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Despite a wet summer and dark, threatening clouds, the sun shone for most of the day and only a few spots of rain fell on show day. Yet again all visitors records were broken - nearly 20% up on last year. There were more stalls, games and lots of activities in the arena. And the entrance fee this year stayed at £2 and included free parking. The entertainment got off to a flying start with Paul Ambrose giving an amazing aerobatic display in his Pitt Special bi-plane. Yet again it proved impossible to photograph! |
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| The ever-popular bric-a-brac, books, plants, produce, games, competitions and lots of charity stalls made their appearance this year and attracted the crowds. Homemade jams of every flavour were a great hit. | |
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| The tombola stall is always a great favourite and the team running were justifiably proud of their huge display of bottles of all types, given as prizes to anyone who could draw any ticket ending in a zero from the drum. | |
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| Lots of plants and vegetables, at knockdown prices, encouraged visitors to part with their money, as well as croquet games, and not one, but two bouncy castles kept the children amused. |
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The craft tent had many handcrafted items for sale - from cards to pottery and knitted clothes to wooden bowls. And there was a spinning demonstration that fascinated at least one young visitor. |
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| The flower show tent contained all the entries from enthusiastic exhibitors. But it wasn't only flowers on show - there were vegetables, fruit, wine, cookery, paintings, handywork and photography classes too. Everyone had lavished much time and care on their display - all in an attempt to win the first prize of £1. It seems that the exhibitors are not motivated by the money but the joy of taking part. | |
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This year the army set up their stall with a display of military hardware
and they also had an obstacle course for children to try out. They also entertained us in the arena with a drill display by the Winchester Army Training Regiment and the musical skills of the Band of the Light Division. |
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Jez Avery demonstrated his mountain bike riding skills by riding and jumping
over volunteers from the audience. Other arena events included the Junior Football competition, and the tug-of-war final between the army team and the Running Horse pub. Once again the pub team won the final. What do they put in their beer? |
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Children of all ages were fascinated by the model train ride, the barrel organ and the steam traction engine. |
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| The Littleton Art Club had a display of
members works in the Croquet Club tent, which can be hired for a
surprisingly modest sum The "human fruit machine" was a popular innovation this year. By paying the sum of 60p, three ladies of the village were primed to pull out cards randomly with symbols painted on them. Who needs high tech solutions? |
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| If you needed fortification
after all that excitment, the WI were there to dispense cake and tea. And it
seems that lots of people did because there wasn't a single piece of cake
left at the end of the day. Then it was time to release the balloons in the Balloon Race, which traditionally marks the end of the Show. |
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It's not often that the webmaster appears in a photograph on this web site - I'm usually the one who takes them. But at this years Littleton & Harestock Show, I met Julie Beckett, the producer of the BBC Radio show "The Archers". Apparently some of the inspiration for "The Archers" shows came from the activities we organised in the parish - particularly our Jubilee celebrations, held earlier this year. We even discussed a possible future storyline where the inhabitants of Ambridge set up their own web site!
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The final acts were to present the money
raised by the Jubilee celebrations to charities and award the show prizes to
the exhibition winners.. Julie Beckett, producer of the BBC Radio show, "The Archers", kindly agreed to hand over the £2000 raised to the 3 Show charities. Lastly the show chairman, Alan Lyne, made the awards to young and old alike. 2002 was another memorable Show - thanks to all involved. |
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Additional photography by Andy Dunn |
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Show reports for other years can be found in the Scrapbook |
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