A ROYAL patron was among the crowds who enjoyed a much-loved festival of the Cheshire countryside.

HRH the Countess of Wessex mingled with tens of thousands of visitors when she toured the two-day Cheshire County Show as its president.

The countess was at the show on both Tuesday and Wednesday, giving out prizes in livestock competitions and taking in the sights and sounds of the jam-packed event.

She delighted crowds at the cattle rings when she unexpectedly arrived to give out the prizes in the Longhorn Society's National Show, a coup for the Cheshire Show to host.

One grandmother was overheard explaining the countess's relationship to the Queen to her grandson, adding: "You can say you've been mixing with royalty today."

A total of 400 trophies were awarded throughout the show, with 99 being given out in the poultry section alone, which is the biggest poultry show in the UK.

John Tickle said the poultry class has grown from attracting 200 entries to more than 1,600 in the eight years since he took it over.

Its marquee was decorated with banners from each of the counties represented by entrants, which took 200 man hours to set up.

"There might be a county not represented here but I haven't seen one," he said.

"When I started there were three cups and there's 99 now."

The Women's Institute (WI) marquee was also impressively decorated with more than seven miles of bunting created by the county's WIs, which took three days to put up.

The marquee was full of more than 530 craft and cookery exhibits which had been rated by a team of 19 judges.

Jean Harding, vice chairman of the Cheshire Federation, said: "It's all judged on the Monday and it's judged to a high standard – national judges come."

The Cheshire County Show is an important diary date for groups like the WI and the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS).

Dorothy Monks, from Knutsford and Goostrey flower clubs, said: "We use this as a show to promote NAFAS and get younger people interested in doing it because we need more young people to come along.

"Its very fulfilling and very therapeutic."

NAFAS, which has more than 50 flower clubs and more than 1,000 members in Cheshire, showed off dramatic and imaginative exhibits in its marquee and gave adults and children chance to have a go.

School groups, Brownies and Scouts were among the visitors enjoying the Cheshire County Show, which kept crowds entertained with displays of rural skill, like sheep and gun dog demonstrations, falconry, shire horse displays and a dramatic motorcycle stunt display from Bolddog Ling Freestyle Motorcycle Stunt Team.

There was a multitude of trade stands, a host of food stalls from Cheshire producers, stalls from rural groups and organisations and a chance to view it all from above on the nerve-wracking sky swing.

Nigel Evans, show chairman, said: "It's safe to say that this year's show has been one of the best yet.

"The weather was fantastic, with the sun shining down on us throughout the whole event, and as a result we have experienced record-breaking numbers on the gate.

"The show was a true celebration of all that is good and great about farming in Cheshire and beyond and we were delighted that HRH The Countess of Wessex could join us on both days for this.

"Thank you to everyone who came and supported the show and I hope they enjoyed it as much as we, the organisers, did – see you again next year."