Thousands attend 'showcase of rural life'

Thousands of people have turned out to visit a near 200-year-old "showcase of rural life" as organisers warn growing pressures are causing farming numbers to dwindle.

The annual one-day Cumberland Show, staged at the showfield in the village of Warwick-on-Eden near Carlisle, sees hundreds of animals including cattle, sheep and horses compete to be named Champion of Champions.

Judging runs alongside a host of attractions and exhibits, as well as the sport of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling.

Robbie Tuer, field group chairman, said "farmers are very proud people and very proud of what they bring along" but that small farms are "really struggling".

Describing the show itself, Tuer said: "The ultimate accolade is winning the Champion of Champions. That's what the farmers will be here to win.

"They want a rosette and to walk away with the top prize. The judge has a really tough job.

"It's a real showcase of rural life. We have everything that's exhibited as well as birds of prey displays, sheep shearing and food and drink stalls."

While the event continues to draw crowds of up to 10,000, Tuer cautions agricultural life itself is facing a series of challenges resulting in "farming numbers going down at a rate that's very worrying indeed".

Amid those difficulties, he said the Cumberland Show acts as both a celebration and respite with a "community of people getting together".

"Whether it's from milk prices or livestock prices, or government subsidies going, there's a lot of mental strain within farming.

"If we look at what farmers make, a lot of them are asset-rich but not cash-rich.

"At the show we're all volunteers giving up our time and a lot of them have their own family farm they could be working on.

"They'll get up before the crack of dawn, do their jobs and then they'll be at the showfields for mid-morning and come and do a day's work and then go home and have other things to finish.

"The way of rural life is changing. If we don't realise how important British agriculture is and we lose it, we will be in a very sticky place indeed."

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