Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2013 | Page 69

COUNTRY LIFE

Breathing new
life into vital
rural mainstay
Shows were once a mainstay of
the rural community throughout
the country and on the Island,
an opportunity for the farmers to
showcase their livestock and to
compete in friendly rivalry with
neighbours. Agricultural workers and
school children were given a day off to
go to ‘The Show’. In recent years the
link between farms and the public has
waned as supermarkets have become
the source of most people’s weekly
shop.
We have all heard stories of children
who don’t realise that milk comes
from cows or meat from animals.
That is why it was so good to see
the Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural
Society build on the success of 2012
and put on a very successful event this
year. Fine classes of livestock, horses,
carriages and agricultural machinery
together with displays including
hounds and falconry all came together
to provide a real showcase of rural life
on the Island.
A few years ago it became fashionable
to knock the County Show, not
helped by some difficult years with
foot and mouth disease and bad
weather. But the new team in place
deserve credit for breathing new life

into this important Island event and
demonstrating how volunteers can
really work together to produce a
tangible benefit to the community.
The County Show will never rival
those bigger shows on the mainland
but its small, friendly atmosphere has
always been part of
its charm.
The director of the CLA Game Fair
earlier this year reminded us that
these outdoor events, attended by
millions of people each year, are the
lifeblood of the rural economy and a
shop window for thousands of small
businesses who desperately need help
in these challenging economic times.

Sam Biles looks at
how the resurgent
Royal IW County
Show once more
showcases the
best of the Island’s
countryside.
Aside from the Show, the Agricultural
Society on the Island has, to its
credit, re-established its links with
the community assisting those who
want to study in agricultural-related
subjects and in working with schools
to connect children once more with
the rural environment. Farming and
the countryside have changed beyond
recognition in the last 70 years, but
if we are to preserve our countryside
and the communities who work there,
then events such as these are a very
important tool with which to do so.
If you didn’t make an effort to attend
this year, please try to lend your
support and go next year.

www.visitislandlife.com

69