Burwarton Show bosses in vow to bounce back

The organisers of Shropshire's biggest one-day agricultural showpiece – which has fallen victim to the weather – say they are ploughing ahead with next year's event.

Burwarton Show was yesterday scrapped for the second time in five years after days of relentless rain.

Show bosses said they had little option but to cancel the event near Bridgnorth on August 2 due to safety reasons – but say they are now putting all their energies into next year's show.

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They said they toyed with the idea of moving the show date forward to September – but farmers involved in the event and who have also been affected by the weather, would be working flat out to catch up on their work.

It follows an emergency meeting on Sunday when the committee decided to pull the plug on the show, which costs more than £200,000 to put on.

Chairman Richard Yates said: "It is with extreme regret that I have to announce the cancellation of the 2012 Burwarton Show.

"The main committee convened for an emergency meeting and unanimously decided that the sodden ground conditions would make the preparation of the show field extremely hazardous.

"With an unsettled forecast for the coming weeks it was thought prudent to cancel the show early rather than spend huge sums on additional measures but with little certainty of a show being possible.

"It is extremely disappointing for everyone connected with the society, but after months of unprecedented rainfall, capped with a three inch deluge on Friday evening, it meant that organisers had little option."

Mr Yates said the safety of the visitors, exhibitors and stewards was paramount and he was also aware of the potential damage that would have been caused to the main ring, which was jointly used with Brown Clee FC, in addition to the car parking fields rented from the Burwarton Estate.

He said: "Indeed the horse field and one of the main car parks still have to be cut for silage and their availability is far from certain. Despite investing in extra roadways in recent years the majority of the marquees and trade stands are sited on fields and their installation must start at least two weeks prior to the show.

"We had made numerous additions to this year's show, which promised to be our finest. Now all our energies and planning will move forward to next year.

"We will be in contact with all exhibitors, competitors, judges, stewards and anyone else involved with running of the show within the next week. We thank everyone involved with the show for their patience and understanding at this very difficult time.

"This is not the only event to be cancelled due to the bad weather, which is affecting all of the country. We thought about running it in September but that was not certain to be any better.

"As the show is run predominantly by farmers, once the good weather does return we shall be working flat out to catch up on all the work we are currently unable to do."

The show, which has been running for more than 100 years, was first cancelled due to the bad weather in 2007, when floods wrecked havoc across much of Shropshire.

It was also cancelled in 2001, and run with only a restricted amount of livestock on show in 2002, due to the foot and mouth crisis. There was also no show in 1971 while a new committee was formed.

Since then it has gone from strength to strength, being named the top one-day agricultural show by Farmer's Guardian readers last year.