Published: Friday, 4th July, 2008 12:00
Hurst Horse Show success
By Annabel Williams
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A clear round: Charlotte Crouchman competing on Spencer in Class 16, for local riders.
Pic by: Ed Godden
IT WAS a record-breaking year for the weekend’s 29th Hurst Horse Show & Country Fair.
Some 6,000 people flocked to the Willowmead Fields next to St Nicholas Primary School in the village, double the number which attended last year’s record event.
And there was plenty to see and do, with two rings for showing and jumping horses, a field full of stalls and another with an arena for the many displays and demonstrations from a huge variety of groups.
The primary school’s choir, maypole dancers and recorder group all performed, as did the Lafour Dance and Drama School, the Dixie Loafers jazz band, Hurst Morris People and a troop of rock and roll dancers.
Stalls run by the school proved popular with teachers, parents and children all helping out.
Pupils Amber and George Bentley ran a cake decorating stall, while year six youngsters sold pet treats.
Pupil Robert Scales, aged 10, designed stall posters, while classmate Benedict Barnard-Edwards, also aged 10, built and ran a wet sponge splatting stall.
There were displays by Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs, falconers, Hurst Karate Club, and Wokingham Army Cadet Force, while The Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre at Hurst was there with its flyball dog relay team.
Country crafts and pursuits at the show included pole lathe turning, pottery by Robert Packer from Shottesbrook, near Maidenhead, a demonstration by Charvil wheelwright Ted Fox, and beekeeping by Michael Eustace from Hurst.
For children there were new attractions, with a farmyard corner where youngsters could stroke rabbits, goats and other animals, and a go-kart derby.
Four village dads had a tough time finding wheels for the karts but they eventually created entries for a chaotic but fun race.
Show chairmman Duncan Kendall said: “As ever, the event went so well down to great team work.
“An army of volunteers put together a fantastic show and was rewarded with a huge crowd of people who thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
“We had very good support from local businesses.”
At the end of the show, wilting barbecue cook Paul Squires said: “Our visitors were hungry. We served 1,700 burgers and 800 sausages, covered in 13 litres of tomato ketchup.
“We kept going back to the village butchers Jennings for more supplies.
"Last year sales were ridiculous but this year, it was loopy.”
The Castle pub and restaurant sold about 800 roasted pork sandwiches.
In just one day, St Nicholas Pre-School in the village sold 200 bowls of strawberries which the children had picked at Grays Farm, Wokingham.
The event’s bar sold 1,500 pints of beer, cider and lager, and St Nicholas School PTA sold more than 1,000 sticks of candyfloss.
Teas and coffees were served by 1st Hurst Air Scouts.
The horse and pony events organisers were delighted with the 300 entries, a 30% rise on last year.
The event raises money for St Nicholas Primary and various other Hurst groups and charities, and while organisers expect to have raised thousands of pounds, they are still counting exactly how much.
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