Officials counting cost of washout (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Officials counting cost of washout

8:00am Thursday 12th July 2012 in News By Ashley Barnard, Reporter (Richmond)

HEARTBROKEN organisers of the washed-out Great Yorkshire Show have said they will learn from this year and invest more money into making sure it does not happen again.

But many small businesses will face major losses after preparing for the three-day event for months.

Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the show, said: “We have not yet come up with a plan with what to do about compensating our stall holders.

“It is complicated because this has never happened before so we are still thinking about what we can do, but we want to treat them fairly as many of them come back to us year after year.”

Mr Pulling said that although the show was closed to the public yesterday, many livestock owners were still at the venue and wanted to carry on showing their animals.

“It was a very strange atmosphere but so many farmers and owners travel for miles and miles to come to this event and wanted their animals shown and judged,”

he said.

“I have no idea how much it will cost but I think up to £2m.

If anything, next year we will be investing more in infrastucture so it doesn’t happen again.”

David Hartley, managing director of Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes, attended the event to launch the company’s new Dales Butter.

He said: “It was probably the right decision to cancel, although it caused a lot of anger and angst.

“For us, it’s just such a shame because of the huge amount of effort that everyone from the dairy has put in.

“We’ll be going home with a large amount of product that we would have sold over the two days.”

Yorkshire-born author Mike Pannett was ready to sign books for fans on the Welcome to Yorkshire Stand.

Four hundred copies of his latest book had been exclusively released and independent bookseller White Rose Books had brought 600 of his four other titles. Store owner Sue Lake said she was very disappointed.

Tim Gibson is director of Tim Gibson Limited, based in Bedale, which specialises in agricultural products for dairy farmers, including a milking robot.

He said: “We have been going to the show for ten years and we put a lot of effort into our stand, which has previously won best trade stand.

“This year we put £10,000 into going to the show, and we have lost all of that now.

“Hopefully we can pull some back with a farmers’ open day next month. We all feel very frustrated and dejected at the moment.”

Tim Gibson Ltd will hold an open day on Friday, August 31, in Ripley, near Harrogate. For more details, call 01677-424284.

􀁧 Other events which have fallen victim to the weather include last month’s North Yorkshire Country Show, cancelled due to waterlogged fields. Next year’s show will be on June 16.

The North-East Club for Pre-War Austins historic vehicle event at Newby Hall in Ripon is cancelled. The event was due to take place on Sunday.

For more information, call 01388-832180.

The Aldborough and Boroughbridge Show, due to be held on Sunday, July 22, has been postponed to a later date, which is yet to be confirmed.

All those entering the horticulture, baking, farm produce, children’s, photography, floral art and art classes are invited to show their exhibits at the Coronation Hall on July 22.

Organisers of Ryedale Show, due to take place later this month, and Rosedale Show, in August, said they hoped everything would go on as normal but did have concerns about the weather.