A Day At The Show

A day that started out a good deal colder than of late, but as the day went on, became quite sunny and pleasant. As mentioned in an earlier post, I booked a ticket on-line for the Buckingham County Show. I didn't see much point getting to the show too early (it opened at 8a.m.) so I left just after 9 a.m., driving out of Milton Keynes on Standing Way towards Buckingham, a road I know well enough and then turned off just beyond the Thrift Farm and used the Google Maps app on my iPhone to direct me more or less exactly to the show ground. No, I didn't use the mobile as I drove along. I had to stop in one of the villages and checked my phone to make sure I was heading in the right direction. The Google Maps app is probably more use than the built in SatNav which I have in the car.  I saw a couple of yellow signs which directed me towards the show ground. I had suspected that there must be some sort of sign somewhere for those who didn't know the way, such as myself.I continued on until I came to a  set of traffic lights, not for roadworks (fortunately) but to allow vehicles to enter the carpark. When I drove in I was confronted by his vast grass meadow, so I was very wary of having to drive across a not-too even surface and was directed by several stewards to the place to park. Then, having parked, I had to follow the crowd walking towards the entrance to the show. I'm so glad I bought my entry ticket on-line and had it printed out because all I had to do was show it to a member of staff who scanned the barcode on the ticket to then be let through the gate and into the show ground. This bought back memories of such visits as a child, usually the East of England Agricultural show at Alwalton, Peterborough, or before that, when the Bedfordshire Agricultural show was held on the riverside meadows along Cardington Road, on the way into Bedford, usually over a weekend in summer.

On arrival inside the show ground, I was confronted by a range of stalls and tents to explore. A lot of pennants and flags and one in particular, saying 'Ferrets' on it, so I made my way towards the stand. A lot of coloured tubes, and a board giving what I assume is the name of a different ferret, which I imagine is set up for ferret racing. As I've owned and kept ferrets I have a certain amount of knowledge about these fantastic, feisty little creatures. But there was absolutely no sign of a ferret, which was a pity as I'd have liked to see them racing. Then on to an area, a largish area of grass with a roped off pence and people standing and watching something going on in the ring. A man demonstrating dog-training, working dogs such as cocker spaniels, sheep dogs and labradors. He has a microphone attached to his face, similar to what are used in church, and what I presume is a radio link allowing his voice to be heard over the Tannoy system. What I watch is quite amazing, a sheep dog (I assume it to be a sheep dog) heading ducks or geese. Around six or eight, being cajoled by the dog, rather like a sheep door herding sheep. I've never seen anything like it, and it ends with the ducks being herded into an enclosure. It was amusing, to say the least and the crowd were loving it. I had my Canon digital camera with me, so I took a few shots, but unfortunately I didn't think to charge the camera's battery, so the thing, unfortunately, died so I ended up taking photographs with my iPhone, which isn't as easy as using the Canon because you can never see clearly through the little LED screen and it was a bit of pot luck whether any shots would be successful. You can see a few on the post, below.

Model T Ford on display at the show

Cattle in the process of being judged

 Well turned out horses in the equine area of the show

No agricultural show is complete without a display of the latest mechanical equipment, including
tractors

I had a good wander around the show, looking at a lot of the stands. I found a stand which was for a company called Dog Only Knows, selling a range of natural dog food and treats, so I had a browse and bought Alfie a bag of treats. Who says I never love hime? He deserves treats and hopefully he would take to these. Later I found a stall selling a wide range of brushes, and as Alfie needs brushing because he has a long coat, I managed to buy one which was more than suitable for the job. Quite expensive, but never mind, just this once I didn't mind paying for a brush that wasn't going to fall apart.

I saw several displays of dogs, beagles, seleham terriers (around the same size as Alfie, who is a Yorkshire Terrier.) and bloodhounds. I was surprised how big they are and I imagine how much food they would eat! Probably quite a lot.

