And finally - flowers

There are always flowers at these agricultural shows - and beautiful, colourful blooms they were too, despite the dry and dusty summer we've had. 

This time of year sees dahlias in bloom. Those below were quite an unusual variety, a gorgeous colour too. 

Such perfect 'lollipops'... 

I rather enjoyed this little cactus in bloom. They are rather underrated plants, I think, having such varied and exquisite forms and flowers. 

The arrangement above - Mirror Image -  had won numerous awards. It was certainly unusual and the little 'make-up brushes' fashioned from carnations had caught the judge's eye. 

I quite liked the one below - Teddy Bear's Picnic - simpler but effective. 

Some of the arrangements are auctioned off later in the day, to raise money for charity. 

In the Horticulture tent

One can only marvel at the perfection on display in the Horticulture categories. I don't know how the judges could come to a decision between all the entrants of 'Six Medium Tomatoes'! They do make a pleasing pattern picture. 

The red onions almost looked as though they were lit from inside, so polished, so glossy. 

The carrots... a cut above those you find in the supermarket, straight and unblemished. 

And then there are the 'Wonky veg'... won by a carrot that clearly wanted to feed a whole family all by itself. 

There were only a couple of entries in the 'corn dolly' competition, narrowly won by the 'Harvest Maid' over the 'Fish Fan'. It must take a lot of patience and skill to weave these. It's pleasing that a few folk still keep these traditional crafts alive. 

Sheepish

As well as the horses and cattle, there were quite a few sheep at Keighley Show, although not the wide variety of breeds that you see at the bigger shows like Kilnsey. Few of them were labelled either so, for a townie like me, working out what the breeds are is difficult.

I was very impressed with the poise and confidence of the young ladies handling these. Some of the lambs are rather skittish, so they had to keep their cool. Do you think that's dad in the background? He looks quite proud of them. There are 'young handler' categories at the show, recognising the developing skills of these youngsters as they help on their family farms. When I was a girl, one of my school friends lived on a farm so I know how much the whole family (and their friends!) have to get involved, to keep the enterprise running. 

Portraits of sheep are not as intimidating for me as portraits of people! The configuration of the pens meant it was hard to get as close and as low as I'd ideally have liked. 

I much prefer the ones that are left natural; some of them are dyed yellow, for some reason.

The two at the front below are Ouessants - a tiny breed originating from an island off Brittany.  Just 18" or 19" at the shoulder, they are reputed to be the smallest naturally occurring sheep breed in the world. According to the display boards by their pen, they make ideal pets for a smallholding. 

These all seemed to want to be in the same corner of their pen... A sheep knot!

Candid camera

I'm not very brave at taking candid photos of people, although there are lots of opportunities at agricultural shows and similar festivities. Here are a few I tried. It seemed that the young man above was already quite the 'young farmer' with his flat cap and checked shirt. I'm sure he's very capable and knowledgeable already. Let's hope there's a family business for him to take over when the time comes. 

On the other hand, the young lady with the pink hair bows seemed more interested in her phone (mum's phone?) than the sheep surrounding her. 

Time with grandad is always special and these two were having a wonderful conversation about the show jumping. 

Time with your pet ferret is special too. (Is that Travis Kelce in the background?)

There are, of course, lots of food stalls, though you'd be hard-pressed to find anything remotely healthy. Sugar Hut's fare looked enticing but... I was good and took my own little picnic. 

Sheep food is served in buckets - brightly coloured ones! 

It's a dog's life

Every other person at the Keighley Show seemed to have a dog with them. It was lovely to see how engaged they all were, sniffing around and generally being very curious about everything. I enjoyed watching them checking each other out too. There were many brief encounters, mostly very positive. In fact they all seemed extremely well-behaved and chilled. I don't even think I heard one barking - and I usually notice, as it is a sound that reverberates through my hearing aids! 

Moo-ving

I always enjoy the chance to get close to the cattle at the agricultural shows, especially the shaggy highland breeds. This beauty (above) was judged the best of them all.  It had quite a haughty air! I wonder what they see, through all that hair? 

