A right Royal occasion as crowds flock to a sell-out day one of the Great Yorkshire Show 2022

Crowds poured through the gates early this morning eager to soak up a showcase of Yorkshire and the UK’s best of farming, agriculture and rural life.

Visitors and exhibitors had travelled from all breadths of the British Isles to take in the show which is set to welcome more than 140,000 people throughout the week.

A group of family and friends from Aberdeen, who are holidaying in York this week, snapped up tickets when they realised their trip coincided with the opening day of the show.

Gordon Edwards said: “It is the first time we have been. We go now and again to the Highland Show and it is good to see them back up and running. We are having a look around at everything and it is a good show.”

The highlight of the first day was a visit by the Princess Royal as part of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the Shorthorn Breed Society.

Princess Anne is patron of the Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society and of the Shorthorn Society of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

She arrived in the morning and was greeted by show director Charles Mills and his wife, as well as applause from the public.

Ed Bentley is the chairman of the association and said Royal interest is good to raise the profile of work that Young Farmers does.

He said: “It was lovely, we had a nice chat and she has an interest. A visit like this helps us raise awareness that we are here and of what we do and it has got more of our members here too.”

She also met with charities that work specifically with the farming and rural community such as The Addington Fund and Yellow Wellies.

Bill Young is chief executive of The Addington Fund which helps farms with disaster relief, finding new homes for retiring tenant farmers and affordable housing for young farmers to help them stay in rural areas that have become more affluent due to the demand for second homes.

Mr Young said: “She asked how we had gotten through COVID and what we had had to do to get our profile up. She totally gets agriculture, our Patron is the Countess of Wessex, Prince Charles supports us and Princess Anne supports us.

“The value you get from showing you have Royal support, you can’t put a figure on that.”

Later, the Princess was also undeterred by taking a walk through cattle sheds and stepped into the judging ring to later present awards to champion and reserve champion in the Beef Shorthorn class.

Throughout the week there are new additions to the regular line-up such as sheepdog trials in the main ring, a new GYS Stage with farming celebrities being interviewed as well as two World Cattle Congresses.

There were tears of joy in the ring for first time winners at the Great Yorkshire Show.

A two-year-old bull, weighing in at well over a tonne, was crowned Supreme Champion in the Beef Shorthorn class.

Charlesbury MacDonald, known as Mac, is owned by a consortium who have been breeding for three years.

Emma Edwards, of north Wiltshire, said: “We are relatively new to the breed so it is a massive achievement. I did shed a tear, it is two years of hard work but when he was born we knew he was a winner, he had something about him.

“It was nerve-wracking to meet the Princess but it was an honour and a privilege and we are very lucky and grateful to be here.”