Sunshine and showers but the Show goes on
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The hottest day of summer was followed by a day of stormy showers, but that didn’t stop the visitors coming to this year’s Lincolnshire Show, the county’s big day out.
Early estimates put total visitor figures at almost 60,000, an “outstanding result” in the face of the changing weather conditions, according to organisers. A lively social media feed helped to boost visitor interest, with the Show recording a mammoth 4 million Twitter hits.
Organisers also reported trade stand bookings up 5% on 2011, as well as an increased number of livestock and equine competition entries, with many entrants travelling from across the UK to take part.
For Showground Director Jayne Southall, it was her first year leading the team. She said: “We’ve had a fantastic Show and it’s been wonderful to see everything come together. The biggest highlight for me was seeing the smiles on the faces of everyone visiting.”
She added: “We had a big boost to visitor numbers with the wonderful sunshine on day one, and although numbers were down on Thursday, the showers seemed to do little to dampen enthusiasm and we had a steady flow of visitors arriving throughout the morning.
“The Show has proved itself once again as a major visitor attraction which helps to bring Lincolnshire’s wider visitor and tourism story to a national audience.”
Each year the Show is a big earner for the county of Lincolnshire and it is estimated that every £1 spent at the Show generates £20 in the local economy and the Show provides a major boost for local hotels and B&Bs, creating demand for 18,400 overnight stays locally.
A new initiative for this year’s Show was the Trading in New Markets marquee. Designed to celebrate the successes of those Lincolnshire companies already trading nationally and internationally, its aim is to encourage other Lincolnshire businesses to open up new export markets and take their products to a wider audience. Amongst those visiting was a group of 30 Australian farmers on a UK fact-finding mission. Their group leader, former State Wool Manager Frank Jones, said: “The Lincolnshire show was a real highlight of our trip, with a huge crowd and brilliant sunshine.”
This year’s Sports Zone had top billing in the run up to the 2012 London Games, encouraging visitors to try their hand at a huge range of Olympic and Paralympic sports and a visit from cricketing legend Alec Stewart was a crowd-pleaser. Stewart visited the Show as part of his role as sports ambassador for Clydesdale Bank, one of the main sponsors of the Lincolnshire Show, and during his visit he gave a master class to some of the county’s young cricketers.
More than a thousand young people took part in the Schools Challenge, demonstrating their understanding of food, farming and agriculture. Winners were Wragby Primary School, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar in Alford, and St Lawrence School in Horncastle.
The Hugh Bourn special trophy for the best agricultural machinery stand went to Louth Tractors. Presenting the award Show President Lord Taylor of Holbeach, said: “The display represented all that is good in Lincolnshire farming, energy, enthusiasm and technology.”
He added: “I attend many Shows throughout the country, and I know that the general standard at Lincolnshire is extremely high. Touring the Food Court and seeing the quality of produce, shows how lucky we are to live in Lincolnshire.”
In the equine rings, a busy programme saw top level competition with enthusiasts travelling from as far as Taunton in Somerset and St. Albans in Hertfordshire to enter the wide variety of pony and horse classes. Both days gave Chief Equine Steward Peter Crafts a busy schedule. He said: “I am extremely pleased and all the classes had a fantastic turnout, to a very high standard .”
Philip Hilton, horse ring controller commented on the highlights saying: “Last year’s Horse of the Year Show winner Danielle Heath has had a fantastic show, winning both Champion Hack and The Hunter challenge class, and a particular highlight for me was Marie Girdham winning the ex Racehorse challenge. She is a local girl who took time off from nursing at Lincoln County Hospital to compete at the Show. She won her class and qualified for The Royal Windsor Show.”
In the livestock lines, John Davies, the judge for the Texel sheep, was very impressed with the standard of sheep at the Show, saying: “All the sheep showed excellent attributes.” Judges were also impressed in the cattle section. The Bull class on Thursday had one of the largest number of entries and judge of the Limousin group Mr Tippetts said: “The class this year was really good, the best I have seen for a long time.”
As well as the county’s finest animals on show, there was an exciting mix of rural and family attractions, including the best of Lincolnshire produce at the massive Select Lincolnshire and Tastes of Lincolnshire Food Court which saw a big turnout, for the tastings and demonstrations. Exhibitor Simon Jones of Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese won the best Food Court stand. He said: ‘’We are a family run business since 1917 and we sell only Lincolnshire produce. We’re Lincolnshire through and through, and still in shock to win overall.’’
