Nairnshire Farming Society announces new site for annual agricultural show
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The new eight acre showfield will be created between the A939 and the River Nairn at Househill Farm and has been purchased with a £136,000 grant.
Members of the Nairnshire Farming Society’s governing committee reluctantly came to a decision on Monday evening that the annual show would once again be postponed due to the pandemic.
But they welcomed the acquisition the new showfield which is on the edge of Nairn and within walking distance of the town centre.
Additional land adjacent to the new showground will be leased for car parking.
The society's vice-president, Henry Sleigh, said the new showground will bring the event within easy walking distance for a large part of Nairn and recreate the traditional link between the town and the farming community.
“Nairnshire Farming Society are delighted to announce this permanent facility which is close to the town," he said.
"We hope that this new location will be beneficial to all, and look forward to welcoming you as soon as possible.
The grant to purchase the and came from the Davidson Trust (Nairn) and Mr Sleigh added: “We are eternally grateful to the Nicolson family and the Davidson Trust for their support to make this happen.”
Chair of the Davidson Trust, Iain Bain, said: “Over the years the Davidson Trust has assisted Nairnshire Farming Society with grants for equipment and trustees are delighted that we can once more support the farmers in a transformational project for both the society and Nairn town, reconnecting the farming community with the town in a way that our benefactor, the late Christina Davidson, would have encouraged.”
Margaret Nicolson of Househill Farm and a former secretary of Nairnshire Farming Society said: “It was an honour for our family to be approached by the Nairnshire Farming Society.
"We’re delighted that Househill Farm will be a part of the future of the Nairn Farmer’s Show and look forward to working with the Nairnshire Farming Society to ensure the show’s continued success.”
The future of Nairn Show and its location has been under discussion for well over two decades.
The farming society still owns the original showfield beside the A96 in Nairn town but by the 1990s was finding it difficult to stage the show on an increasingly limited space.
A controversial decision was made previously to sell the showfield for development as a supermarket and relocate to Broadley on the southern margin of Nairn.
But there was opposition to that proposal and it fell through though part of the showfield was eventually zoned for housing.
Since 2008 the farming society has staged the Nairn Show at Kinnudie Farm by kind permission of the Philip family.
There the show has flourished with extra space available.
But in more recent years the Kinnudie field has become compromised by the line for the proposed Nairn Bypass, prompting the farming society to think again about a new location.
