Satellites get the measure of big show

They are getting the job done by Precision Decisions of Shipton by Beningbrough, who will use kit normally employed for mapping farmers’ fields, using satellite technology, to assist in precise crop husbandry.

A plan of the showground layout will be loaded into a computer, which can check its position almost instantly with GPS satellites, so the man who carries it can see where he is on the plan, using a system known as Real Time Kinematiks.

After that, the job goes back to knocking pegs in the ground. But it should be a lot easier than the traditional system, which takes three men two days.

Clive Blacker, of Precision Decisions, said this week: “We have not done this kind of job with the system before, so we said we would do this as a look-see and maybe we can pick up some contracts to do it again in future.”

The show will take place on Saturday, August 6.

Tockwith is also claiming a first by bringing back live horses for its farriery competition. Over the years, most of the smaller shows have settled for mock-ups.

Tockwith, in the heart of the rural triangle marked out by Harrogate, York and Wetherby, draws a substantial crowd, of around 10,000, and the organising committee prides itself on blending innovation with tradition. The show has had its own website for a decade and the latest version, at www.tockwithshow.org.uk, includes an online booking system. It also has a page on Facebook.

Show chairman Sam Blacker, whose uncle helped to start the show in 1945, said: “You have to put in a bit extra to keep thriving when so many other local shows have been forced to close.”

Putting the show on required a budget of £60,000 – and a year’s worth of events to raise it – and a team of 40 volunteers, he said.

“We have a team of six on the showground all day every day during the final week of preparations, and any helpers who aren’t self-employed book a week off work or are down on the field every day after work.

“But the buzz when you see the crowds lining up on show day makes it all worth it. David Cameron might think the Big Society is a new thing but we’ve been doing it in Tockwith for years.”

Mr Blacker founded the Ainsty Farm Shop.