The Great Yorkshire Show 2025: Preparations running smoothly under first female show director

Rachel is the first female show director in the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s history, but is unfazed by the title and is just getting on with the job.

A dairy farmer from Baildon, West Yorkshire, her family are no strangers to success at the show, with one of their cows winning as Holstein and Supreme Champion three years ago, and then seucring the Holstein Champion and Holstein Reserve subsequently.

Her son Ben, a show baby, will celebrate his 28th birthday on Thursday, with Rachel admitting to being at the show just two days before she gave birth.

"I did come two days before I had my son but it was an elective section so I knew I wasn’t due. We only came for half a day, to be fair, but we weren’t going to miss out,” the 60-year-old tells the Yorkshire Post.

Rachel first came to the show when she was 18 with her mother, with tickets given to her by a farmer who she was doing work experience for. Both she and her mother fell in love, her mother deciding to become a member at that show.

“Then when I married [her husband is Stephen] we were always members, we came with the kids, even with small children we’d never miss a show.

"Said children wanted to start showing calves, they worked for other people and then they got enough confidence to be able to take our own stock, so that built up to especially our son who is very good at pedigree showing.

"My daughters, Felicity and Zoe, they all pull together and help him, they don’t really need us at the show anymore, they’ve gone past us,” she adds.

Because of her background with dairy Rachel became a member of the cattle committee at the show and was invited on to the YAS council three years ago.

She says she was in the right place at the right time to become show director after Charles Mills retired after nine years and put forward her application.

“It’s an application like any other job, although it’s not a paid role. I was thinking about it when I knew Charles was going to retire and I thought about it and I talked myself out of it and when I thought ‘you know what, I’ve got nothing to lose why don’t I just put in an application and here I am.

"Isn’t it marvellous that at 58 I got this job.”

Rachel will serve as show director for a five year term, although she is allowed to ask to stay on for another two years if she’s enjoying it. Next week she acknowledges will be tiring and is trying to get a bit of rest in this week as a result.

Her days will be busy for the four days of the show: "When you come into the showground as show director the first thing you do is hit the press office, they talk you through requests for the day.

"Then it’s morning prayers at 7.30, which is a very traditional part of the show and it sets you up for the day, it gives you that grounding, whether you’re religious or not but if you have any sort of spiritual guidance it really just sets you up and then we got for breakfast which also sets you up for the day and then we’re off.

“President’s lunch, president’s tea, it’s a moving feast really that’s the problem, I’m going to have to be really careful about it,” she adds.

Rachel's son is showing next week, but she says she is keeping away until she knows how he’s fared.

"I always try and go around as much of the show as I can. There’s so much to see, a gem around every corner.

“I’m very excited, very proud, I get a bit of a pinch me moment, is this really happening to me so I do feel really lucky to have got this role. It’s beyond my wildest dreams. We’ve got to remember that farmers are our core. And we can’t underestimate how much the general public is also interested in farming.”

For David Tite, the society manager of Great Yorkshire Show organisers Yorkshire Agricultural Society, next week will see him take the helm at his first show in Harrogate – after 20 years as CEO of the Driffield Agricultural Society, which organises the Driffield Show, one of the biggest one day shows in the country.

“The difference between Driffield and GYS is just scale, but it’s really nice to move from the best one day show in the country to the best multi-day show in the country.

"They’ve both got their place in Yorkshire, I have great joy and massive respect for both organisations,” he says.

A furniture designer and maker by trade, David had already started working summers at the show by the time he was training.

He says he knew he had to move on from the family business because it was too quiet.

"There was just me and my dad, and it didn’t fit my personality, my character. I love making, I still do what I can making furniture but it was just too quiet and I needed to move into another area.”

His presence has already been felt with a significant sum spent on weather proofing the car parks after problems caused by torrential rain last year.

"We have got hundreds of tonnes of stone down, the idea that we make it easier for people to get to the stone tracks and off the grass.

"We have to be able to be weather resilient to be able to handle that thunderstorm or that sudden downpours that seems to happen in the UK.”