Tockwith Show

The official list of winners in all classes at the 2011 Tockwith Show has now been published.

Some 67 pages of results were collated and published in record time following the show and have now been published in full on the show website at www.tockwithshow.org.uk/enter/2011-show-results/.

The operation was masterminded by Trophy Steward Michelle Lee.

Visitors to this year’s Tockwith Show on 6th August will be able to watch live demonstrations of one of the countryside’s oldest traditions when some of the region’s leading farriers go head to head in the 2011 horseshoe challenge.

Farriering has always been a highlight of the village show, which attracts around 10,000 visitors a year, but the ancient tradition of using live horses in the showdown is being reintroduced this year by competition organisers the Yorkshire Farriers Education and Demonstration Association (YFEDA).

Former national champion farrier David Smith will travel from Warwickshire to judge the event which features two members of the England shoeing team and two members of the England apprentice team in the line up of hopefuls fighting for the Tockwith title.

“It’s a long time since live horses have been used in the competition but we decided to bring it back this year to make the event more entertaining and generate interest in the skills of farriering,” said Adam Fox, a local farrier and chairman of the YFEDA.

“We hope the use of horses will create a more thrilling atmosphere during the contest as well as giving visitors a more realistic insight into this ancient rural tradition,” explained show chairman Sam Blacker.

“Tockwith Show has become a great social occasion but above all it helps to educate people in the traditions of the countryside which is more important than ever in today’s society when many people who live in the countryside have little or no farming background.

“It’s just one of the things that helps to make Tockwith Show such a big event and helps it to thrive when so many other local shows have been forced to close.”

This year’s event will include a traditional farriers’ competition, cookery demonstrations, a gun dog display, children’s entertainment, an extensive farmer’s market and many more attractions.

In what is probably the first time for any country show, Tockwith Show is adopting satellite technology to help mark out the showground.

Conventionally, marking out the ground can take three people up to two days to complete, and involves careful measuring using tape and measuring wheels to ensure no mistakes are made. But using GPS (Global Positioning by Satellite), the process can be completed by two people in a couple of hours. The system also reduces the risk of human error which can cause major headaches in the run-up to the show – and even on the day itself.

The show is mapped using mapping software which can then interface with the GPS technology to produce an accuracy correct to the nearest millimetre. Sam Blacker, Chairman of Tockwith Show, says “At this stage, just a week before the Show, time is precious and the time saved using this technology, as well as the increased accuracy and reliability, is crucial in allowing us to set out the ground, marquees and so on, in good time.”

The mapping was provided by Pierce Bottomley architects and the GPS system is supplied by Precision Decisions Ltd.

 
The Schedule of classes for the 2011 Tockwith Show has been published and is now available on the website at http://www.tockwithshow.org.uk/enter/schedule/.

As well as the full Schedule, entry forms for individual classes are also available for download and printing, and a separate Stewards List with names and addresses for entry forms to be returned to.

We are not able to accept entries for the Show online this year, but this system does mean that you can easily obtain the information you require and submit an entry very simply. We hope you will be pleased with the improvement.

We are delighted to announce that the new website for Tockwith Show is now live and operational.

The site has been developed over the past three months by Toby Wallis Communications whose brief included a revamp of the Show’s visual identity and branding as well as building a new website.

“I’m confident the new website and visual identity will prove popular with visitors, entrant, exhibitors and organisers alike”, says Toby Wallis who designed the new site. “We consulted and researched quite extensively and the new look is fresh and appealing, with strong branding; and while retaining a firm connection with the past, it looks towards the future.”

There’s a host of new features to enhance the services the website provides, such as News by Email, Advance Ticket Purchase, a Facebook page, interactive maps, events diary, one-click diary entry and much more.

Of particular interest is the tie-up with Country Shows and Fairs, a nationwide listings service which enables trade exhibitors at Tockwith Show to take advantage of extended listing of their company and products for the entire year following the Show.

The new website is designed as far as possible to be future-proof, with the capability for the Show organisers to update the website content. New features will be added as they become technically feasibe. “The Tockwith Show website is set to become a showcase for what the web can do for local and community enterprises,” says Toby Wallis. “People tend to think of the web as a national or international medium – and indeed it is – but it has the ability to transform local events and initiatives as well. I hope this new website will show how a local show can reach a national – or international – audience.”

Please visit Tockwith Show’s new website at http://www.tockwithshow.org.uk.