This weekend we had glorious weather for the Kent Agricultural Show at Detling; a great contrast to the heavy rain of twelve months ago. I attended the show on Friday, when the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson was also there as guest of honour. One of my favourite areas of the show is the young farmers section where students from across the county were enjoying the culmination of a year's hard work in preparing their animals for the competitions. Behind the animal pens, the final touches were being applied to make sure that the livestock were in perfect condition for their big moment; including washing the cows, varnishing hooves and a quick blow dry for the woolly lambs. I was delighted to meet again some of our local young farmers from Brockhill Park School, who I had recently visited at their new farm classroom facilities. They had already won several prizes at the show, including a first prize for one of their cows. The students know that the rearing of livestock is not just about presentation, but also the quality of the product, and beef reared at Brockhill Park can currently be found on the menu of top restaurants likes Rocksalt in Folkestone. Earlier in the day some of the staff and students from Brockhill Park had also met the Secretary of State when he toured the show ground. 600 young farmers were involved in preparing for and presenting at the Kent Show, which Owen Paterson remarked is a stronger showing than any other county in the country, and demonstrates that we have plenty of talented and enthusiastic young people ready and able to work in the industry. The Kent Show also demonstrates the great breadth of local food and drink businesses operating in the county, producing everything from crisps and cheese to fine sparkling wine. You can find out more about our local food offering at the Produced in Kent website www.producedinkent.co.uk.
Last Friday I was invited by local artist Annie Begley to the Gallery at the Harvey Grammar school to present the prizes for the Young Art Net competition that she has sent up with the support of Robert Benson. The competition is based around a website, www.youngartnet.net, where young artists of all ages and submit their work online in response to different creative challenges. Some of the best work was chosen to be displayed at the gallery, with prizes for the different age category winners. This initiative is a great way for young artists to develop their skills outside of school and get the chance to share and display their work.
Following this exhibition I joined Mrs Tracy Luke, the head teacher of the Folkestone School for Girls, along with the Mayors of Folkestone, Hythe and New Romney, for the school’s summer music concert. A packed hall was entertained with an accomplished range of instrumental music, both classical and modern, and a moving selection of songs from Les Miserable’s performed by the choir. My congratulations go to everyone involved in putting on such an excellent event.