‘Have you ever seen two days so different?’
There were no shades of grey in the contrasting weather that greeted visitors to this year’s Vintage Agricultural Show, with Saturday battered by the force nine winds of Storm Antoni and Sunday bathed in glorious sunshine.
‘Have you ever seen two days so different?’ said organising committee president Ron Le Cras. ‘It’s crazy.
‘Let’s face it, it was hard going yesterday, even though it picked up in the afternoon.’
Saturday’s 50mph winds did not cause any permanent damage, but it did keep the crowds away and did mean that the beer tent had to be closed in the afternoon when the storm was at its peak.
‘You have to have health and safety paramount,’ he said. ‘We were back open by 6.15, and had the bands playing, so everything turned out OK.’
Visitors on Sunday had a completely different experience, enjoying fairground rides, sheep racing and displays of vintage military and agricultural vehicles, in just a light breeze with temperatures in the high teens.
The show was so busy that the car park was announced full at 2pm and with long lines of traffic building up outside, alternative parking areas had to be opened.
‘I’m very, very happy with today’s turnout,’ said Mr Le Cras.
‘I’ve had me socks off but I’ve run out of digits to count how many people we’ve had in. There must be thousands here.’
‘The show takes a year to organise and to see everyone’s happy faces – that’s our reward.’
The Marshall family were at the show for the first time and like many people had stayed away on Saturday show. Mum Gisella Marshall said that two-year-old Remy’s obsession with tractors had brought them down to see the show.
‘He just loves tractors and trains and all types of machinery,’ she said. ‘But we are also here to finally enjoy a bit of the sunshine.’
Lisa Vahey, enjoying the show with her five-year-old son, Ben, also shared her thoughts on the weather.
‘We were going to come yesterday, but let’s just say the weather was a little off-putting.’
