But there was a brief glimpse into the past at this weekend's Masham Sheep Fair where pens of animals were again to be seen in the Market Square as Dales farmers competed for the honour of having produced the animals which caught the judges' eyes.

Commentator Mike Keeble told visitors that sheep fairs had been held in Masham since 1392. At their busiest, the fairs lasted for two weeks and even in living memory the road out of the Market Square became slippery with manure as flocks were driven to the now-closed railway station.

Eventually, the sales were transferred from the Market Square to the Masham Livestock Mart, which had a high reputation for the quality of animals which passed through its sales ring.

But this year was the first when sheep have not been sold in Masham. Like many others in the area, the livestock market has closed and farmers who wanted to sell their sheep now have to take them to Leyburn or Darlington to be auctioned.

Masham Sheep Fair was being held for the 23rd time. Last year foot-and-mouth movement restrictions caused the cancellation of sheep classes at the last minute, but the fair went ahead without the animals and still managed to raise £5,000 for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

This year the sheep were back with around 20 breeds ranging from the traditional Swaledales, Mashams, Dalesbred, Wensleydales, Mules, Jacobs and Texels, which were shown on Saturday, to North Country Cheviots, Beltex, Bleu du Maine, Charollais, Ryeland, Hampshire Down, Shetland, Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset shown yesterday.

The fair's secretary, Susan Cunliffe-Lister, who divides her time between her home in Masham and Burton Agnes Hall in East Yorkshire, where she is Lord Lieutenant of the county, was delighted to have the sheep back. "Obviously it is not the same without the sheep," she said.

But the two-day event with different animals present on Saturday and Sunday creates bio-security problems for the fair's organisers and a team of volunteers had to clean and disinfect the Market Square before the new animals arrived on Sunday.

Mrs Cunliffe-Lister said: "All the straw has to be cleared away, which is a bit of a sweat, but we have a good team of helpers."

With so many exhibitors and visitors, Masham is completely taken over by the fair for the weekend and Mrs Cunliffe-Lister was appreciative of the tolerance of those who live and work there for putting up with the disruption.

"We are very grateful to every one of them. There is quite a lot of disruption.

"But it is a weekend which a lot of people really enjoy. It is like the old fairs used to be. That is what we wanted it to be and that is what we have. It is attended by some really nice, proper Dales farmers. And it is has gone from strength to strength."