ORGANISERS were delighted with the public response to this year’s Keighley Show.

The event on Saturday witnessed a huge turnout with people turning up in their droves at Marley playing fields.

One long distance competitor, Claire Baldwin, brought her horse all the way from the Isle of Man to take part in the Ridden Heavy Horse section.

It was warm all day, with plenty of sunshine following an initially cloudy start. The show was sponsored by Keighley Town Council which contributed £5,000.

Show secretary Abby Marsh said: “The event has been a fantastic success. I think the numbers we’ve had through the gates have been record-breaking and we’ve had lot of positive feedback from the public.

“We’ve had our youngest ever steward – four-year-old Tilly Lawson who was helping in the goats section – and we had the best entries we’ve had for some time in the Shire Horses category.”

She said the heatwave in June and July did have an impact on the horticulture sections, with some entrants saying their blooms had not been as good as in previous years.

She added: “At one stage it looked like the ground might be too hard for us to do the showjumping, but fortunately we did begin getting some rain and Bradford Council kindly left some of the showjumping arena uncut to allow for a softer surface.”

Chairman of Keighley Show, William Mitchell, said: “We’ve had a lot of support from Keighley people, and of course the good weather always helps.

“I hope everyone has enjoyed their day out. Our volunteers have done a brilliant job, and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped us.

“I hope they’ll continue supporting us in the future, because at the end of the day this is Keighley’s premier event.”

Activities and entertainment included the traditional livestock, show jumping, poultry and horticultural displays, as well as displays of classic cars, vintage tractors, locally made food, handicrafts and birds of prey.

Children were treated to a climbing wall, a bouncy castle, a bouncy slide and a bungee trampoline. There were win-a-prize stalls, old fashioned sweets, charity and trade stands.

Groups manning stands this year included the Environment Agency, which outlined measures being taken to combat flooding, and the Aire Rivers Trust, which promoted work being done to re-introduce salmon to this river.

Ninety sponsors, supporters, and president’s guests attended the show’s official lunch, along with the Lord Mayor of Bradford and town mayor of Keighley.

Guest speaker was Richard Smith of Ripon Farm Services, who gave an overview of the changes in dairy farming in the area over the last 50 or so years.

This year’s show president, Katrina Thackray, shared some of her memories of being involved with the event since she was a young girl.