Glorious weather greeted the Great Yorkshire Show – a far cry from the rain that washed out last year’s event.

A group of children from Otley took centre stage for an event that preceded the opening of the show in Harrogate.

The pupils, from Year Dour at The Whartons Primary School, were judges at the Great Yorkshire Cheese and Dairy Show.

Harry Gibson, Hannah Sykes and Hannah Scott got the chance to be connoisseurs after winning the opportunity by taking part in June’s Countryside Days - a Yorkshire Agricultural Society educational event.

The Whartons pupils used a cheese iron and checked the products for flavour, aroma and texture during the show, which preceded the opening of the Great Yorkshire Show.

Following last year’s cancellation due to appalling weather, a programme of groundworks has been undertaken at the showground to improve drainage.

The work, part of a £500,000 improvement scheme, involves a network of temporary roads and a similar amount of drainage.

Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s chief executive Nigel Pulling said: “This is one of the most significant developments in our long history. Many of our fields have been used for parking for a number of years which has compacted the ground and two Yorkshire companies, Sumo UK Ltd and Ripon Farm Services, are helping us by sub-soiling the car parks to improve the drainage.

“To help improve access, we’re using about 13,000 tonnes of stone for the roads and also at the gateways of many of the car park entrances, which should also make a real difference.”

A beach complete with Scarborough sand, donkeys and the world’s smallest ice-cream van provided the perfect setting to enjoy scorching temperatures.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire brought the coast to Harrogate for the show, with sand shipped in for a sunny beach scene, along with two donkeys.

Show director Bill Cowling said: “Everything is going well. Advanced sales are good. People have supported us. It was what we hoped would happen and 93 per cent of the traders have come back.”

Entries include 5,000 cattle, sheep and pigs, and 2,000 horses in showjumping and equine classes.