County agricultural show marks 225th anniversary

Hundreds of people turned up to enjoy two days of country life at the Staffordshire County Show, which celebrated its 225th year.

There was a range of agricultural displays, including farm animals, as well as motorcycle demonstrations, show jumping, a dog show, local produce to sample and a variety of crafts.

Among the new features this year was a cat show, with about 30 different cats.

The show's chief executive officer, Richard Williams, said the event on Wednesday and Thursday was important for the farming community.

"One of the things that I've often said is on farms we have seen a reducing labour force to the extent where probably there's only one person working there," he said.

"They [farmers] are alone for hours on end in a tractor or milking parlour, so therefore it's really important they come to something like this where they can meet colleagues, they can talk about problems, discuss what the latest inventions are and what have you."

He added that the competitions remained at the heart of the show, as they had been since it started 225 years ago in 1800, and that's still the case today.

"The people who are competing are really serious. These animals are preened to the utmost because they want to win," Mr Williams said.