Enjoy it on video: Nidderdale Show

Sheep, cattle and horses, of course. But pigs, dogs, poultry, goats, fur and feather, are all also included on a fair scale.

There is even a competition for squares of turf. And what is more, an interested audience. The winning sample was from the pastures of A Doney of Dacre.

Nidderdale Agricultural Society has the rare luxury of a permanent showground, at Pateley Bridge, which makes it easier to organise the last show of the traditional Yorkshire calendar.

The revived Masham Sheep Fair and the little brother to the Great Yorkshire, Countryside Live at Harrogate, nowadays follow it. But for a lot of people, Nidderdale Show is last outing before autumn proper and there are getting on for 20,000 visitors on a good day.

Yesterday was a middling day, on which rain threatened but held off until late afternoon and did not hurt much.

The showground includes a refrigerated display unit and the show kicks off in fine style with judging of lamb carcasses, which then go on show. Farmers, at least, will be interested to know the best heavy lamb was a Beltex and the best under 42k was a Beltex-X.

The judges’ notes on the lighter lamb, from JA Stoney of Bewerley, said: “This lamb is what the country butcher looks for ... best kill-out percentage ... heavy fleshing all over ... little waste and nice fat cover.”

The dead lambs had an audience too. A visiting farmer paused to read his grand-daughter a poster in the cold store, pointing out that a lean pork steak has less fat per 100 grams than a portion of cottage cheese.

It is the sort of message you only come across at an agricultural show although, of course, nobody who goes to one needs telling.

Arena act of the day was by Ye Olde Redtail Falconry of Cambridge. The man behind it, Ray Aliker, grew up near Tilbury Docks but somehow taught himself falconry by trial and error and has made a living for 30 years doing shows, talks, and film work. His most dramatic bird is an Eagle Owl but his favourites for good nature are Harris Hawks, originally from America, and they are best for learners, he says.

He started with a Sparrowhawk but that was not a good choice... “It broke my heart when it had a fit and died but that’s what they do.”

Unofficial star of the show was TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp, being filmed for a Channel 4 series on crafts.

The idea is to “put crafts in context”, she explained, and on the way to Pateley Bridge yesterday, with entries for the produce competition, she had taken advice on making sausages from a Nidderdale butcher, Gordon Atkinson; on brawn from Jennie Whiteley of Elite Meats at Claxton, near York; and on pork pies from somebody in Melton Mowbray.

Then, for more context, she and the cameras followed Sarah Whitley, 14, who was showing trad-breed pigs with her family, who run a dairy farm in Summerbridge.

To great contentment at Channel 4, Sarah got Best Pig In Show for a Saddleback maiden gilt and second prize for an Old Spot with a very sweet litter of piglets.

Field day for winners...Results from Nidderdale show

CHAMPION DAIRY CATTLE – Interbreed: Shorthorn from Ian & Mary Collins, Whitley, Dewsbury. Jersey: Ian & Mary Collins. Holstein: Simon Hesketh, formerly of Ripley, now Penrith.

CHAMPION BEEF CATTLE: Interbreed: Commercial Limo-X from Andrew & Pam White, Eastrington. Limousin: James & Sarah Cooper, Tomschoice Limousins, Dacre. Aberdeen Angus: Turnbull Family, Coxwold. Charolais: NW & ME Atkinson, Kirkby Malzeard. Shorthorn: P Braithwaite, Stokesley. British Blue: John Stephenson, Bordley. Highland: G Braines, Sunderland. Any Other Pure Breed: British Blonde from Ken Jackson, Stubbs Walden.

CHAMPION SHEEP: Interbreed: North Country Cheviot from Keith Stones, Marrick, near Richmond. Bluefaced Leicester: Cecil & Stephen Hutchinson, Kirby Wiske. Swaledale: Mark Ewbank, Middlesmoor. Mule: Val Brown, Newton le Willows. Suffolk: Lester Peel, Over Silton. Texel: Tom Harrison, Skipton. Charollais: David Dennis, Over Silton. Dalesbred: JT Kelsall, Clapham. Teeswater: David Newbould, Dallowgill. Masham: Mike Allen, Staithes. Beltex: Robert Garth, Keasden. Wensleydale: Roger Field, Ferrensby. Dorset: Sheila Gray, Burley in Wharfedale. Ryeland: Judith Jackson, Glasshouses. Rare Breed: South Down from Miss K Tattersall, Preston. Any Other: Blue Texel from Andrew Bailey, Hunton. Butchers’ lambs - JK Wilson of Blubberhouses and JA Stoney of Bewerley.

CHAMPION HEAVY HORSE: Shire mare from Richard Bedford of Liversedge.

The winner of the annual Enterprising Farm Award for conservation initiatives, from the Friends of Nidderdale and Nidderdale Agricultural Society, was named as Jack Graham, of Haver Close Farm, near Lofthouse, in Upper Nidderdale, for his “sympathetic management of blanket bog, upland heath and mixed woodlands”.