PEMBROKESHIRE County Show saw record visitors while the sun shone, and record entries in the competition classes, organisers have said.

The show, the largest three day show in Wales, took place at the Withybush showground from August 18-20, with the crowds flocking in from all over the country, and farther afield.

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Show general manager Alex Bruce said: “It went extremely well, we had a record first day on the Tuesday, heading towards 40,000; obviously on Wednesday, the weather in the morning was horribly shocking, but we did have a fairly good turnout, and Thursday was another good day.”

He said changes to the show setup had broadened its appeal. “I think we’ll have had a good year, we had a lot of very positive feedback from the changes we made; the monster trucks went down extremely well; there’s a lot of people who aren’t interested in sheep and cattle.”

The traditional agricultural classes are still an essential part of the show’s makeup; with entries on the up across the board.

“We had record entries in the horse classes, 1,200 our highest ever, and certainly sheep and cattle entries were up; the goats were up and the pigs were up, small numbers but they were up. In terms of exhibitors it was our best ever, we were absolutely rammed with horse boxes,” said Mr Bruce.

“The older favourites, Radio Pembrokeshire and the sheep show provided good family entertainment; that goes down well,” he added.

Shows are always a chance to discuss the hot topics of agriculture and the county show is no exception.

“Undoubtedly milk was a matter for discussion; Rebecca Evans (Deputy Minister for Farming and Food) was there on Tuesday; we are there to support the farmers and we were delighted to have the Minister there to visit,” said Mr Bruce.

“The farmers come here to have a good time; they love to meet up with old friends and pals. Agricultural dealers had a good show; strangely on Wednesday a lot of the contractors came to the show.

“They’ve got the opportunity to shop; you can cut yourself a really good deal; they look for cheaper prices and feel they are getting a really good deal.”

He said the county show is still attracting a strong range of competitors.

“A lot of the show jumpers are from across the bridge; we have huge prize money here and we are one of the few still supporting top quality jumping. We’re fairly west Wales-based but we have people coming up from the Gower and further afield. “The Shetland Grand National, the first one day was a qualifier for Olympia, for the first time, and they want to come back again.”