Farndale Show: The Yorkshire show held on a cricket pitch and grazing field

Local lady Cath Featherstone, who grew up in the dale’s only pub The Feversham Arms and married her late husband Howard in September 1988, is this year’s Show President after having given many years’ service to both the show and a number of Farndale-based societies and organisations.

“I was brought up in the pub that my parents ran for a number of years,” says Cath. “I was born in Saltburn in 1968 and we moved to Farndale in November 1971.

"They had the pub until 1984 and then they moved briefly into Low Mill before moving to Lastingham, but I stayed with my older brother Edward Harland who worked for the estate and in 1985 he and I moved to Kneysbeck Cottage just above Low Mill.

"He came home and said ‘pack your bags our lass we’re moving’. And I lived there 1985 to 2002. First with Edward and then with Howard.

“Howard farmed at Keysbeck Farm where we had cattle and sheep across around 300 acres. We had two children Emma and Sally. I lost Howard, who tragically died in November 2020.”

Cath says she has several happy memories of Farndale Show over the years.

“Some of my memories of Farndale Show include being a young girl and it was extremely wet one year and every time I went to the showfield and then came back into the pub I’d get a fresh set of dry clothes and go back over again.

"My mother was not happy with the pile of clothes by the end of day. I always remember that many a local would be celebrating a trophy win in the pub.

“I used to enter competitions at the show as a child and the achievement I remember most was winning in the Sweet Pea class against Colin Dowson and the late Ron Todd. Just last year myself, daughter Emma and granddaughter Megan all won trophies at the show.”

Cath joined the show committee in the early 90s and was a section secretary between 1996-2012.

“My section included baking, eggs, preserves, photographs, industrial, art, children, WI and Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association and vintage classes, but in 2002 instead of three section secretaries it went down to two.

"I took on flowers, plants, fruit and vegetables from Richard Potter and he gained the livestock classes, which weren’t my thing anyway.

“Our 100th Farndale Show was in 2006 and Dennis and Pearl Wilson were the presidents. That year we had a record 1288 entries in my sections, quite a lot to get into the tent.

“When I first started the section secretary’s job all entries were catalogued by hand in duplicate and then our wonderful James Thurtell came up with a computerised way of cataloguing the entries and made my life a lot easier.”

Farndale Show isn’t the biggest of shows, but its location, situated in the bowl of Church Houses, hills all around, and with the church and pub both nearby, and the lovely recently built new village hall in the corner of the field, is a real pull for the locals and holidaymakers.

It has great livestock classes and many others, but it also truly is a great community event where the whole dale comes out.

The dale is home to some great photographers like Dave Mead and Luci Wilson and the Farndale Calendar is an annual release at show time. The 2025 edition will be launched at the show.

St Mary's Church, adjacent to the showfield, always hosts a flower festival too and Cath is involved.

“The flower festival is poignant this year as we are doing flowers in memory of my Uncle Maurice Harland who died in December last year.

"Over the years he had often done the flower arranging with assistance of other people within the church over the Bank Holiday weekend so that people could enjoy flowers in church and the show as well.

“I’m honoured to have been asked to be President this year. I’m still involved in the show. I steward alongside my daughter Sally in the handicraft section, which I’ve done from 2012 – 2023.

"It’s a family affair. I’m still on the show committee although not as active and Emma does catering for stewards and judges as she has done a number of ears.”

Cath knows the showground-cum-sheep field-cum cricket ground particularly well.

“As a teenager I used to score for the cricket club. There wasn’t a hut in those days. I’d sit on a box with a fold up scoreboard with numbers that you turned.

"I remember various Wilsons playing. Ken, Dennis, Les and Kevin, Les’ son. Mark and Jonathan Carter. My brother Edward. Dave Wass, Andy Fawbert and Brian Atkinson and several more that I scored for over the years.

“There is a group in Farndale that meets in the Band Room called The Band Room Beaders. I’m a founder member of that and set it up because I used to teach beading. It’s still going strong.

“I also joined the Band Room committee and then became the treasurer. I was also a member FEC (Farndale Entertainments Committee) and Emma who farms in the dale, is now too.

“And I’m a Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association founder member for Farndale. We meet in the Band Room at Low Mill.”

Cath says that although her late husband wasn’t on the show committee he always supported her behind the scenes.

“Howard would put boards up in the tent for me and helped wherever he could. He stewarded the cattle and the farm produce for a number of years.”