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08
Jul 2024
'Covid changed Great Yorkshire Show for the better,' says retiring show director
Over the last nine years, Charles Mills has overseen some of the biggest changes in the Great Yorkshire Show’s 186-year history.
During Mr Mill's tenure as show director, which draws to an end next week, the event in Harrogate has gone from being a three-day affair to an advanced ticket-only four-day gathering.
He admits it’s taken away some of the spontaneity but says the 35,000 daily cap on tickets has made it a far more enjoyable day out:
The first year I got the job there were 55,000 people here on just one day and it was too many. It was unpleasant. People were queueing terribly for toilets or for getting into the showground and we hardly knew where to park the next car. It was like a rugby scrum at times so it was a sensible change that allows people to enjoy the day.
If you limit the numbers you can then enjoy it. It’s got to be about whether you enjoy it or not. Why would you go if you don’t enjoy it?
He likens the situation to Glastonbury, saying nobody would expect the music festival to allow people to turn up on the day to buy tickets anymore.
Mr Mills, who farms mainly arable crops but also has some sheep and a wedding venue business at Appleton Roebuck near York, announced in September that this year’s show would be his last in charge.
He has welcomed royal guests including Prince Charles, the year before he became king, and Princess Anne twice.
He has also had to contend with covid, which led to the show’s cancellation in 2020 before it became one of the first events to return to the calendar in 2021 when the addition of the fourth day and the limit on tickets satisfied social distancing requirements.
The changes stuck and there is little doubt Mr Mills leaves the show, which dates back to 1838 and is organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society farming charity, in rude health.
The final tickets for this year’s event, which runs from Tuesday to Friday, had sold out by Friday last week.
It is, along with the Royal Welsh Show and the Royal Highland Show, Britain’s premier agricultural event although he stresses the three events aren’t rivals as they all try to do the same thing by showcasing agriculture.
Asked about other changes during his time, he cites the introduction of sheep dog trials and the regeneration of the fashion show as examples of positive changes.
He also mentions the introduction of a farmer’s ticket, which allows farmers who might be unwilling to purchase tickets in advance because of weather-dependent farming commitments, to attend on any one day.
But, like the countryside, little changes dramatically year-by-year, which is part of the show’s enduring appeal. There is always show jumping in the main arena, cheeses galore and the most impressive livestock you’ll see all year.
Mr Mills says:
What we’ve tried to do with the show is reflect the way countryside and agriculture is changing so inevitably things change and I’m sure that will continue
But the sheer art of breeding top quality livestock is not always about technology — it’s about skill as well.
Does he have a favourite part of the show? Mr Mills was joint chief cattle steward before he became show director and says “that section will always sit in my heart” but insists he loves it all.
About 100 full-time staff work on the show, plus numerous temporary helpers and volunteers. Asked what he will moss most, Mr Mills says without hesitation:
The people. I will miss anybody who is anything to do with the Great Yorkshire Show but most of all I’ll miss the team.
Being a farmer, he says “I don’t really have a problem with knowing what to do because there’s always a job on a farm” and he will still return as a visitor in 2025 with a far more relaxed agenda.
I might bring the grandchildren and hopefully, for once, I’ll ask my wife where she’d like to go!
Looking back on his nine years at the helm, he says:
It’s been challenging. there’s no question about that. Covid made the world challenging and certainly changed the way the Great Yorkshire Show happens and in some ways its changed it for the better, I would say.
Any advice for his successor? “Smile and do it your way.”
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