Notes on a Wild Weekend

After the monsoons of July, the Great Eccleston show field is no place for a fat man to walk and write at the same time so my grandson has been helping me take some notes before heading for his beloved big wheel. Now in the comfort of the Members Beer Tent they read like the surreal lyrics of a Beatles song from the Sergeant Pepper era...

vintage vans and wooden flowers
the drive-past shooting ends in showers
the child who leads a two-ton shire
the ten-ton tractor breathing fire
pig keeping courses made for all
the drinkers heading for a fall...

Get the picture? If you want to run an agricultural show, run it the great Eccleston way. It's a blast, a sensory overload, two days of farming business mixed with eccentric English fun. Wales sent us a new TV star in the form of Kate Beavan, and Scotland sent us the weather. I look at Tommy's notes again and realise they are all true. The motor cycle display did have a  a drive-by when the crowd was soaked with a water gun. A boy did run a huge shire round the ring. (What a good job those horses don't realize how big they are!) But how about, "the drinkersheading for a fall"? Well in the corner if the beer tent stood one of those tables integrared with its own benches where the venerable Jack Benson was holding court. An extra guest was invited to sit down at the drink-laden board, but alas the ground gave way and the guests headed south while their drinks went west. Spring-heeled Jack bounded free rescueing his pint in the same manoeuvre. The men were impressed the ladies were not!...read more  Copyright: Tom Reddy & Tommy Higginson - In-Focus (August Issue)