Durham County Show

This was a new event for me this year, over two days the Durham County Show has moved to its new home at Thornley Hall Farm.

Setup was the day before which can be useful as it removes any of the "where do you want me?" indecision that can occur at the beginning of a trading day, plus alleviate my personal angst of how level or not the ground will be! The only challenge I had was, can I get from NT Washington Old Hall to Thornley Hall Farm by the prescribed end of setup time, which I managed, just about.

The Lamas were my neighbours for the weekend

As I'd pitched up the day before the rest of the setup felt very relaxed offering an opportunity to introduce myself to my neighbours (pictured) and chat to some of my fellow traders for the weekend.

As always, there was much speculation around weather predictions (incredibly windy for day one) and footfall for the event over the weekend. The latter was pretty much as expected for the size of the show and what was on offer. The wind however was like nothing I've traded in before. Getting the scales to tare and keeping my flag upright, with the help of a 20kg kettle bell were two of the biggest challenges for day one.

Flat white with a showground view

With the wind having died down for the Sunday I could ease into a slightly more relaxed service offering me a chance to enjoy a midmorning flat white with a view of one of the showgrounds.

There was plenty on offer here to keep people entertained. A vast marquee with a large number of stalls selling all manner of independently produced goodies. Fairground rides, animals to pet, Eventing as well as a good selection of food and drink.

The end of Sunday trading brought to a close the end of three very different but fulfilling days in my little van. Home to restock and give everything a very good clean!