Melplash Show

Having grown up breeding Portland Sheep, a local rare breed in Dorset, the Melplash Show near Bridport is one of mine and my mother's annual events. Every year we select the best of our young stock to take to the show, exhibiting them to the crowds in order to promote the breed and ensure their continuation. Whilst most of our time is spent in the ring as the sheep are judged, we always manage to sneak off to other parts of the show too, having a tradition of spending our winnings on a pot of local honey. For me though, there are two main attractions; the horse section and the food hall.

I always enjoy watching the skill and nerve shown by the show-jumpers as they fight it out for the fastest clear round, and there are endless debates to be had on which horse is the best regardless of it's rider. This year however, I was drawn over to the showing rings as a friend was competing in the 'Retrained Racehorse' Class which I thought was particularly testing seeing as they were doing a motorbike display in the next door ring. These sorts of places are the best if you like people-watching,  as well as the great friends you stumble upon, there are the proud owners and breeders, dodgy dealers, tweedy judges, pony club kids and a good few women who seemed to think it was a good idea to wear heels in a  muddy field.

These are probably the same women that actually buy the ridiculously overpriced artisan smoked meats on sale in the food hall, drawn in by the area's 'foodie status' as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's hunting ground. Nonetheless, there are stacks of stalls with more affordable and equally mouthwatering products on offer to take home or just scoff straight away which I would definitely recommend; I plumped for a delicious duckburger with plum sauce from the 'Somerset Ducks' Company as my lunch of choice.

Naturally, the place is awash with every variety of cider imaginable and there is a substantial choice of dessert available too from local ice cream and frozen yoghurt to chocolate coated strawberries and homemade fudge in delectable flavours. The home produce tent is always worth a look as well; whether you find it's contents inspiring or amusing is up to you! There are competitions for the largest onions, most uniform trio of beetroot, most original edible objets d'art and the very best of local home brewing. The diversity of different infusions presented here amazed me in all their amber and ruby tones and I went home with a seed planted in my mind to make some of my own. I've collected a lot of berries and bought a lot of sugar, so watch this space...