For many businesses around the county the Lincolnshire Show gives them the chance to showcase their products and services. Printing business Systematic of Caistor attend the show every year and Paul Bingham from the company said: “The wet and windy weather meant that business was slow in the morning on the second day but overall this year’s Show has been absolutely phenomenal for us, with some firm enquiries from large companies.”
ENDS
@lincsshow
Media enquiries:
Karen Malpass at Lincolnshire Events Centre and Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
kmalpass@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585504
Maggie Taylor at Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602
Editor’s Note:
Lincolnshire Events Centre is a major national conferencing venue, home of the Lincolnshire Show and the groundbreaking EPIC project. Just outside the historic city of Lincoln, the Centre hosts events for 10 to 10,000 visitors on its 200 acre showground site and 3000 square metres of indoor exhibition and venue space.
Outdoor events include the flagship Lincolnshire Show, antiques fairs and horse trials, attracting over 200,000 visitors each year. Under cover, there are exhibition halls and conferencing facilities, including the recently completed EPIC centre, the second largest purpose-designed showcase for environmental technologies in the UK, it enables event organisers to reduce, monitor and offset their carbon footprint.
Schools are set for a sizzling time at this year’s Lincolnshire Show
More than a thousand young people will be taking part in the Schools Challenge at this year’s Lincolnshire Show, in the competition which tests their understanding of food, farming and agriculture.
This year’s challenges range from learning about the optimum growing conditions for potatoes to coming up with a marketing strategy to encourage young people to visit the Lincolnshire Show.
And there are 46 primary, secondary and special schools taking part this year – more than ever before, as organisers have expanded the Show schedule to allow more entrants.
“We’ve been oversubscribed every year so for 2012, we’ve adapted the judging timetable to take place over two days, and have taken over the whole of the main exhibition hall to satisfy demand from schools,” explained Phil Everett of Lincolnshire Education Business Partnership, organisers of the competition, which is sponsored by Farmacy, Uncle Henry’s, Barbara Welby Trust and E Park and Sons.
Also on the timetable for schools will be a visit to the Show’s Discovery Zone, where they will be shown farming techniques and food production methods at first hand, including From Pork to Fork: The Story of the Sausage. They can then try their hand by having a go at making sausages back in the Schools Challenge area, with Uncle Henry’s cafe and farm shop.
Alongside the Schools Challenge, many more schools visit the Show for educational visits to learn about agriculture and farming in their home county.
The Schools Challenge also includes a professional development day for teaching staff on the first day of the Lincolnshire Show, and this year the theme is conservation, which is being supported by the Woodland Trust , Farming and Countryside Education (FACE), Sustainable East Midlands and Uncle Henry’s.
To book visits or find out more about the Schools Challenge, contact Phil Everett at the Lincolnshire Education Business Partnership, on 01522 574100
The full list of schools taking part (in alphabetical order):
Ancaster CE Primary School
The Axholme Academy
Bishop King CE Primary School
Branston Junior School
Dunholme St Chad's C of E School
Grantham Additional Needs Federation
Grasby All Saints C of E Primary School
Grimoldby Primary School
Hartsholme Academy
Hawtonville Junior School
Hibaldstow Primary School
Humberston C or E Primary School
Ingham Primary School
John Fielding Community Special School
Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy
Lacey Gardens Junior School
Lady Jane Franklin School
Lincoln Christ's Hospital School
Marton Primary School
Monks Abbey Primary
North Kesteven School
Osgodby Primary School
The Priory School
The Priory Witham Academy
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar - A Selective Academy (Alford)
Saint Norbert's Catholic Primary School
Scampton CE Primary School
Scawby Primary School
Sir John Gleed School
Sir William Robertson High School
South Parade Primary School
Spalding Monkshouse Primary School
St Bernards School
St Francis Special School
St Georges Academy
The St Lawrence Academy
St Lawrence School
Stamford Queen Eleanor School
Tetney Primary School
Toynton All Saints Primary School
Trent Valley Academy
Welton St Mary's CE Primary School
Wragby Primary School
The challenges:
01 Alternative Materials
Curriculum Links: Science, Citizenship
Students investigate non-food crops and research the carbon footprint of their school.
They should develop ideas on how to make their school more sustainable and compare the
available fuel options to find which would be most suitable for use in school.
