The South of England Show is held annually just up the road from where we live, in Ardingly. This year on a weekend at home we woke up to a sunny, summers day and decided to head up the road and check out what it was all about! The South of England Show showcases the best of agriculture and farming across the South East region of England and features non stop displays and action in the arenas. In addition to the agriculture and farming, the finale of each day was a performance by the Bolddog’s, a freestyle motorcycle display team in the main ring.
We arrived around lunch time, and there was no shortage of food with an impressive food hall, food stalls, a market place and also pop up bars. We picked up some delicious food and a cider each to enjoy in the sunshine.
We then checked out some of the action in the rings, which ranged from horse racing, pony racing (who knew pony’s could run that fast), dog training, tractors and dressage.
There was no shortage of activities for the kids (or the young at heart) with carnival rides, a rock climbing wall and fly fishing just to name a few.
Local businesses and companies all had stands showcasing their goods and services which included plants, equipment, cars, tractors, machinery, buildings. Basically you name it and it was probably there, I eventually had to drag Dan away from the cars at one point!
It wouldn’t be a country show without animals! We saw some of the healthiest, biggest and best looking farm animals we have ever seen. We took the time to check out some of them including award winning pigs, cows and sheep! It was truly evident the time and effort that had gone into breeding, raising, looking after and preparing these animals for the show and the farmers and college students were deservedly very proud!
One of the highlights for both of us was the sheep shearing! It was especially so for Dan as it was his first time ever seeing a sheep be shorn! The South African farmer who was shearing the sheep was incredibly entertaining and attracted an enormous crowd!
The finale of the show as we mentioned was the motorcycle performance by the Bolddog’s. It was one of the scariest and most impressive acts I’ve seen and the crowd was truly captivated and engrossed throughout their entire show!
We both had a fantastic day out at the South of England show! It was wonderful to see the hard work and efforts of so many put on show and was a true testament to the farmers of the South East of England. There was so much to see and do and next time we will definitely arrive earlier to spend longer here. It’s a great day out for people of all ages and we will be back next year!
The Aussie Flashpacker experienced the South of England Show as a guest of the Show.
Our opinions are as always, our own.
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