Watch: 'Shropshire has done us proud' - 77 glorious pictures as County show celebrates 150th anniversary in style

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Given the significant anniversary, the political and financial challenges facing the farming industry and the fact the county lost its flagship event this year in the Shrewsbury Flower Show due to money woes, it felt to many like the success of this year’s county show carried added importance.

However, Shropshire “did us proud”, in the words of showground chief executive Ian Bebbington, who said more than 6,500 went through the gates despite grey skies.

“It has been absolutely magnificent,” he said. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the people.

“We’ve had monster trucks on show, we’ve had record livestock numbers.

“The pig racing is a new thing which went down really well and there was a beautiful display of shire horses.”

Ferret expert Simon Bishop brought his FerretWorld Roadshow to the arena, giving the public the chance to learn more about the furry creatures and be entertained by their antics.

“It was very educational,” Ian added. “We had the Welsh Axemen as well which was high octane and people loved that.”

The cookery “Fire Stage” included demonstrations over a fire barbecue from Gladiators winner Amanda Wah, who spoke about the nutritional benefits of meat, and Adam Purnell aka A Shropshire Lad, who is also an expert in cooking meat.

Stephane Delourme, the former right-hand man of famous chef Rick Stein, cooked seafood over fire in another demonstration.

There were more shire horses than ever at this year’s show, with some performing in the ring and a new “shire horse village” for visitors to go and admire the animals..

Cross-breed dogs had their chance to earn a place at the prestigious Crufts event by entering the “Scrufts” qualifiers, and there was a fun dog show run by Grinshill Animal Rescue.

And in the afternoon one of the highlights of the day came as a Lancaster bomber whizzed past above as the crowds looked skywards in awe.

Ian was also pleased to see the farmer’s market and trade stands have a productive day.

Farmers have faced significant challenges in recent times, including soaring production costs and political issues like the new Labour inheritance tax measures to contend with - an issue that has brought about many protests.

“It’s a tough industry,” Ian said. “But you look at the spirit down here today and it’s still there.”

He was also thankful to Salopian who turned out in their droves, especially in the wake of the flower show being cancelled this year.

“Events are tough at the moment,” he said. “There are so many hidden costs you have to try and mitigate.

“It’s tragic that we lost the flower show. But the people of Shropshire have done us proud - the volunteers and the public.”

Organisers also wished to thank sponsors including Shuker Builders, Shropshire Live, Bangor on Dee Races, Lanyon Bowdler, David Ford Transport, Grocott Group, Lely and Robert Davies Machinery.