The thousands of people who attended Castlewellan Show were surprised by the arrival of the police helicopter which landed in one of the show rings in the late afternoon. A young girl had been badly injured when she fell off her bicycle at the adjoining campsite and was immediately attended by off duty paramedics and emergency personnel who were on site at the Show. The eleven year old was airlifted to hospital where she is now recovering from surgery.
Show Day started with a heavy mist across the field which gave an eerie appearance as horses and cattle emerged from the fog. But that did not deter visitors who arrived from early morning to avoid the queues. Those who stayed at home until later were kept in touch with what was going on by a live broadcast of Radio Ulster’s Saturday Magazine Show. John Toal interviewed competitors and their animals, Will Abernethy complemented Paula McIntyre’s cookery demonstration with hard churning butter, there was live music from the Soma Festival and Garrett O’Hare, as well as information on other upcoming events including Fiddlers Green and Moneyslane’s FC’s upcoming hosting of the Man Utd legends team. You can now listen to the programme again using BBC’s Iplayer.
On other parts of the field the displays of blacksmithing, threshing, straw making, spinning, wood turning alongside vintage cars, tractors and machinery which contrasted greatly to their more modern counterparts on the trade stalls. The Mourne Alpacas were a great hit with children and adults alike and were just one of a variety of animals that children could see and touch close up. The most popular ring all day was the dog agility with over 120 dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes being put through their paces by their equally enthusiastic owners.
Traders and exhibitors are an important part of Castlewellan Show showcasing the best of local food produce and crafts to large machinery, equine and dog products, plants, renewable energy and quad bikes. Over 150 traders were scattered across the field, many of whom reported brisk trade. Toasty Logs, from Ballyward won the best trade stand with Horner’s Comber potatoes as runner up.
The craft tent was steady throughout the day with a wide ion of things to buy including jewellery, knitwear, art, linen, ceramics and cookwear. Award for best stall went to Magherafelt artist Louisa Kelly. The gourmet food tent was also popular hosting the best of Northern Irish and Irish produce with the Abernethy cup awarded to a new company Burren Balsamics from Ballynahinch for their very tasty flavoured balsamic vinegars.
The brand new fashion tent hosted by Target Dry was a big draw with their extensive range of contemporary outdoor clothing proving popular with visitors. Next door home industries was busy throughout the day with over 1400 cakes, jams, art, crafts, models, knitwear, handwriting and photography on display. Overall Baking Champion sponsored by Tescos was Jennifer Busby and Maginns overall Homecraft Champion this year was Sandra Brown. The local Women’s Institutes put up a great display with the theme of World War I with Boardmills just pipping Seaforde and Closkelt for the trophy. A great array of scarecrows outside the tent provided lot of opportunity for photographs but the Kane Trailer’s prize went to Claire Small.
Always a popular competition is best dressed lady and gent. Fiona Cromie was suitably in style to capture the title and a £100 voucher from TJ Gems, Castlewellan with a spa voucher from Hastings Hotel Group. Samuel McConnell was gallantly attired and was awarded the best dressed gent accolade with vouchers from Buttercrane Shopping Centre and Down Royal Race Course.
A range of public bodies including the PSNI Education Road Show, Alzheimer’s Society, Patient Client Council and Public Health Agency promoting organ donation with All Ireland Institute of Palliative Care inviting people to take part in their survey. This year the Fire & Rescue Service were here for the first time and their fire engine and animal rescue display were particularly popular with young people. Tiny Life volunteers were among a number of charities present and were visible in their yellow tabards selling Show catalogues to raise funds. Save The Children Lisburn branch ran a very tasty vintage tea tent with no shortage of scrumptious tray bakes and scones.
The livestock is what Castlewellan Show is all about and the quality this year was no exception. Ivaniskey Denise was a worthy winner of the Linden Food Supreme Beef Championship showing that the Ivaniskey Blondes enterprise are continuing to breed some of the best stock in Northern Ireland. Sean McGovern took reserve with his charolais Ratoary Irishman ET and for the first time a cross bred took 2nd reserve John Killen with Baby Fanta.
The sheep pens once again yielded a very competitive field of around 700 entries across all classes with Danske Bank Interbreed champion in show winner going to Alastair Gault (Texel) and reserve to James Aiken (Charollais). The Rathfriland Farmers Co-op Individual Breed Promotion was won by L Jamison and the club breed promotion was awarded to the Zwartbles.
The goats two day back to back once again proved popular with sponsorship from British Goat Society, O Rourke Timer Products, The Dealer and the NI Goat Club. Maurice Murphy took the overall champion and Marie Cherry winning the best goatling. Ally Whan ran a tight but noisy operation in the poultry tent which was very popular with young and old visitors alike. Daisy and Grace Caraher were delighted to win Best Bird in Show. Also, a big pull this year was our new rabbit section which was supported by MSD Animal Health and attracted over fifty rabbits from a variety of breeds.
There was plenty of jumping with the Mossvale Riding Club running the unaffiliated show jumping in the main arena and the working hunters and ponies putting on a great display at the top of end of the field. Mossvale results will be available on their facebook page. The Equestrian News NI team were kept busy all day keeping tabs on the wide ion of horse and pony classes. Photos from that section are now on their website. The PJ Turley & Sons champion ridden hunter on the day was Sylvia Henry on Homegrown Phoenix with the Burrendale Hotel Open Working Hunter won by Stephen D Sands & Fred. The Agribarn Search for a Young Horse competition was secured by Martin & Walsh with Imperial Choice. Once again the Clydesdales were so graceful to watch, with the Shetlands providing entertainment at the other end of the size spectrum. The driving & hackney classes and the donkeys occupied the arenas towards the end of the day.
A full list of results will be posted on the Show website this week.
After a busy day, new Show Secretary Jackie Fitzpatrick thanked the huge team of volunteers “So many people work hard all year to make this day a great day out for all the family and certainly we succeeded, I’m looking forward to seeing the photos on our website”
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