02 Improving my School Grounds
Curriculum Links: Art and Design, Citizenship, Geography
Students are tasked with the challenge to improve their school grounds. They should
create a design portfolio of their ideas which should encourage input from the wider school
community. Previous examples have included a sensory garden and a vegetable patch.
03 Farming Past, Present and Future
Curriculum Link: History
Students compare the technology and culture of the past, present and future farming
communities within their local area. Students can present their timeline, using any method
that engages the audience.
04 Design a Healthy School Dinner
Curriculum Links: Design and Technology – Food Technology
Students research what is meant by healthy eating and use this to plan a menu of a healthy
two-course meal that could be served at school. Where possible, ingredients should be
home-grown or locally produced.
05 Advertising the Lincolnshire Show
Curriculum Links: ICT, Media studies, Business Studies
Students critically analyse the existing strategies used to advertise the Lincolnshire Show.
They should then develop new concepts which will promote The Show to young people whilst
reducing the environmental impact of the event.
06 Growing around the Globe
Curriculum Links: Modern Foreign Languages, Citizenship
Students investigate which crops grow best in the British climate and compare these with the
types of crops which would thrive in a school garden on a different continent. They should
contact this school by post or email in the correct language if feasible.
07 The Potato Challenge
Curriculum Links: Design and Technology, Science
Students grow potatoes and experiment to find the optimum growing conditions. They may
develop recipes using their potatoes, which, along with the remaining potato plants will be
judged at The Lincolnshire Show.
08 Design from Nature
Curriculum Links: Art and Design
Students study a range of design techniques using different shapes, fabrics and textures. They
should then research designs from nature which can be replicated
Crowds shrug off showers to enjoy the County Show
Showers failed to stop the fun at this year’s Lincolnshire Show, the county’s big day out.
Early estimates put total visitor figures at around 68,000, matching last year’s record figures.
This was also the year that social media attention for the Show stormed ahead, with their Twitter feed recording 2.56 million visits from 286,000 people, with over 1000 tweets made during the two days, helping to drive visitor interest before and during the Show.
Alongside old favourites like pig racing and the big agricultural machinery displays, new attractions for this year included horseback falconry, Express Eventing and the Scruffts crossbreed dog competition, which helped to drive new interest. Organisers also reported livestock entries and trade stand bookings well up on last year.
“Everyone loves to see the livestock and the big agricultural machinery and alongside that we had even more attractions with families and young people in mind for this year,” said chief executive Mark Farmer.
“We’re very happy overall, we had a very good crowd, excellent trade bookings and attendance looks to be in line with last year’s figure.”
“Extending into the evening with activities such as concerts went well and we’ll definitely be looking to build on that next year. The new areas like the Kennel Club dog ring and the Express Eventing series qualifier both helped to boost interest and attract new visitors,” he added.
The Lincolnshire Show is not just a two day showcase for the county; it’s a big revenue booster, generating £20 for the local economy for every £1 spent. It’s also big business for the trade exhibitors and local companies who connect with customers during the relaxed social atmosphere of the two day event.
In the Countryside ring, the programme included medieval jousting and pig racing and the livestock lines played host to more than 1800 entries of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.
Nearly 1800 horses and ponies were on show throughout the two days in the equine ring, and local rider Malcolm Wright claimed his second win in the Express Eventing 2011 series, in a thrilling finish which went right to the final fence in the showjumping.
In the sports zone, the many attractions included Leicester Tigers rugby coaches and Great Britain Paralympics hopeful Richard Sargent, representing wheelchair basketball, part of the many sports being demonstrated in run up to the 2012 Olympics.
Winners of the Schools Challenge competition were John Fielding Community Special School from Boston; Trent Valley Academy and Whites Wood Lane Junior School both from Gainsborough.
“Everyone has enjoyed the Show, despite the odd shower,” said show director Richard Collett, in his first year in the role. “Fortunately the land here drains quickly and easily so the rain doesn’t cause any real problem. Whatever the weather, there’s so much on offer with the hundreds of trade stands and shops, and exciting programmes in all the rings.”
“It’s gone very well and I’m very pleased.”
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Sarah Poucher at Lincolnshire Events Centre in Lincolnshire Agricultural Society
lluty@lincs-events.co.uk - 01522 585501
Maggie Taylorat Prima PR
maggie@primapr.co.uk – 01400 251557 / 0797 3767 602