‘The future of the show is healthy – we have come a long way in past decade’

Summer in Somerset is the time for farmers across the region to celebrate their work and show off their livestock to others in agriculture and the public at large.

The Mid-Somerset Show is back on Sunday, August 20 and it will be another day of sharing the finest of the county’s farms and one of the most notable days in the calendar.

Show secretary Christine Barham has told Somerset’s Alive! about the tradition of the Mid-Somerset Show, what to expect on the day and where the future of the agricultural event lies.

Speaking about what to expect at the event, Christine said: “It is a traditional one-day agricultural show which has been going for 172 years, so we have all the usual, livestock showing, equestrian competition, cheese awards, arts and crafts, poultry – we have a lot of different sections going.

“It’s a very busy day with our first judging at 8.30am on Sunday with the show finishing at 6pm.”

It will see people flock from across the area to get their farming fill and Christine confirmed: “We average about 17,000 people coming to the show, and people come for various reasons.

“They love to see the showing of the cattle and the sheep while others like to come and see the horses.”

• 
  Yeovil Town Football Club badge designer explains changes and reassures fans
  “The identity was inconsistent across different medias and proving difficult” The brand consultant responsible for… Read more: Yeovil Town Football Club badge designer explains changes and reassures fans
• 
  Yeovil Town F.C. responds to fans after new badge reveal
  “Let’s focus on the promotion push for the rest of the season” Yeovil Town Football… Read more: Yeovil Town F.C. responds to fans after new badge reveal
• 
  Weston’s Jake Cornish to ‘reunite with ex’ on Love Island All-Stars
  “I won’t change a thing after my last Love Island experience” Weston-super-Mare’s Love Island hunk,… Read more: Weston’s Jake Cornish to ‘reunite with ex’ on Love Island All-Stars
• 
  Leonardo Yeovil brings ‘high-end skills and direct long-term investment’
  “We continue to raise awareness of Yeovil’s significance in the defence of the realm” Clive… Read more: Leonardo Yeovil brings ‘high-end skills and direct long-term investment’
• 
  Glastonbury Festival’s Michael Eavis will ‘take tickets to Buckingham Palace’ when receives knighthood
  “Last time I met King Charles, I had a suit made instead of wearing shorts”… Read more: Glastonbury Festival’s Michael Eavis will ‘take tickets to Buckingham Palace’ when receives knighthood
• 
  NORAD Santa Tracker: Follow Father Christmas on his journey to Somerset
  “Families can see where Santa is in the world and when he is heading our… Read more: NORAD Santa Tracker: Follow Father Christmas on his journey to Somerset

Christine added: “In the main ring this year we have Shetland racing, dog agility, vintage tractor display and we have all the winning livestock in a parade at 3.30pm. which is a lovely sight.”

Looking back over the history of the show, it started in a village a few miles from Shepton Mallet and was nothing like what is offer now.

Christine said: “The Mid-Somerset Show started in Evercreech and it was a small ploughing match originally before it moved to a site just down the road from where we are now [opposite the council offices in Shepton Mallet] and that was our show field.

“The show was staged there for 100 years and the fields were owned by the Duchy [of Cornwall] and a local farmer but that has gone for development and we literally only owned an acre and a half there, so we didn’t have much say on what happened to the land.”

The show committee made a big step then which should secure the future of the show for generations.

Christine continued: “We were lucky enough to buy this field, and then where the livestock are we managed to buy that as well, so we own 10 acres up here now, the rest we rent from either the Duchy or a local farming family, so we have been able to set ourselves up a lot better.

“We have built our office barn, put more tracks across the site and we have put permanent main rings in so we are making this very much our home, so it is a massive step forward.”

As you would expect, the show takes quite a bit of planning before it starts coming together physically.

Speaking about how long it takes to get the infrastructure in place, Christine told Somerset’s Alive!: “We start two weeks before the show we start the marking out and the marquees come in that first week.

“The week immediately before the show is really, really busy but as quite a lot has to be done, it takes two weeks to build.”

Back in the day, the Mid-Somerset Show could have financial implications for local farmers as being judged the best around could add a few pounds to their stock. How important is it for the Mendip farming community nowadays?

Christine replied: “Locally it is just a good social occasion. They do enjoy it as they like to show their animals but it is also a really quite important community event where they come up and meet each other and have a chat.

“There is competition between breeds, so within the breed sections it can get a little bit more competitive, so you get Shetland sheep against each other so any rivalry is very much kept amongst the breeds and not within the whole show.”

The farming community who show at the event has changed over the years and Christine explained why.

She said: “It has changed as to who does the showing now, it’s not your commercial farmer anymore, it’s your smallholder.

“We don’t have many dairy cows anymore because they don’t have the farm workers to stay at home and do the milking, while they go off and show and showing is not a priority for them with the big commercial farms, so it is very much left to the smallholders, which is a change we have seen over the years.”

The good news is that there are plans for the Mid-Somerset Show to be around for many years to come.

Christine said: “The future of the show is healthy. We just want to keep it going and keep it to its roots, keep the traditional agriculture side as that’s really important to us and just try and make it better every year and improve it, maybe put different entertainment on, tweak it here and there.

“We have come a very long way in the past 10 years.”