When I got home from the New Forest Show where LDC were kindly invited to cover this fabulous occasion in the local calendar, I asked Jnr. aged six to do me a little favour and write something down about his time there. This was not in any way shirking my own responsibility, (and he was there separately with one of his best mates and a couple of dutiful Mum's), but based on the genuine ear to ear grin that evening, I wanted a child's perspective on a day he has been talking about ever since. To that end, before I have my say here's what he wrote:

"I loved the New Forest Show because there were lots of animals to stroke. We stroked rabbits, sheep and even a hedgehog that wasn't prickly! I watched a big horse show with real canons that shot gun powder and it was so loud we had to cover our ears. It was very muddy and my friend got his boot stuck in the mud but it was okay because we were having fun. When I got home my Mummy asked me what I liked best about The New Forest Show and I said 'I loved all of it!'" HS

For my older wizened part, I too had many highlights and apart from the chuckle I had to myself on the irony of a sullen looking man under a large sign saying "Garden Irrigation" who deserves a plug for his optimism, (When I've found his details I shall let him know he's won a free ad on LDC), I was pleased to bump into quite a few of our favourite local Clients and Colleagues of course and also to make some new friends as well.

On the basis my son saw the The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery and I knew I could trust his journalistic skills, I sidled off to the terrier racing for which I have a personal soft spot and which was as fun and unpredictable as I could have hoped. I also had a moment to breathe in that unique waft of bygone days at the Festival of Steam and thank someone up there quietly that there are still people who help us hold onto our romantic past.

The Food Village was good and bad... Good; because I was starving and I've never had a watercress pastie before, and bad because I then had to carry a bag full of treats for ages until I'd discovered the Fortune Centre of Riding's shop n drop service. Ringwood Brewery gave me a moments respite without the queue and with a smile and both the NFDC & Hampshire County Council were out there in full force proving they do care very much what we think of them and the community with their significantly obvious presence and well thought out presentations.

Chewton Glen as always added a little sophisticated magic in the midst of the mud, though I did have a flash in my mind of a string quartet on the Titanic when the heavens opened and I was glad then of the delights in the Food Hall and the pleasures of the Arts and Crafts tents.

Not forsaking all the above, the very top of my list was not one particular event of the hundred's on show, nor any one stand either. No, my highlight was that being there 'on duty' I was in the unusual position of watching my family from a slight distance as a bystander, laughing and having fun at every turn, (Not a TV, computer game or plastic toy in sight!) and that not only reminded me why we moved away from London all those years ago, but also gave me the perfect ending to this years' show. You see to my mind, The New Forest Show is rather like a holiday in the Caribbean. Sure the thought of the flight over there fills you with dread, but the moment you see the smile on the face of your child as he jumps in the sea or you sip your first banana dakari you know that there's nowhere else you'd rather be.

Next year if it happens to be raining on the day you're visiting the show, then my advice is just turn up, because once you've made the effort, irrespective of the weather, everything I've just said will make absolute sense. Thanks to the organisers and of course Jackie and the press office for another successful show for me 'on the job' and my family! JS