Success for Aylsham Show

Late night and early morning preparatory work on the grounds of Blickling Park allowed the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association to put on its usual August spectacular yesterday.

Late night and early morning preparatory work on the grounds of Blickling Park allowed the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association to put on its usual August spectacular yesterday.

Muddy walkways early in the morning could have become a serious problem if further rain had followed heavy hail on Saturday and showers on Sunday, all alongside very blustery conditions.

But the rain held off and a team effort from those involved in organising the event meant that while wellies and coats were the order of the day in the morning, by the afternoon conditions were much drier and coats had mostly been taken off.

Highlights of this year's show included familiar appearances of the Imps motorcyclists and the hunting dogs of the North Norfolk Harriers to a flypast by a Lancaster bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which passed low over the lakeside venue four times.

Show secretary Chris Self said he thought that once calculated, numbers would end up being down on last year's figure of 17,000, but he was pleased with this number considering the weather.

'Considering the weather we had over the weekend - I was here on Saturday when it was hailing - the crowds have been unbelievably good.

'People came appropriately dressed in the morning with their wellies and had a lot of fun from the smiling faces I have seen.'

One of the biggest crowds of the day and certainly one of the loudest cheers of the day was reserved for head steward Gareth Daniels, who had his head shaved in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance towards the end of the show.