Sunday 26 May 2013

Burghley House Game and Country Show

The weather was forecast to be lovely this weekend, so after a day of gardening yesterday, we headed out for a family day out.

Having grown up on a farm in the Welsh countryside, I have been to many, many agricultural and country shows in my time! I love browsing the stalls, especially the food tents which usually have plenty of samples on offer. The boys have been to a fair few too in their short lives, as every August we head down to my parents' in Pembrokeshire to the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Show (a 3 day extravaganza, second only to the Royal Welsh Show in Wales!)

This week I had spotted lots of signs up on the roadside advertising the show at Burghley House in Stamford. As it is only half an hour away from us, and Burghley House in on my Stately Home Bucket List(!), we thought we'd pop over to have a look.

The show is on for two days - today (Sunday), and bank holiday Monday. I have to say, they are very lucky with the weather, as if the weather was anything like it was here on Friday, it would have been a total washout. Instead, we had a lovely few hours strolling around in the warm sun, but with a nice cool breeze so that we never felt too hot.

The boys were exceptionally well behaved, which made a huge difference to our enjoyment of the day. So often, one or both of them have a tantrum about something or start whining which in turn puts husband and me in a bad mood too. But even when we said they couldn't go on the fair rides until we had had a look around, they were as good as gold, and patiently waited until we were on the way back to the car. It probably helped that we fed them with lots of treats all the way around (hot sugary donuts, pick'n'mix sweets & pork scrachings!) - probably the worst things a child can eat in terms of sugar, salt & fat content, but hey, it worked a dream on their behaviour!

W took a huge interest in all the traditional crafts being demonstrated - blacksmith, pottery making, glass blowing, glass etching etc, which was lovely to see. He also really enjoyed watching some of the entertainment in the various rings - a sheepdog herding some geese and a motorbike stuntman!

I have to say, I have never seen so many dogs in one place before! Practically every person had a dog or two in tow! Not great when one of your children is scared of dogs. And these weren't small dogs either - many were taller than the children and seemed to want to give them a good sniff. I'm not a big dog-lover either - I don't mind them, but I definitely don't fawn over them like a lot of people do! 

All in all, a lovely day in beautiful surroundings. They boys finally got their fair rides - W on the trapese trampoline, and G on the swing seats. We finished off the day with a quick stroll around Stamford (beautiful, picturesque town, well worth a visit) and supper at McDonald's!









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