Huntingdon County Fair.

Arriving late at a campsite:
"Do you have any pitches left?"
"Err, sure. We've got some lovely ones on the front of our brochure…"

No longer a root beer virgin.

We arrived early, so early in fact that the tickets we bought weren't checked at the the gate. Being foreigners we wandered in through the traders entrance and acted as if we were meant to be there. Enormous trailer lorries were still arriving and the more leisurely participants were still setting up their stalls.

Would you?

The main events are spread out over a week, and there are scores of competitions to enter. If you have a respectable rabbit, goat, cow, pig, horse, onion, or even a long stick of corn, you're in with a chance of success. We saw a couple of sole entries - so a prize guaranteed. It seemed a pointless victory to us, until we realised that in a couple of years the rosette will still be on the wall, and no one would be any the wiser!

People are relaxed and out for a good time, so were happy to chat with us. We learned all about the life cycle of the bee, the route we should take through America, (down to Texas and up the West Coast), why immigration was a good thing, and also why immigration was a bad thing. A young mother told us about her farm, and how it's hard to make a living from the land. Both her and her husband had second jobs as well as tending the livestock. She'd brought her two lovely children of seven and nine. The elder boy, with his slim build and snow white hair, reminded us of our lad when he was that age. They'd raised young goats and were showing them in competition. Their mother had stopped raising bulls for the event, as she couldn't handle the fact that the animals are sold for slaughter after the show. Other youngsters of around seven happily ride horses bareback around the show, a sure sign of where the community's priorities lie.

Start 'em young...

The animals were all beautifully prepared, hair dryers fluffing up the ridge hair on cows' backs, horses groomed to a silky sheen, and pigs polished to perfection. Of course it's what you'd expect at a show, but there's a real respect for the animals in evidence - even if they are part of the commercial enterprise of farming.

No mirrors used.

There's also a permanent agricultural museum here at the show ground, and we wandered around musing on the weird and wonderful implements. Milk cooling, butter churning, nail pulling, medicine dosing, foetus turning, potato planting, honey separating, corn sowing, metal bashing, hay baling, pitch forking agriculture…

It's astonishing how inventive man can be when there's labour to be saved and a buck to be made.

Now I know it's nerdy, but I like tractors. There were dozens on display, ranging back almost a century. It's not the technical side of things that interests me, but the stories that are locked up in their solid chunky forms. Once upon a time they were all a farmer's new pride and joy.

 How many fields have they ploughed, how many men have sat in those unyielding seats, how many acres of corn were they responsible for, and why were they retired? Most of them look as if they could still set out across the fields pulling a heavy plough behind - given a new set of tyres.

And it's the same in the museum. Hundreds of tools used over the years, the wear on their handles telling how they are all intimately connected with the people who used them - icons of an agricultural age.

So tonight, worn out with all this philosophising we've decided to stay in the car park. Unless we get moved on...

A day at the Fair. If the link above doesn't work for you, have a look here:
Vimeo Website.