In 1963 the Royal Show found a permanent home in the National Agriculture Centre, Stoneleigh, where it stayed until its closure in 2009. Yet this was not the first time the show had been held in Warwickshire.
A travelling show
Until it found its permanent home, it had been held at a number of venues since the first in 1839 at Oxford. Since then until its closure it was held every year except for wartime, and when prevented by foot and mouth disease. Prior to 1931 the Royal Show had visited Warwickshire four times, namely: 1859 at Warwick Racecourse; 1876 at Aston Park next to Aston Hall; 1892 at Castle Park, Warwick; and 1898 at Four Oaks Park, Sutton Coldfield.
A royal visit
In 1931, the Royal Show was held in Castle Park, to coincide with the centenary celebrations of the Warwickshire Agricultural Society. There was concern in the run-up to the show that it may have to be cancelled due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and this was only dispelled when the general standstill order was lifted on Tuesday June 30th. Visitors included the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VIII) who flew in for the occasion and landed on the race course.The Warwick Advertiser of 11th May reported that the cheers from the public were “at times almost deafening”, and the method chosen for the Prince’s arrival had “just that touch of adventure about it that appeals to everyone.” The Prince’s route to the show grounds was changed at the last minute owing to popular demand, the route through the town allowing more people to catch a view of the Prince. In addition to visiting the show, he took tea at the castle and planted a tree in the castle grounds.
A popular tradition
Later shows at Stoneleigh regularly attracted over 100,000 visitors, whilst the first three days of the 1931 show saw 1,867, 11,273, and 24,198 people attend respectively.
Comments
I thought readers might also be interested in this video on the Pathé site about the 1931 show, and this one about the 1965 show at Stoneleigh.
I visited the Royal Show as a child many times during the 70s and early 80s as my mum got free tickets as she was a waitress in the Royal Pavillion. She served many Royals including Princess Diana, Prince Charles and the Queen. I remember being very excited as when I went to see her on her breaks I was always given a glass bottle of coke. Highlights of the show as a child were climbing on the tractors and seeing The Worzels Live! As a teenager I worked for several years for the Milk Marketing Board at the show making Crusha Milkshakes. It was well paid and you got to drink as many shakes as you wanted. On breaks we would visit the Food Hall and try lots of free samples.
As a kid we were often allowed out from school to go to the Royal Show (1st week in July?). It was a race to see how many leaflets, carrier bags and freebies we could grab and carry around with us all day. Many leaflets were from the cattle breeders and were quite embarrassing to discover what they were actually about when you got home!
Other highlights were the great shows in the grand ring (Motorbike displays, Shire Horses, best of breed shows), Milk Marketing Board (Fresh milk and shakes), Land Rover demo on an upright rail(!), catching a glimpse of a royal or a famous person and crawling over the massive tractors and machinery on display.
Happy days!
Dave is right about the date, it was in the first week in July. The date on the slide that I used for the photo in the article above was July 1969. Dave’s recollection of the show is also spot on. It made me smile recollecting the visits that I made in the 60s and 70s. Another recollection is having to find a way to work in Warwick avoiding the horrendous traffic during the show.
I wonder if you can help me? Do you know which royals visited the Royal Show in the 1980s? My parents were told that a Royal guest of honour had a cup of tea in a caravan (subsequently purchased by them ) and I was wondering if this could be true?
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