Ben Lowry: A happy reminder of my grandfather’s role in the Balmoral Show
Last year the weather at the Balmoral Show was almost perfect.
(To read Ben Lowry’s main column about the Labour leadership, click here)
I remember being at a horse ring in the evening in pure sunshine, as riders went round the arena as if in a hot dusty paddock in Argentina.
It would was always unlikely to get such conditions this year too. But the show, from where News Letter and Farming Life staff worked each day, was a success, despite at times a blustery, chilly and wet climate.
Walking around the Balmoral site at the Maze is like moving between mini worlds – a cattle section, then agricultural machinery displays, then food tents, equestrian arenas, a gardening quarter, then the large Eikon indoor centre, the funfair, etc. We interviewed politicians, business folk, farmers, bystanders.
For me, a highlight was accompanying my uncle David on his first visit since 1976. His dad (my late grandfather), James T Kernohan, ran the show through the Troubles (see page five or click here). My first show was 1975, but I was far too young to realise what a feat it was to keep the event going in those difficult days.
David was amazed at the expansion from the much-loved but cramped old King’s Hall site. The new venue seems very distant from those violent days, although ironically the show is now beside the key prison of that fraught time.
David also recalls that the show was held later in May due to it being the least likely week to have rain. Which intrigued me because I know that May is the sunniest month in NI, with 37% sun during daylight hours (the year-round average is 28%).
• Ben Lowry (@Benlowry2) is News Letter editor