THE rain stopped and the grey skies cleared around lunchtime at the Okehampton Show last Thursday to ensure that in it?s 99th year the show continues to go from ?strength to strength?.

An overnight downpour and heavy showers on the morning of the show could not put a dampener on proceedings as the numbers through the gate swelled in the afternoon.

Show secretary Gilly Oliver said although the weather may have put some people off attending in the morning, the show had turned out to be a resounding success.

?Everyone I have spoken to has had a super time,? she said. Entries in the cattle and sheep classes had been good and Gilly added ?the heavy horses proved enormously popular?.

Gilly acknowledged that due to the weather the crowds were smaller at this year?s show. ?We had a bumper year last year, although the numbers may be down this year, thousands of people have supported the show again and I am very grateful to them all for coming.?

Gilly said it had been a ?worrying time? when the downpour began, but everyone had been lifted as the public started to come into the Stoneypark showfield in great numbers to enjoy the afternoon spectacle.

?People do support the show to a tremendous degree,? she added, ?The show is going from strength to strength.?

This year?s Devon Food Hall had been expanded to include 23 producers and had been ?absolutely packed? with visitors, Gilly said.

?All the producers in the food hall are from Devon and they are mostly small concerns, the majority of whom have supported us ever since the first year we introduced it.? she said.

Gilly said as next year was the 100th show, the organisers were planning ?something special? to mark the anniversary. ?I am already looking for memorabilia from past shows, so if anyone has something they could donate for the day, it would be lovely to have that, so we can put on a really great display,? she said.

Anyone with Okehampton Show memorabilia should contact Gilly Oliver on 01837 861322.

Show president Peter Balsom, who has been the show?s accountant for the past 15 years, said he had thoroughly enjoyed the day. ?The organisation has been so good, the weather didn?t really have a bad effect,? he said.

?It is a tremendous honour and privilege to be president. I was gratified by the number of people here. It is a very popular show and it?s always friendly,? he added.

Mr Balsom said the way farmers and the local town worked together each year to put on such a well-organised and popular show was something the whole community in Okehampton could be proud of.

Mayor of Okehampton Cllr Tony Leech undertook the official opening of the show which he described as ?one of the best shows in Devon?. Cllr Leech said he had a great appreciation of agriculture having come from a humble background in the Suffolk countryside, helping out on a farm as a boy.

?Farmers have had hundreds of years of blood, sweat and certainly in recent years, tears which have brought us to where we are. The countryside is a great asset and we need to work together to look after it,? he said.

The mayor declared the show open and a presentation of flowers was made to the president?s wife by Georgia Ley.

In the ring, the day belonged to cattle farmer Colin Hutchings of Dulverton, who came away clutching a number of cups including the P K James Perpetual Challenge Cup for supreme beef champion for Goldies Trophy.

As well as all the cattle, horse and sheep sections, there were also classes for rabbits, pigeons and the popular family dog show. The Radford Heavy Horse display team, Okehampton Excelsior Silver Band, competition sheep-shearers and an axe demonstration team were on hand throughout the day to keep the crowds entertained.

Country Lanes Garden Centre in Okehampton enjoyed a repeat success in the trade stands competition winning a hat-trick of cups as they did last year.

Once again, Country Lanes won the Chamber of Trade-sponsored cup for the best trade stand in the show as well as the cup for best stand in the household, retail, plants and produce class and best trade stand in Okehampton or Okehampton Hamlets.

Jane Metcalfe, of the garden centre said she was pleased to have won again, although she admitted the display?s ?tropical theme? was somewhat out of keeping with the day?s weather.

The North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Group were among those taking up a pitch for the first time.

The voluntary organisation was using its stand to let people know more about its work assisting the police in the search for and rescue of missing or injured people on Dartmoor.