The Wasdale fells bring a brooding presence to the showground - surely one of the most impressive backdrops in the show calendar
Gosforth is the home base for Wasdale Mountain Rescue team (rather handily adjacent to the Horse & Groom, one of the villages five pubs) , so the team are always present (unless there's a call out!)
....and another regular that makes the show so familiar is the local Hartley's Ice Cream van - if you are brought up in West Cumbria this is the benchmark for ice cream excellence against which all lesser marques falter - try some if you get a chance!
So, onto a selection of the many things that, together, make up the character of this classic Lakeland agricultural show......
....like this amazing contraption, a state of the art seed broadcaster from the 1870s - did the work of many men and formed part of the great agricultural revolution - respect due to its maker, Thomas Corbett of Shrewsbury, the Steve Jobs of his generation?
..... and the dog show, with tense owners and dogs wondering what's going on....
- some big, bright and leading edge
....some less so
...and then there's the livestock - too many to mention, but here's a couple of notables
....a cracking bull
...and a majestic heavy horse
.....but sadly I then had to leave before the highlight of the show (for me anyway), the terrier racing - I'll have to wait till Wasdale show for that.
....so finally, back to the rain that I referred to at the beginning of this blog, which came on suddenly at the end of the day, just in time for our barbecue back home in Wasdale....
