It’s the second Wednesday in August, so everyone in the rural half of Dorset knows it must be time for the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show. The day dawned drizzly – with more drizzle interspersed with light rain forecast for the next few hours – so it was a damp grey start at Turnpike Showground. But the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show was back and reuniting the rural community – it may have been a slower start than a sunny show day would be, but by lunchtime the raincoats were being folded over arms, the wellies were feeling uncomfortably warm, and the crowd around the Main Ring to cheer on the camel racing was standing five people deep.
And what a joy the camel racing was – the first warm up practice go had us wondering what the ‘racing’ part was all about. But then the camels got competitive. Suddenly thousands of people watched in absolute joy as four GIANT camels hilariously galumphed their way down the ring to get to the bucket of oats first, egged on by their (I suspect irrelevant) jockeys. Totally brilliant!
But there was so much else to see and do! The cattle, sheep and equestrian classes all needed watching – never miss the opportunity to admire and learn about the different breeds. At the FARRRRR end of the showground was the Turnpike Ring, where the countryside acts such as the gun dog display, the falconry, and of course the terrier and ferret racing all happened.
I spent rather too long in the poultry tent – so many different breeds of chicken. And shouty ducks. Lots of fun.
There was dog agility. A funfair. Hundreds of trade stands to meander round (garden furniture to clothing, high street brands to local producers …), plus of course the honey marquee, the horticulture and homecraft classes marquee … There’s just SO MUCH to do and see, the day vanishes before you know it.
And when you’re ready for a sit down (and you’ll need it) there was plenty of choice – the live music stage had performances all day with plenty of seating, the food and drink areas were populated with lots of picnic benches which everyone was sociably sharing, and there’s lots of seating around the rings too. And of course there’s a massive choice on offer for food and drink – plentiful and varied, and though we opted to eat right at lunchtime none of the queues were terribly long.
The G&S is always a special show: it’s deeply local, and never forgets that for more than 160 years it has been an agricultural show. With farming firmly at its heart, it’s a brilliant rural day out for everyone (farmer or not!).
A few images from the 2024 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show:
