Carnwath Agricultural Show 2024

One of the main roads that cuts across Southern Scotland runs through the small town that I live in. If I turn left at the junction, I head towards the urban environments of the populated central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the photographic opportunities offered therein such as protests and that strange thing called street. Turn right and its rural countryside and a chance to document a different side of humanity. The last Saturday of every July is a turn right day, for the short drive to the village of Carnwath and its annual Agricultural Society Show.

I’ve written about this before elsewhere on Progressive Street and what attracts me to it, and this year was no different. It’s a typical rural country show, with livestock competitions, horse riding, dog trials and agricultural machinery on display. Home baking, beer tents and a dance at night make up the rest of the day’s activities. But it’s the overall atmosphere that I enjoy. The smells, those countryside smells that some might find unpleasant but to me are a reminder that I am at home, somewhere safe, somewhere that I belong.

The main attraction for me is the sheep judging, there’s always something interesting to record on camera as the handlers fight a losing battle to get the animals lined up for the judges. This year I also spent some time wandering amongst trailers where the cattle were being prepared for their big day in front of the judges, that preparation mainly being getting their backsides and legs pressure washed. While I photograph the sheep close and wide from a low viewpoint, common sense dictated that the cattle washing was documented from a safe distance - you don’t want that stuff on a lens.

I always feel that these events are clinging to a way of life that is under pressure from creeping modernisation, so it’s reassuring to see the children getting involved, ditching the smartphones in favour of washing cows and grappling with belligerent sheep. Later that same day Facebook brought up a reminder that I’d posted a picture from here ten years previously. Thankfully not a lot has changed. It will be interesting to see where we are in ten years’ time.