THE finishing touches are being put to this year's Northumberland County Show which takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, May 30th.

Held at Bywell Hall, near Stocksfield, the event is one of the largest one day show's in the country with a packed time-table of events and competitions and more than 350 trade and catering stands.

Agriculture is at the heart of the show with cattle, sheep, horses, alpacas and goats, and the return of pigs after an absence of many years.

The section will include some of Britain’s rarest breeds including the Tamworth, Large Black and British Lop which only have 200 to 300 left per breed. Other pigs will include the British Saddleback, Large White and Welsh.

Matthew Sharp, section organiser, said: "It’s very exciting that the pig classes have come back to the Northumberland show. There are only a handful of breeders in the North of England and if we can encourage more to breed, show and compete than that can only be a good thing for the industry.

"Commercial pig producers are struggling at the moment like all other sectors of the industry and hopefully promoting both the native and commercial breeds of pigs on show will encourage consumers to see what high quality pork is produced by British farmers."

The Alpaca section has attracted more than 120 entries competing for the championship sash.

Famous for their soft warm fleece, Alpacas come in more than 20 colours, from jet black, through shades of brown to white and grey. There is also a section for the rarer Suri Alpacas which sport a curled fleece that looks like dreadlocks.

With the show being held at the end of May, the animals look their best as it’s just before they get clipped.

Other events include the fast and furious Shetland Grand National in the main arena; the Sheep Show; Ben Potter with his Eagles and Vultures; Ridden heavy horses; parade of farming/tractors through the ages; "Bake Off" classes in the home crafts marquee; Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling; stick dressing competitions and tug of war.

The day culminates in the Grand Parade of livestock in the main area where the coveted Champion of Champions title is awarded.

This year's judge is Ken Shield, well known Northumbrian farmer and horseman of Tecket Farm, Simonburn, where he has built a reputation for high quality mule ewes and suckled calves.

He has Blackface, Swale and Cheviot ewes, Leicester, Suffolk, Texel and Blackface tups and breeds hunters and show jumpers.

A member of the English Sheepdog Trialling team on several occasions, he was third in the Supreme Championship at Kilmartin International, and still trains Collies.

He said it was an honour to be asked to judge the Champion of Champions. "I’ll be looking for the animal with a little extra sparkle on the day!" he said.

The Grand Parade is in the main arena at 3.30pm. Nearly 100 cattle, sheep, alpacas, goats, heavy horses and pigs will take part.