It’s great to be back visiting the Royal Cornwall Show after the 2 year break due to the pandemic. The show is one of the biggest events on the Cornish calendar and it has definitely been missed.
Origins
The origins of the Royal Cornwall Show date back to 1793 when it was organised by the Cornwall Agricultural Society. The show continues to focus on the agricultural sector, but nowadays the show also encompasses Cornish products and services from many other sectors and professions throughout the county. Some traders also attend from further afield, as they are undoubtedly drawn by the show’s ideal location and the buzz of the milling crowds.
Each year the show plays host to members of the Royal family and other VIP’s. This year was no different, with the Royal and VIP visitors attending on the same day.
Floral Marquee
One of the first things we usually do on entering the showground is to visit the floral marquee. We enjoy the floral displays, but one in particular was missing this year. I’m sure many people will have noticed that the usual display by Strawberry Fields was not centre stage in the floral marquee. In previous years Strawberry Fields displays were huge artistic creations and ones which must have taken many months of planning and a lot of hard work. We appreciate that businesses can’t always do everything year in, year out, but we do hope we will see a return of their amazing display at next year’s show. Fingers crossed.
Filling part of the gap left by Strawberry Fields was Cetus, an eye-catching sculpture made from ghost fishing gear collected from 7 local beaches. Many visitors were taking photos and hopefully this means that the message wishing to be conveyed by the exhibitor was received by hundreds, if not thousands of people.
Vintage Vehicles
Our next stop was the vintage cars and vehicles exhibition, which included a rare 1934 Hillman Minx 10HP Family Foursome 4door Tourer. Unsurprisingly ( for a radiator company, that is ), our eyes were drawn to the radiator, as we were interested to see the curvature on the grill. They certainly made them stylish in them days. Interestingly, the radiator on the 1920 Model T One Ton Truck was in a totally different condition, but as its owner wished to keep the vehicle in a barn find condition then this was to be expected.
Hospitality
We continued past the vintage vehicle exhibition, passing alongside the funfair, with families and children enjoying the rides and candy floss. We soon reached stand 477, where we participated in a much welcome cup of tea and biscuits. What was on stand 477? I hear you ask. Well, our friend Dylan published a few facebook videos reminding everyone to come and visit him on stand 4-7-7. So that’s what we did. Thank you Cornwall Farm Machinery for your much appreciated hospitality.
Main Arena
Once fully refreshed, we continued on our way up to the main arena, to see some of the many performances. Horses, dogs and cattle were some of the main features in the arena, with prize giving and parades being an important part of the show. We managed a good viewing spot to watch the Freestyle Motorcross Display Team, Bolddog FMX. Their tricks and stunts were applauded by the whole crowd, which just encouraged them to be even bolder and more dare-devil with their next stunts. Well done guys, the display was great, particularly with the associated difficulties of the wind.
And Finally
We spent the rest of the day doing a bit of retail therapy; browsing the stalls and sampling the food produce.
All in all, from our perspective, it was a very enjoyable and welcome return to the Royal Cornwall Show. We met up with family and friends, we stopped and chatted with old acquaintances and, of course, we did a bit of business during the day, stopping to talk with agricultural engineers and the like.