Sunday saw the annual Cambridgeshire County Show, held at Wimpole Hall. We all enjoy going to country shows - including Isla - so this event was a must.
One of the highlights of every show is the "Terrier Racing", but I've never attempted to photograph it before. There's probably a good reason for this; but, nothing ventured, nothing gained. The "sport" takes the form of a lure (which looks suspiciously like an old sock) on a string, which is dragged across the ground by a bloke pedalling like fury on an upside-down bicycle. Add a load of untrained dogs (only some of whom were terriers) and what could possibly go wrong?
First, the calm before the storm.
And they're off...
Occasionally the whole thing goes pear-shaped, though, when the string falls off the bicycle wheel. The result is that the lure stops dead in its tracks, and the dogs need to do an abrupt "about turn".
Talk amongst yourselves while the technology is fixed...
Sometimes the lure gets trapped at the end of the run. I never worked out whether this was intentional or not; but, when it happens, a certain amount of manual intervention is needed.
Rather more sedate were the
Soverign Quarter Horses from March, who were demonstrating their "cowboy" riding style - complete with stetsons and chaps.
The poor horse and rider were completely dwarfed by the farm machinery leviathan in the background.
Finally, a miscellany from the day. First up a fence-weaver who was demonstrating his skill.
Next, one of the robotic lawn mowers which had been let loose on an unsuspecting public. The algorithm appeared to be "go forwards until you hit something, then back off a bit and try a different direction". High quality engineering? I'm not convinced...
Then the traditional helter-skelter.
A couple of birds who were part of a display: a Hooded Vulture and a Steller's Eagle. The latter is an absolutely enormous bird, and it certainly dwarfed the Bald Eagle which was skulking in the shadows at the back.
Finally, Mr Sheep Shearer between shifts.
