NEWS that North Yorkshire County Show has found a new venue just highlights the immense community effort which goes into organising the rural shows.

The event had been held just outside Northallerton at Otterington Hall for many years, but the sale of the stately home meant it couldn’t continue at the same location.

The list of requirements an alternative venue needed was eye-watering; an easily accessible spot with at least three entrance gates, flat, even ground that hadn’t been used for cattle - preventing the spread of disease - room for show rings, marquees and horse boxes…the list is endless.

Perhaps top of the list is finding a landowner happy to have thousands of visitors and heavy vehicles on their land during the height of summer.

Luckily the organisers found just that in the shape of Jo and Robert Ropner at the Camp Hill Estate near Bedale, who have come forward with an offer of land.

But hearing the requirements for a show ground is a reminder of some of the immense organisation behind the region’s shows – and all done by volunteers. Work on most shows is a year-long task, beginning almost immediately that year’s event is over.

They’re an important calendar event for farming communities, bring a huge boost the surrounding economy and also reflect the identity of their locations.

Whether it’s a show on the grand scale of Stokesley, or an event in the upper dales where winning one of the trophies for best Swaledale is a seriously contested matter; you probably couldn’t get a better grasp of rural North Yorkshire than visit one of its shows.

So it’s great news that North Yorkshire County Show now has its future secured by successfully finding another venue.