PICTURES: Crowds flock in Nairn as Nairn Show returns to town after three-year lockdown break
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REVELLERS at a popular Highland farming event were blessed by glorious sunshine, with local farmers bagging some of the prizes.
Making its return for the first time since 2019, due to the pandemic, Nairn Show was staged on Saturday at its new Davidson Park home.
Nairnshire Farming Society and Nairn Show secretary Claire Cameron said they were delighted with the turnout.
“We just can’t believe how well it went,” she said. “Obviously we had lots of extra space, so to come down to Davidson Park there was a bit of apprehension just on how it would flow and whether we would get the same atmosphere as before, but the atmosphere turned out to be absolutely great.
“It was a wee bit cloudy in the morning which was great for livestock, and then the sun came out later on.”
Overall champion of champions and winner of the Patreon Jubilee Prize was Breconside Raine, a Limousin heifer with Michael Robertson from Fodderletter, Tomintoul.
Eric and Miranda Johnston from Muir of Ord won the overall horse championship with their Clydesdale mare, three-year-old Ord Moana.
The overall sheep champion was a beltex from WD Stephen, Meikle Geddes, Nairn, and the most successful Nairnshire competitor in the sheep section was Robert Flett from Blackpark Croft Cottage, Ardersier.
Ms Cameron said it was great to see entrants from Nairnshire do so well at the event.
She added: “Numbers-wise, although we don’t have a final count yet, we can see that it has increased from 2019’s crowd.
“I think this is because people are ready to come out, and the farming community have missed each other.
“For business, this is a chance for everyone to meet at the same time.
“For the farming community and the society, we believe in education of the public in our farming sector.
“So that’s a huge thing for us and a great opportunity.
“We want to educate the public on the ethos of field to fork – how we try to change what we do to make sure that we produce the best products in Scotland, how we do it and why we do it.
“The committee are really happy and the public seemed delighted too.
“After a two-year break, we thought how we were going to do it, but we worked closely together and the committee has such resilience so it was great.
“For us, coming back was so important and we are blown away by the support that we had.”
The success was a team efforts of volunteers from the Nairnshire Farming Society and the committee, which is formed by a variety of roles, with planning for next year’s event due to start soon.
