24th July 2012. Llanelwedd, Wales, UK. Aled Lewis 36 from Corwen in North Wales is grinning from ear to ear because he has just won the Welsh Open Speed Pole Climbing competition. Contestants for this competition don a climbing harness and strap spiked trainers to their legs and feet to make a climbing assault on two perilous 100ft (30 metres approx) poles that rise up to the bright blue sky above from the Forestry Area at The Royal Welsh Showground where the 108th Royal Welsh Agricultural Show is taking place for four days this week at Llanelwedd in Mid Wales. Photo credit: Graham M. Lawrence
The First Royal Welsh show was held over 2 days in August 1904 on 'Vicarage Fields' in Aberystwyth and attracted 442 livestock next five Royal Welsh Shows were also held in Aberystwyth. Four years later, in 1908, 23 special trains comprising 224 cattle trucks and horse-boxes arrived at Aberystwyth together with 100 passenger coaches ferrying visitors from far and wide to the Royal Welsh was on its way. Nowadays, livestock entries number around 8000 and 20,000 cars a day plus hundreds of stock lorries and trailers converge on the showground in Mid Wales for the annual four-day event which has grown into the most popular agricultural show in Britain. The attendance at the first show staged at Llanelwedd in 1963 was 42,427. These days it regularly exceeds 200,000, reaching 227,360 at the centenary show in 2004 – the year, incidentally, that the Royal Welsh welcomed its sixth millionth visitor to Llanelwedd – and peaked at a record 240,140 in 2006. The success of the Royal Welsh Show has spawned two other great events – the Winter Fair which was founded in 1990, and the spring Smallholder and Garden Festival which made its debut on the showground in 2003, which is now called the Spring Festival. Both have grown rapidly in stature and importance and are among the most popular attractions in Wales. Today, the role of the modern Royal Welsh Show is a rounded one. As well as its principal function of showcasing the cream of Welsh livestock and the high quality food and drink produced in Wales, it encompasses the wider spectrum of farming and rural life and successfully bridges the gap between town and country. It provides something to interest everyone through its kaleidoscopic range of activities including forestry, horticulture, crafts, countryside sports, and a 12 hour programme of exciting entertainment that continues throughout each of the four days of the event.
Size: 3487px × 5250px
Location: Llanelwedd, Powys, Mid Wales,UK.
Photo credit: © Graham M. Lawrence / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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