Young put on fine display of handling skills

AS young handlers go, she must have been one of the more famous entrants in recent years.

Frances Griffiths competed in the Young Handlers' classes after being followed for months by the watchful cameras of a film crew for the Great Yorkshire Show website.

The website has been following her preparations for the show, including her selecting the calf she would show and learning the ropes from experts.

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The 17-year-old took a respectable second place in her class and went on to compete in the final alongside people from other age groups, including her younger sister Lydia who ended up beating her to become the reserve champion.

Frances and Lydia follow in the proud footsteps of their parents, Edward and Jenny Griffiths, both of whom have plenty of rosettes to their name for showing Holstein cattle around the country. Mr Griffiths is also well known as a respected national judge of Holstein cattle as well as being a member of the Great Yorkshire Show Cattle committee.

Afterwards Frances said: "I am really pleased to get a second in my class, the winner had lots of experience."

Her 12-year-old sister joked she might be boasting about her own success when she got home.

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Elsewhere young handling classes proved as popular as ever with children of all ages grappling with cattle, sheep and pigs often much bigger than themselves.

Indeed young people were seen all over the showground enjoying the day, whether it be eating ice cream, watching the parades or getting up close with the ever inquisitive alpaca.