Farmers’ Day At Show Is Outing For Family

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28435, 15 November 1957, Page 2

Farmers’ Day At Show Is Outing For Family

Hundreds of town and country mothers must have looked out of their bedroom windows at the blue sky early yesterday morning and made the same decision—to take their children to the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s show on Farmers’ Day to avoid the crush of Peoples’ Day. Schools were closed yesterday, which gave parents the opportunity of showring their children Canterbury’s prize stock and the latest developments in farm machinery in comfort. It meant, too, that .they had 3 reasonable' chance of getting through the day without losing the smallest members of the family in sideshow alley or outside a candy floss stall.

By lunchtime the car parks inside the main gates and at the northern end of the ring were packed with picnickers having a day out. By mid-afternoon, when a heavy shower fell, many were back in their cars taking shelter, with sandwich tins and thermos flasks open again. Carside meals were a vital part of the day’s proceedings, particularly for country housewives who had left home very early in the morning with enough food packed up to appease young appetites till the last of the riding competitions were finished. Vice-Regal Visit

The Governor-General (Lord Cobham) and Lady Cobham spent four hours at the show, moving about freely in the crowd and showing a keen interest in exhibits.

Lady Cobham appeared to be fascinated by a modern knitting machine on display, which the demonstrator claimed would knit an evening shawl in 20 minutes.

Her Excellency also spent some time watching the pony jumping, at the dog show and in the Canterbury Horticultural Society’s tent admiring the flowers and the garden club exhibits. Wearing a gentian blue and white silk tweed suit and a small white feather hat, Lady Cobham was escorted by Mrs C. H. Bethell, wife of the president of the association; Mrs Douglas Deans, wife of the vice-president; and Mrs H. M. Studholme, wife of the secretary. Her Excellency’s lady-in-waiting, Miss Jennifer Parker, was in attendance. Pony Jumping

Events for children and their ponies occupied the ring for most of the day. Pony jumping attracted much interest and showed marked improvement in general standard as a result of pony club tuition.

Judge of two of the pony jumping events was Mrs E. W. White of Otane. wife of the master of the Hawke's Bay Hunt. Mrs White is a successful show ring rider herself and won the award for the reserve champion hack with her horse. Skyscraper, at the last Hawke’s Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Show. She also follows the Hawke’s Bay Hunt. She has three small children whom, she says, are too young to ride yet but they already have a pony waiting for them to take their first lessons in horsemanship.

Mrs White said yesterday that she vzas thoroughly enjoying her job of judging and considered the ponies and riders she had seen at that stage of the programme performed well. Today Mrs White will judge boy and girl rider pvents as well as pony and cob classes.