Today was the annual Totnes and District Show. This is the first time we have been for many years – somehow we never seemed to manage it. It was a very much smaller affair than the Devon County Show but it was still a great little show, and I was delighted to find some of the same stand holders that I’d met at the County Show. One of these was the man running the kitchen stand, and I was able to tell him how thrilled I was with my recent purchases from him – the sauté pan, mandolin cutter and my glorious (and lethal!) set of kitchen knives. He was delighted that I was so pleased. Another stand holder that I saw was the Mexican silver man, and I had to restrain myself! I told him I had promised myself that I would only buy ONE silver bangle per year, and I managed to remain true to my resolution despite his best efforts to the contrary!
I naturally took quite a few photos. There were the usual animals, and we mostly saw sheep.
In one of the tents we saw some Jacob sheep (one of my favourite breeds, with their spotted fleeces).
Beyond their pen was a display of fleece samples.
The spinners were all hard at work, and it was interesting seeing the different wheels they were using.
Later we returned, to find the Jacob sheep being sheared. It was lovely seeing it done in the old fashioned way, with no electricity. I was amazed at the patience of the sheep who just lay back docilely and let him get on with it! It must have been a relief to be rid of all that wool in the hot weather we’ve been having.
We also saw some ducks.
The main display of the day was from the Red Devils, the display team of the Parachute Regiment. This was quite impressive, with their red smoke capsules indicating their downwards path. I was very pleased that I managed to get some reasonable photos, because they were moving pretty fast.
In this first photo, if you loo very carefully, you can see the first of the parachute jumpers silhouetted against the cloud.
The first one coming in to land. There was a red smoke bomb going on the ground, to show them the way down.
Formation!
We saw them chatting with people later, in their red uniforms.
A demonstration of thatching.
As always at these shows, the craft tent was awesome and I made a beeline with my hubby in tow – he’s very interested in all the things too, which is a good thing!
Cane chair seating.
Work in progress:
There was a stall showing some exquisite silver jewellery with pale blue glass beads. The lady explained to us that both the silver and the glass were recycled. The glass beads are made from recycled Bombay Sapphire gin bottles! How cool is that? I loved how she’d displayed the pieces, interspersing them between pieces of driftwood and some beautiful beach pebbles.
There was a stand of what I think was called “Spangle Art” or some such name. These were designs and motifs on pieces of wood, and they were made from recycled bits of metal – all sorts of different things and it was fun identifying them on the finished pieces.
A stand of beautiful hand-woven rugs.
We watched a man carving large wooden sculptures using only a chain saw.
When we came back later, we saw that he had completed the barn owl.
I was hoping to find lots of healthy food stands to sample for our lunch, but all we could find was junk food! I was very surprised, because Totnes is renowned for its alternative lifestyle and it’s always been pretty hippie, but there wasn’t even one veggie burger to be seen, let alone any decent salads! We settled for a filled white bread roll, and when I asked for salad with mine, all I got was a measly lettuce leaf and a couple of slices of tomato and cucumber. Not my idea of a self-respecting salad, and it was pricey, too.
The show took place in a large field. Fortunately the ground was nice and dry. The Trekinetic (my new all-terrain wheelchair) took it all in its stride with no problem at all, and this time I felt more confident about my steering! I had soooo many lovely comments about it, and how funky and cool it was! Everyone was very friendly and apart from one little girl indulging in a full-blown tantrum at one point, everyone seemed to be having a really good time.
Finally, as we made our way back through the craft tent, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this man with such a magnificent felt hat!
Altogether it was a fabulous day out. We didn’t stay till the bitter end, because we felt we’d more or less seen everything.
