The first day of Westmorland County Show was blessed with glorious sunshine with 2023 being the third year the event is to run over two days. 

From 8am the small country roads of Crookland were crowded with visitors making their way into the site. The morning saw plenty of delicious smells eminating from the myriad of food stalls with even a live cooking demonstration from celebrity Matt Tebbutt in the Cumbria Life Food theatre.

The event was not only a chance to get up close to all sort of animals, from sheep to alpacas, but the likes of the Learning for Life insititute was packed with interactive pieces to involve children and young people in the show.

The show jumping ground proved to be as popular as ever with riders and  carriage drivers putting on an elegant display.

Watching was former rider Jane Butler from Old Hutton. She has been visiting the show for around fourty years and has witnessed it grow over the years.

Jane said: "I've come to the show every year since I was a child. We used to have horses and I used to ride.

"We'd come for that and then take the horses home and enjoy the rest of the show. Later on we're going to head to the horse area and catch up with some friends. 

"Oragnisers have been talking for many years about going from one day to two days and this is the third time they've done it now. People thought there may not be enough to see for two days but as you can see there certainly is.

"I've decided to enter my dog, Dora, into this year's dog show. She's a miniature terrier in the Hounds and Terrier Class so I'll be coming back tomorrow."

As one of the most important agricultural events in calendar, there were plenty of tractors, farming equipment and fancys peices of kit on display.

Towering above the other stalls were two massive bulk storage systems for holding animal feed. The two contraptions belonged to Preston-based live stock solutions firm Bildabin.

The family-run business was established in 1979 and has been a presence at the show for many years.  This year Jack Wicks and Leon King have come to share their services with people in the industry.

Jack said: "My grandad set up the business, my dad's taken over and now I'm part of it. 

"They've been to the show for many years however this is my first time here and I'm enjoying it so far. It's only early however we've see quite a few exisiting customers already.

"We put the bulk storage systems at the front for people to see and we've spoken to some new customers already too so this is a really good show for us."