IT was wet, it was muddy but it was as well-attended, cheerful and quirky as usual - with ferret-racing, a real duck race and sheepdogs herding geese.

There were traditional cattle and sheep but also fluffy lilac hens called Bluebells and alpacas which would be more at home in the Andes than at the Gillingham and Dorset Show.

Heavy duty farm machinery was there in abundance but there was a coracle-maker, too.

Punters could have a go at lace-making and children could make their own pizzas, then eat them.

And in the children's tent vegetables had been used imaginatively - a sleekly handsome rat made of a shiny aubergine vied for the honours with a ladybird made from half a tomato and some currants.

Recycling and all things green made a big impact again this year.

One stall was offering to convert your diesel car to run on rape seed oil at a mere 68 pence a litre and without increasing the amount of carbon polluting the atmosphere.

And in the Dorset Futures Tent the joys of terry-towelling nappies were being extolled.

Cllr Graham Carr-Jones said: "The recycling stuff is brilliant - people should take responsibility for their own environment.

"It's not for us, it's for our children's future, it's taking care of them. Kids can play a massive part by nagging their parents."

Farnham resident Gill Baverstock staffed an adult education stall but loves the show in its own right.

"It's the real community who come to this show," she said.

"Lots of shows are very much more commercial."

First published: August 19