I was feeling a little peckish and was contemplating where to stop to have a bite to eat and a drink when I came across a tent which was run by local churches, offering free tea and cake. Too good to miss. I couldn't believe that it was free. So, in I went, chose a rather  nice slice of what looked like walnut sponge and a large cup of tea and then sat at a table, by now really ready to sit down. People were really friendly and ready to chat. Having had my cuppa and cake, I left the tent and had another wander, having a look at tractors and other farm machinery. Well, let's be honest, an agricultural show isn't complete with tractors. Then, something of a surprise. Tortoises! No, it's not every day that you come across large tortoises. I think we saw some when we visited Twycross zoo, but nowhere else. They were quit4e large and you could pay £2 to get closer, but there were signs up telling you to beware that they could bite! Probably be a bit like being bitten by a set of pliers! They're mouths do look quite lethal and their teeth probably quite sharp and certainly give you quite a nip if given half a chance.

Then, viewing a selection of vintage cars, vans and farm machinery. I have taken a photograph of a Model T Ford, which is above.

Having seen all I wanted to see I decided it was time to leave the showground and make for the exit. A real crush of people coming in. I was then concerned that I wouldn't remember where I had parked the car in that vast field. Since I had arrived the carpark had filled up considerably but after a bit of a walk I soon found the car and then had to find the way out of the carpark as there was no real indication but it wasn't as difficult as it could have been. There were plenty of stewards to direct me out. Turning left onto the road I drove towards Aylesbury and eventually got on the road back to Milton Keynes, but I didn't realise how close it was to Aylesbury and even Waddesdon Manor wasn't that far away. A familiar road and not long before I was home and really pleased to have been out and had such a good day out.

Foggy Morning

We woke up this morning to thick fog. I suppose a visibility of around 20 yards. It was quite an effort to see along Saxon Street as we came out of Eaglestone. The Academy appeared to have disappeared as we approached. The car is due back at the garage this morning at 9.30 to have new tyres fitted, so I hope the fog has lifted. If other drivers would only moderate their speed as they rush to work things would be a good deal safer. I think, once the sun makes an effort to come out it will heat things up and the fog will melt away. I have some quite nasty memories of fog on the Motorway from when I was touring with DaSilva's puppets during the 1970's. Also, cars speeding along the A1 and crashing into the roundabout near Peterborough, at  Norman Cross , and seeing their mangled remains. The A1 now goes over the top of this intersection, which makes it a good deal safer. Once you've seen that sort of incident, and heard the sound of crashing, it does tend to alter your driving habits. Really quite scary and the memory does make me rather reluctant to drive in fog, however thick.  I'm not sure how many people were injured, but you would think people would have the sense to slow down when there's fog and they can't see clearly what's ahead on the road. Just crazy.

Later.

I took the car to the O.K. Garage at Peartree Bridge. It turned out they didn't have the tyres to put on the car so they had to order them from somewhere in Bletchley. These didn't arrive as quickly as they might have done. Don't ask me what happened, but probably someone wasn't doing their job at the supplier's end, so I had to wait around 2 1/2 hours, but it's now done and we can drive off on holiday in two week's time with a car fully MoT'd and with tyres in a far better condition than they have been in quite a while.

Later still.

I could have started a new post, but decided to write this as a sort of post-script for the day. As I said when I began, the day started off foggy, but by midday it became sunny and really spring-like. There is plenty of blossom on the trees along the grid roads and opposite the house in Eaglestone. There are crocuses beginning to appear at various points around Milton Keynes but the daffodils are beginning to come to the end of their time, particularly those on the roundabout on Standing Way where it meets Saxon Street. We usually go to the Brother's Fish Bar in Eaglestone for fish and chips on a Friday but this week we went to get Kentucky Fried Chicken at the drive-in branch near the football stadium. They have changed the entrance from Saxon Street, it's a good deal wider and made into two carriage-ways. There is also another entrance further along the road, which goes into the site right next to the new complex which houses the Odeon cinema which has an IMAX screen in it.
We didn't actually use the drive-in as it was far to busy with many cars queuing so we parked in the carpark and went inside the restaurant to order our food and then went home to eat it.