disclosure: we were given tickets for this show for the purpose of review, our comments however remain our own, honest thoughts.
To say that my son has been looking forward to today ever since I told him we had tickets for the Tractor Ted Farm Show, would be an understatement. It is all he has talked about for the last week – so expectations were rather high when we left home this morning!
The Tractor Ted Farm Show and Bowood Charity Dog Show & Summer Fair is held annually within the grounds of Bowood House, Calne, Wiltshire. It took us just under an hour to get there this morning, with my son getting more excited by the minute.
We wanted to make the most of our day as there seemed a lot to do, so we got there just as the gates opened at 10 am. My son saw the banner being held aloft by two telescopic handlers and he was off!
We had a quick look around the Tractor Ted shop so he could put his order in for later in the day, and then we made ourselves at home on a hay bale by the main ring and watched the three Shetland ponies from the Greatwood Charity going through their paces.
Next up was Les the Tractor Driver (he pops up a lot in the Tractor Ted DVD’s) with his Hay Baling display, my son is obsessed with all sorts of farm machinery and hay bales, so I knew this was going to go down well. We watched Les and his wrapping machine cover the hay bales with film with one tractor and then remove the bales from the ring with another tractor – someone was spellbound 🙂
Next up was the JCB Digger Display – Back Hoe Loaders are probably the all-time favourite machine for my son, he was in his element especially when he saw two of them being driven into the ring by drivers Dave and Ian. It was a really great display, with the diggers constructing a log pile house and log towers, as well as showing off some nifty acrobatic moves. We all really enjoyed the whole display.
Next up was the Essex Dog Display team – a great display, but the dogs were just too quick for my camera! But trust me, there were some lovely, clever dogs in the display.
We ate our lunch on our hay bale and chatted with friends we’d arranged to meet up with there. The two children are older than my son so they’d been exploring the funfair (he doesn’t do fun fair rides).
Then we were treated to a Combine Harvester display. I was slightly anxious about this as he had asked me at breakfast if I could buy him one at the show. When I’d said that I wasn’t sure if they’d have toy ones for sale, he told me off and said he wanted a real one! Um, I have enough problem parking my little car, not sure I’d be able to park this particular beast anywhere!
Again, it was really interesting. None of us had ever been up close and personal with a combine harvester. I had no idea they could tilt!
After this display, we decided it was time to investigate the rest of the showground.
There was so much to see – including sheep shearing, tractor tyre repairs, baby farm animals, donkeys …..
…. vintage tractors, camels, dog show, archery, lots of craft, food and drink stalls and Monkey just had to have an ice cream 🙂
The sun was out and we’d done a fair bit of walking so we decided we deserved a sit-down. My son had spotted the Tractor Rides earlier in the day, so off we went. This cost £2.00 for adults and £1.00 for children 3+, Daddy paid our fare, and on we got. There were a number of tractors running continuous trailer rides so we only queued for a couple of minutes (what a bonus!).
We were set a challenge to spot 12 things on our journey around the Bowood estate, which we did. The scenery was lovely, He was in his element.
We walked around some more stalls and exhibits and got back to the main ring in time for Bob Hogg’s Sheep Grand National which we’d missed earlier in the day. This was really entertaining and our sheep won 🙂
There was a final presentation of the tractors and diggers who had kept us entertained throughout the day. We then decided to try to find Les the Tractor Driver, we’d missed him earlier when he’d been at the Tractor Ted shop, signing autographs and he was eager to meet him in the flesh. Well not only did we meet him, but he let him and Daddy sit in his tractor 🙂
This topped off Monkey’s day, Les was lovely and we had one very happy little boy.
We had a wonderful, full day at the show, and we’ll definitely be putting it in our diary for next year. Can thoroughly recommend it.
Someone was asleep before we’d even left the grounds – I think he was probably dreaming about all the wonderful machines he’s seen today ……
What a fun day out!
We all slept well last night
Looks like a fun day out. We saw tractors at a farm show recently and we couldn’t get over how big they actually are up close!
Aren’t they. The combime harvester was in a different league though – huge!
looks a great day! and something a bit different than the usual attractions, can see he must have loved it all his favourite machinerys! ideal for 3yr old boys!
Yes, a 3 year old boys idea of heaven
Looks like a fantastically busy day – no wonder he was asleep before you got going! Perfect for a little one (or big one) who likes tractors!
He’s been full of it still this morning 🙂
sounds like a great day, and such great weather for it!
We were so lucky with the weather, rather windy though 🙂
My son would have loved this event.
It was very good
Thanks, was a great day out
Looks like a fab day out – the JCB display looked good. And a true sign that little ones have had a good day out is them falling asleep as soon as they get in the car!
Indeed, he’s still full of it and we had to have Tractor Ted stories at bedtime 🙂
looks a fantastic day out 🙂
It was great 🙂
This looks like such fun! I think Bud would love a show like this too, he’s a big fan of tractors and construction machinery.
I was thinking of you, bit far though, but yes, he’d have loved it for sure
Awww, what a great day you all had! Your son had a great time – all those big smiles! Perfect weather for it 🙂
He is still full of it, especially meeting Les the Tractor Driver – hero worship status
That looks and sounds great – glad you had a nice day for it too!
we were so lucky with the weather