LEISURE: The Yeovil Show – Past and Future

 LEISURE: The Yeovil Show – Past and Future

THE ARCHIVE of the Yeovil Agricultural Show - which is to return later this year - has been secured by the South West Heritage Trust.

The archive, which includes programmes that date back as far as 1900, was acquired by the Trust and is now publically available at the Somerset Heritage Centre in Taunton.LEISURE: The Yeovil Show – Past and Future Photo 1

The Yeovil Show was a hugely important event on the agricultural calendar in the 19th and 20th centuries, but came to an end in 1970 when the committee joined forces with the Bath and West of England Show at Shepton Mallet.

PHOTO - RIGHT: An advertisement in an old show programme from the early 1900s.

The South West Heritage Trust, which looks after millions of unique archive records dating from the 8th century to the present day, was delighted to add the Yeovil Show’s records to its collections.

Esther Hoyle, an archivist with the South West Heritage Trust, said: “We are very pleased to hold this collection of documents relating to the Yeovil Agricultural Society.

“The Yeovil Agricultural Show has an important place in the history of Somerset and it is fantastic to be able to provide access to these documents.”

The records tell a story of both continuity and change.

Sam Mackenzie Green, event director of the new Yeovil Show which is set to return later this year on the weekend of July 16-17, 2016, added: “While technology has altered agriculture beyond recognition in the last 100 years, many classes at agricultural shows have continued virtually unchanged - with cattle, sheep, hunters, cheese, floristry and poultry all topping the bill.”LEISURE: The Yeovil Show – Past and Future Photo 2

However, not everything has remained the same. In the early 1900s horse classes were an important competition and butter, which was a major commodity produced in Somerset, had its own section. There was also a ‘roots’ class for commercially grown root vegetables such as turnips, sugar beet and potatoes.

PHOTO - RIGHT: An old show programme from the early 1900s.

Sam added: “What has changed beyond recognition is the cost of entry. The records reveal that entry fees for hunters were 6/- and 5/- for dairy cows. The 1908 show raised a grand total of £92 though gate money and a further £50 through catalogue sales. And that was a really good year!”

The advertisements in the catalogues were rather different too. They included Sandells’ Hair Restorer which claimed that ‘the vital forces on which the hair depends will be re-established and the growth present the luxuriance and colour of youth’ or Dr Roberts’ celebrated ointment – The Poor Man’s Friend and ‘an unfailing remedy for ulcerated sore legs even if of twenty years’ duration.’

One thing that has not changed is the vagaries of the British Weather - the 1904 show was a wash out due to rain!

You can visit the Somerset Heritage Centre throughout the year to see the records. Visit www.swheritage.org.uk for more information.

Further information about the Yeovil Show available from www.yeovilshow.org.

Tags:
Leisure.