves to? We settled for delicious wraps - chicken and pepper salad for me and halloumi and peppers for Matt, with sweet potato fries. Forrest had his fair share of both whilst watching the Shetland Pony Grand National in the Main Ring, which was great fun (and a first for Matt, who never knew such a thing existed!)
Nothing stirs the blood quite like the sight of a hunt, but a parade of hounds comes a close second.
Spectators at the Main Ring were treated to a parade of not one, not two but five packs of hounds. Our local pack, the Brocklesby Hunt, were joined by the Burton (Lincoln), the Blankney (Lincoln), the Belvoir (Rutland) and the East Lincs Bassets for a fantastic parade, followed by the opportunity for the crowd to invade the ring and meet the hounds. And more than one errant hound took his chance to invade the crowd!
Spot the naughty hound!
I was looking forward to showing Forrest the animals as he's become such a little farmer and he was thrilled to see the sheep and cows in the livestock lines. We also visited the Meet A Moo Marquee, where children could meet some cows and learn about the different breeds of cattle, the story of where milk comes from and see a foot trimming demonstration
We also had to see some of the horse showing classes, of course. I could watch these all day, truth be told.
Forrest was delighted to see the Red Arrows, he loves to point out planes in the sky!
And before we knew it, it was time to leave. Not before we popped back to pick up a new John Deere tractor for Forrest of course. The hardest thing about the day was all the gear we dragged around with us - my huge baby bag, picnic blanket, bottles of water and all the things we picked up throughout the day made us grateful to have the pushchair to help us along. Though by the end of the day it was a little overloaded!
Luckily, Forrest was more than happy to make his own way back to the car!
I'd like to thank the organisers once again for inviting us along, we are already looking forward to next year! So much work goes into making this such a fantastic event (if you don't believe me, have a look at the timelapse video on the Show's homepage) and it's so worth it. I read that this year the Show attracted record numbers of visitors, with over 60,000 people flocking to the show ground to celebrate this wonderful county. I expect that next year will be even bigger!
I've lived in Lincolnshire all my life and have never made it to the Lincs Show. Your pics look great, especially the ones of the food court! As I work in school I am always at work when the show is on - maybe one year I'll have to take my class!
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