The Royal Welsh Show 2009

Paul & Wendy Wright exhibiting at The Royal Welsh Show

Wendy and I have just returned from exhibiting our unique range of silver and gold jewellery at The Royal Welsh Show. This year we were invited to exhibit in the South Glamorgan Hall which meant that, despite the inclement weather, we remained dry and mud free!

This is the biggest agricultural show in Europe! It is organised by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1904, and takes place in July of each year, at Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales.

The first show was held in Aberystwyth in 1904, and its success led to the development of the permanent showground at Llanelwedd, first used in 1963.

The show lasts for four days and attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually, making it a major boon for tourism in Wales. Events include competitions of cattle, sheep, horses, goats, pigs and various other domestic animals, Sheep dog trials, Sheep shearing competitions, Horse riding competitions, Four-in-hand and Carriage Driving displays, Falconry, Games and sports such as the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery of the Royal Horse Artillery, Arts and crafts and live music.

Given its "Royal" status it is not unusual for a senior member of the British Royal family to attend at the Show. A familiar sight is the Prince of Wales who is generally acknowledged to be a keen supporter of the farming community. Indeed following his outspoken support during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, some farmers regard him as an influential figure. The royal interest in this year's show was provided by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, and the Countess of Wessex. The couple spent several hours at Llanelwedd on Wednesday, having been greeted by the president, North Wales landowner and farmer Robin Price, of Rhiwlas, Bala, who then accompanied them on a tour of the showground. Unfortunately I was unable to find an opportunity to photograph the couple to add to my 'Royal photo' collection and so the 'blog photo feature' this time is one of Wendy and I on our trade stand!

Once again we stayed in our delightful rural B&B nestled in a beautiful valley a short distance from the showgrounds where the proprietor, Biddy Williams, provides not only the best Welsh breakfast 'fry up' in the world but an outstanding roast dinner with fresh vegatables grown in her own garden! Each evening all ten guests staying at this picturesque period cottage congregate in its' small dining room around an oak gateleg table and exchange diverse experiences of the days events at the show. This year's guests included a Vivien Westwood fashion designer (who was showing a pony in the competition of Welsh Cobs), two Irish cattle farmers from Donegal, the marketing director for Harper Adams Agricultural College, a country artist, a podiatrist and two market traders from London. It certainly made for varied and interesting conversation after the show each day!

NB. We acknowledge thanks to Wikipaedia for the factual information on the history of the Royal Welsh Show.

The Royal Highland Show 2009

... judged by the company you keep!

HRH Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom

Growing up, I heard my parents tell me to be careful how I chose my friends. “You are judged by the company you keep”, they told me.

In our business we are certainly privileged to 'keep very good company' by exhibiting our silver and gold jewellery at trade shows supported by various members of our British Royal Family. The 2009 Royal Highland Show, held in Edinburgh, was no exception. In fact this year we were delighted to meet with HRH Elizabeth II herself! She is the patron of the Show's organising body and this was her first visit to the Show in over twenty years. This presented the ultimate 'Royal photo' opportunity and I was pleased to snap the picture of her above - albeit from quite some distance away due to the tight security that surrounds her royal visits!

The Royal Highland Show saw a record attendance over the four days last week. In fact we discovered that the numbers had increased by over 15% with the highest ever visitor figure on the Saturday of 51,307. This was probably aided by the Royal visits which included not only HRH the Queen on the second day of the Show, but also Princess Ann who was in attendance on the Saturday.

Our customers at the Royal Highland show are largely from the farming community in Scotland. Many of them had no doubt as to which would be the champion cow this year. It was an impressive 'Holstein', bred near Annan, that was named as the interbreed champion at the 2009 Royal Highland Show. The judges were impressed with the size, power and sheer scale of her. She was well balanced and with a really good udder too. "A youthful cow with good legs and feet", one farmer told me!

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