What makes the Great Yorkshire Show GREAT

Perfect weather for the Great Yorkshire Show this year, not too cold not too hot. Not too crowded by the time I got there in the late afternoon .
I suppose spending my childhood Yorkshire Shows having to tramp round endless cattle, sheep and pigs has left a mark as I have a quick nip round. I can only appreciate all the time and effort that goes into the quality of these show animals.  I think my favourite tent is the flower tent. Maybe it is the smell that draws me to it.
I have never been to Chelsea as much as I love watching it on television .I always seem to be held up with something which has meant I have never got to the Flower Show at Harrogate in Spring or Autumn.
My Dad always ordered his sweet pea seeds when we went when I was a child. Not only was I always amazed by the colours of the blooms but the black posh cloth that they stand only. It was all "posh and extravagant like " .
This year I felt the flowers grown on farms display should have won gold . It  was amazing. I have bought flowers from this band of growers  before  and they certainly do last longer than most other shop ones and you can save the seed heads to sow later too .
I also like the weird and wonderful ,thought it was something out of Harry Potter and this too was a great display.

Yorkshire Show with Welcome to Yorkshire

We haven't been to the Yorkshire Show for years but when we got an invitation to attend Welcome to Yorkshire's barbecue we thought why not. It is yearly event which as a child I looked forward to as it was always classed as the farmers holidays. So I used to have a day or 2 off school. We used to set off with a snack at Yorkshire Wool growers tent then one to another for lunch and yet another for afternoon tea. The reps from the agricultural firms the farm dealt with throughout the year showed their appreciation and sent us invites to go to have refreshments. So there we all bundled into our pale blue Vanguard car with a column change no normal gear sticks in those days .It had a bench seat in the front and I sat in the middle in my Sunday best.Once the exhaust pipe fell off and another the clutch packed in.30 miles in those day was a fair long way to go. The tents were like huge wedding marquees.They were still very special and to see all this food was -thinking our staple diets were to eat boiled bacon twice a day. Roll on 50+years. We were entertain with a jazz band . The host Gary Verity and his team at hand. The food was generously supplied by Keelham Farm and cooked by the chefs of Yorebridge House, Black Sheep Brewery had the bar and we were finally after a superb supper treated to chocolates and fruit cake and cheese. 50 years ago barbecues would not have even existed but fruit cake served with cheese has long being a Yorkshire favourite

Ring o Ring of Roses

It is the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate this coming week.There is lots to see from cattle and sheep to horses and farm machinery. One of my favourite memories as going as a child with my Dad and uncles after we had been to the goats and pigeons was to go into the flower tent. The tent was actually a huge marquee and 50 years ago it was not common place in our lives to see such structures.Plain white ones and candy stripes in all hues.There was something magical about tents. The flower tent was special as soon as you approached it the sweet smell of flowers took over the air. Blooms of rose,sweet peas ,delphiniums and dahlias were on display. Here you see our roses which are all from one stalk. Maybe not quite first prize winners but beautiful all the same.