Some of them had calves, very sweet. I loved the way the little one was peeping round its handler. 

I'm not sure if these big fluffy bulls (above and below) were highland cattle or some other breed. They weren't quite as hairy and didn't have the same horns so I guess they are something else but I'm no expert! 

Talk about giving me the side eye! 

I briefly toyed with the idea of trying to throw some loo rolls into a bucket to win a highland cow stuffie... but thought better of it! My hand-eye co-ordination is less than zero so it was hardly worth the punt. (And I wasn't in the moo -d... OK, I'll see myself out!) I did see one lady who managed to land one roll - but you had to get two for a big toy so she only won a small one. The child she was with seemed happy enough with that. 

Horsing around

The first Saturday in September is traditionally the date for Keighley Agricultural Show. Compared with some, it's a relatively small affair but I really enjoy it and it's not far to go (and easy, on the bus).

Much of the day is taken up with equestrian classes - both show jumping, and the judging of different classes of horses. The horses are always turned out smartly and the judges do a thorough job of checking them over: musculature, coat, teeth, gait...

They start young! A tiny tot on a tiny Shetland pony:

There is a category for heavy horses too: Shires, Clydesdales, Percheron and Suffolk Punch. I'm not entirely sure which is which, though I think those in my photos are Shires and Clydesdales. These horses were originally bred as draught horses for heavy farm work, ploughing, logging, and pulling carts, wagons and, of course, barges along the canals. A few do still work but most are now bred for showing. 

I love these horses. My enthusiasm is either in my genes (my great grandfather was a horseman) and/or a memory from my childhood. My dad used to take me to watch my uncle competing, with a horse and a plough, in the ploughing matches that used to be held. 

Heavy horses are still used in certain areas. Kings College in Cambridge has had a wildflower meadow for several years now, which is traditionally harvested using two Shire horses called Cosmo and Bryn. That is so much better for the environment than using tractors. See HERE. 

Scenes of life in the past

The photographic exhibition I went to see in Pateley Bridge was displayed in one of the studios in the artisan community in the Maker's Yard, part of the original town workhouse. Also in the same building is the Nidderdale Museum, as well as the local police station. The museum has always been closed when I've visited before, so it was good to find it open and to have time to explore it. Not that a couple of hours was long enough. It's not a huge museum but there's so much stuff in there that it would take a week to pay attention to everything! 

I particularly liked the fact that the displays were arranged in themes and room-sets, which brings them to life. The mock-up of the cobbler's workshop is actually the contents of a small cottage in Carlton in Coverdale, where three generations of the Binks family (all called Christopher) worked between the 1820s and 1960s. They used to travel up and down the Dales, on foot and later on a bicycle, staying with relatives and taking orders for repairs and new boots and shoes. The third Christopher (see below) was born in 1891, retiring a few months before his death, aged 82, in 1973. The shop's contents remained just as he left them until they were acquired by the museum in 1975. I found all this rather wonderful and touching. 

This is the museum entrance. Most of the display rooms are upstairs. At the back, the Makers' Yard is split into a number of workshops and galleries on the ground floor. 

The museum had a village shop display, full of things you just don't see nowadays. 

There was a room dedicated to local farming, with items like the butter churner below and an explanation of how butter was made (and probably is still made) by hand on local farms.   

Then there were room sets of domestic life: a parlour packed full of knick-knacks, as was the fashion in Victorian England.

It had some lovely blue and white china, of which I am a devotee, as you know. Also, I really feel that every home should have a roaring fire, a Windsor chair and a contented cat. 

The kitchen had a wonderful old range - I do remember these in some homes in my childhood. They must have been more complicated to manage than the most gadget-strewn microwave! All those different ovens and warming drawers. None of my relatives had a tin bath but my grandparents certainly used one, in front of the fire, in their youth. The bath shown below is a hip/sitz bath. 

The coach-built pram was included in the room devoted to transport. This one is more ancient than the one I was trundled about in as a baby but similar coach-built prams were made in Yorkshire for years by Silver Cross. The company still exists in Skipton, designing top-of-the-range strollers and modern sleep systems, though I believe they are actually manufactured in China these days.