IT was not the most auspicious of starts for the organisers of Horton-in-Ribblesdale annual agricultural show on Saturday for one of their three marquees was not in the same position as it was left the night before.

The strong winds had done their worst, and the judges' luncheon tent had been blown over and could not be salvaged. However contingency plans were put in place in the early hours and the serving of luncheons was re-convened to the nearby village hall.

It was the first time in the history of the show that the old school was not used for the staging of the indoor exhibits. Who would have thought back in the late 1920`s when the show first began and the school was full of pupils that it would close in much later years and part of it would become home to a small animal rescue centre.

The show committee members took the decision this year to hire a large marquee as they felt some of the rooms in school were now a little bit damp and space was limited due to some rooms now been allocated for the rescue animals.

They had two smaller marquees which had been in use previously for the serving of refreshments on the field, but a larger one was needed and though costly to hire the arrangement worked well as everything was now centred on one site, with the field very kindly lent for the occasion by the Jackson family.

The sheep section was well supported with an exceptional show of animals and with nigh on two hundred quality entries it was a proud day for Rathmell farmer Malcolm Taylor and his family of Scoutber Farm when they won the Alexander Morphet cup for the champion Swaledale and then went on to win the Marmaduke White cup for the on field champion with their two shear Swaledale suckled ewe. The trophies were presented by the show president, Malcolm Campbell.

The six judges who had firstly presided over their own breed sections gathered to cast their eyes over the Swaledales, Dalesbreds and Mashams, Blue faced Leicesters and Mules, Texel and fat lambs, Zwartbles and the tricky section of any other breed to pick out the overall winner.

Malcolm's Swaledale was the one which impressed the judges with all the perfect features of the hardy breed, a good confirmation and distinct colouring. A great return for this North Craven family who had not shown sheep at Horton for some years.

Sandra Ireton from Chapel-le-dale was awarded the Golden Lion Cup for the Champion Texel sheep and received an award for the reserve on field animal. Leyburn teenager Charlie Lancaster had the champion Dalesbred sheep, Horton-in-Ribblesdale farmer Gavin White received the Frankland challenge cup for the best Blue faced Leicester. Rebecca and Jessica Ashton Lambert of Selside won the Joan Barker salver for the champion Zwartble and Tracey Sutcliffe the champion in the any other breed section.

Barrie Thomas the show chairman and his daughter Ruby enjoyed success in the Swaledale section notching up three trophy wins between them with S.Raine and J.Harrison taking home the two remaining trophies in that section. The Dalesbred section silverware was shared between John Carr and Frank Jackson, who are neighbouring farmers in the Village.

Bill Walker and Ellie Forster won the Middleton trophies in their respective age groups for the best exhibit in the sheep section shown by a young handler whilst Abbey White won the Richard Sunter memorial trophy with the best exhibit shown by a young handler aged 17 to 21 years. Richard very sadly lost his life in a car accident last year and the trophy was presented to Abbey by his father Colin.

The indoor section was well supported with again a high standard of entries and staging it all within one large marquee worked well and though it felt different to not be in the school it was better for everything was in one large space and not within different school rooms.

The committee must be commended for having a great selection of classes both within the adult and the children’s section. Varying some from year to year encourages not just the entrants to have a go at something different but a variation is interesting for the visitors to see too.

The young Fothergill family enjoyed success with both Ellie and Harry gaining most points in their respective age groups in the confectionery section and Harry also won the Horton Landscaping trophy for the best photo taken by a child under 16 years of age and received a trophy for the best overall exhibit in the children's handicraft section with his decorated welly.

Olivia Newhouse won the under-16 champion exhibit in the indoor section with a fantastic hand crafted wooden sign for her home. There were 11 entries in the class to win the Sarginson trophy which was for the best Strawberry cheesecake poke cake as per the recipe in the entry schedule. Sarah Mounsey was the winner of this most unusual class, they all looked amazing.

Elsewhere on the field there were good entries in the vintage machines, cars and tractors section. The winning vintage tractor and implement was shown by Edwin Smith of Lothersdale, a grey Fergusson with a finger bar mower originally purchased by his father Fred in June 1947.

The dogs and pets had their day too with rosettes to be won on the field. Ideally it would be nice to have a small ring for the owners to show their pets as they get a bit lost amongst the other comings and goings on the field. There were some lovely dogs both big and small and judging was a difficult task for Mrs Davidson and the Rev Stephen Dawson.

A raffle was held to raise funds for the show and approximately £400 was raised prior to the day by Mark Humphries who kindly sold tickets around the village, more were sold on the day, so much so that tickets were completely sold out before the highly anticipated draw. A tombola was also held.

There were games on the field for the children and the school was open in the afternoon for visitors to call in to see and hear more about the small animal rescue centre.

An enjoyable and well supported show, which concluded with a barbecue on the field, well done to everyone for all their hard work.

Trophy winners: Champion Dalesbred: Charlie Lancaster; Champion Swaledale and On field Champion: Malcolm Taylor; Champion Texel: Sandra Ireton; Champion Blue Faced Leicester: Gavin White; Champion Zwartble: R and J. Lambert; Champion Any other breed: Tracey Sutcliffe; Best Five Mule Gimmer Lambs: Gavin White; Best Male in Swaledale section: S.Raine; Best Fleeced Sheep in Swaledale Section: Barrie Thomas; Best exhibit in local Swaledale section: Ruby Thomas; Best pair of local Swaledale gimmer lambs: Ruby Thomas; Best tup lamb in Swaledale section: J.Harrison; Best Female in Swaledale Section: Malcolm Taylor; Best Male in Dalesbred Section: Charlie Lancaster; Best fleeced sheep in Dalesbred section: Frank Jackson; Best Dalesbred Group: John Carr; Best female in Dalesbred section: John Carr; Best Masham Lamb: Frank Jackson; Best exhibit shown by a young handler up to age of eleven years: Bill Walker; Best exhibit shown by a young handler eleven to sixteen years: Ellie Forster; Best exhibit shown by a young handler seventeen to twenty one years: Abbey White; Winner of class 67 Strawberry cheesecake poke cake: Sarah Mounsey; Best overall exhibit in confectionery section: Helen Armstrong; Best fruit cake: Heather Huddleston; Most points in confectionery section, over thirteen years: Helen Armstrong; Most points in the flower section: Liz Staig; Most points in children's handicrafts, eleven years and under: Harry Fothergill; Best photo taken by a child: Harry Fothergill; Most points in the confectionery section, twelve to sixteen years: Ellie Fothergill; Most points in the confectionery section, eleven years and under: Harry Fothergill; Best handwriting: Rosie Wilson; Best exhibit in the Needlecraft section: Paula Swainson; Most points in the horticultural section: Heather Huddleston; Best Exhibit in the Horticultural section: A.Waters; Best exhibit in the flower section: Sandra Ireton; Best exhibit in the handicraft section: S.Moorhouse; Best exhibit in the indoor section, under sixteen years: Olivia Newhouse; Best overall photograph: Elizabeth Swainson; Vintage tractor: Malcolm Campbell; Vintage Car: Tony Harrison; Vintage tractor and implement: Edwin Smith.