Secondly thank you to James Marsden for allowing me the chance to use his stall as a base this morning. Below is an account of the highs and lows of my part-day at the Great Yorkshire Show.
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I got up feeling remarkably refreshed at 6am, showered and threw on my Helly Hansen cycling under-top and put my Candlelighters t-shirt over the top. Casual but themed I saw the sun streaming through the Velux in my room and, even though I hoped the Young Farmers stand wasn't going to be tucked away in the shade, I figured better warm with something that could be removed than just plain hopeful that it was going to be tropical.
The drive to Harrogate was smooth and my spirits were high although I did have a moment of panic when I wondered whether it was de rigeur to wear a t-shirt and jeans ANYWHERE in Harrogate (unless they were in fact horsey cotton jods that looked like jeans and a rather suave chic t-shirt that said 'I don't NEED branded clothing to inform you I'm stylish and rather well-off' on it ...... just under the ever-so-subtle Platinum Member; Val d'Isere Elite Ski Village logo).
Of course that's a sweeping stereotype so I apologise to the lovely people of Harrogate; please let me come back to do a fundraising event. Pretty please?
Anyway the Show had a huge variety of people attending; farmers in tweeds and wellies, very stylish people in all manner of dress (some clearly ready to be part of the official welcoming party for Charles and Camilla), families enjoying dragging their children away from the rides and toy stalls so they could take them to watch the horse jumping or visit the M&S food hall and buy the things they'd usually buy in Briggate (Leeds), but this time have to carry round with them all day.
On my way in I saw several charities had 'tents'/stall set up including the Samaritans and Help for Heroes so I introduced myself. The guy from Samaritans seemed somewhat bemused by my boldness but the Help for Heroes trio were welcoming and happily took some leaflets to distribute if a suitable moment arose.
Other stalls included such wonders as the Retired Greyhound Trust, the Traditional Molecatchers Association (with a rather appealing opportunity to train as a traditional molecatcher even though one of the posters just looked like a photo of 3 shotgun shells), the Countryside Alliance with its fly fishing lessons and gun-dog display that started with a 10-week old puppy chasing a ball and possibly ended with a pack of hounds dragging a sorry carcass along the green paddock area; a horseshoeing competition and sheep shearing displays. Oh yes and a huge showjumping arena
All these alongside 4 well-known supermarkets, more country clothing stalls than you could shake a stick at and food stalls that primarily sold bacon, burgers and sausage baps mingled in with a great Co-operative stand and a Country Living marquee that had what looked like a 'No chavs allowed' bouncer stood outside.
I finally got to James' stall and gave him the much-needed roll of sellotape. It's a short story but not very interesting; besides the intrigue in your eyes makes me think I've told you just enough to make you want to know that little bit more (which is always a good time to stop typing).
We popped into the Young Farmers building just in time to find Marie staggering in, hangover evident. "I've tried 4 times to get here already. Managed to actually get here this time and I didn't even throw up" she said, collapsing onto the desk and, I think, still wishing she'd failed to get up at the 5th attempt.
The Young Farmers team took 30 of my 47 leaflets (see printer failure reference in previous blog entry) for their stand and so, with a poster advertising my Trek strapped to my back, I set off to find the Show Office to ask if they did photocopying. I felt a warm feeling that today was going to be successful. All these people were bound to be hypnotised by my epic adventure, racing to get their hard-earned cash out and thrust it into my hand, smiling warmly.
Rich farmers deciding to forgo the chance to invest in a prize heffer, businessmen who were offering stocks and shares, investment advice, selling £multi-million properties and sports cars would be keen to discuss mutually beneficial PR opportunities, families weeping openly as they told their young child they had to give his lollipop money to this gentleman who was going to risk life and limb for charity.
On my way to the office I passed the BBC Radio York tent and broadcasting vehicle, the ITV Calendar News van and the Minster FM stand. All were dutifully offered a leaflet, all smiled and I was waiting for the event-wide announcement of "Could the gentleman going to the North Pole please come back, be interviewed and sign autographs?"
Okay so maybe I really wasn't expecting that but ...... I did expect a little less indifference. Having said that I would like to thank the following people: -
a) The lovely lady from Harewood House estate who was trying to get some leaflets added to the Welcome to Yorkshire.com stand. Her interest was genuine and my initial 27-word garbled answer to her questions of "Are you with Candlelighters?" didn't appear to put her off.
b) The lady in the Show Office who told me her daughter had whispered "Have you seen what that man's going to do?" and was impressed evidently. Her daughter had wanted to do Kilimanjaro this year but (rightly) her Mum said revision for her A-level exams came first. As I said at the time, Kilimanjaro isn't going anywhere so she could always go next year. I'd also like to say thank you to the other photocopy 'customer' who asked for a leaflet - rude of me not to say thank you but I was too busy cutting 100 sheets of A4 into 2 without doing the same with my fingertips to be my usual polite self. Sorry.
c) The guy at the Goodyear stand who not only told me the tyre on display for the front wheel of a combine weighed 400kg but that yes, he would pass my leaflet onto HQ in case they wanted to do some PR
d) The guy at Redmayne Bentley who knows and works with 'Cosmic' (real name Colin Day); Colin and I went to Boston Spa Comp'. I think the guys name was Rob but I apologise if it was actually a woman called Edith - my mind is weary from walking and smiling for 5 hours.
e) The woman at the Skoda stand who smiled warmly and got the guy in the Yeti outfit to jump back into his outfit for a photo opportunity - it was the closest thing there was to a Polar Bear although given it was a straight choice between that and an inflatable kangaroo I guess the decision was fairly easy.
f) The 'voice' at the cattle arena who sounded just like Michael Palin in Life of Brian when he was the preacher with the dullest voice in the world. Apologies for the rubbish quality of the YouTube video but close your eyes and imagine you're going to spend £5000 on a cow because of this guy ?!?!?!? His voice will remain with me as an inspiration for seconds.
Finally, in summary, the day was interesting. An experience for sure but at £22 to get in plus I spent £10 on photocopying, £50 in the Show on 'stuff', handed out 40 leaflets of which I'm sure 25 will probably go straight into the bin, lost a days' income and was handed precisely zero in donations ..... I'll have to assume this is a slow-burner, an investment in time that will come good in the next couple of months.
Or not.
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