Collision course is set (From Stroud News and Journal)

Collision course is set

A CLASH of two titans from the Five Valleys events calendar is due to take place later this year as two major summer events are set on a head to head collision course.

The big day on July 17 will see Chalford Show held at one end of the Golden Valley and Stroud Show at the other.

The Stroud Show has not taken place since the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 but its return may be slightly more low key than hoped as people are forced to choose between the two.

Organisers are playing down the likely impact the split will have but accept the timing is awkward.

The Stroud event normally takes place slightly earlier in the year but organisers moved it back to avoid problems showing animals.

Stroud Show's Michelle Welsh told the SNJ regulations covering the transport of livestock meant there had to be a gap between taking animals to different shows so the event had to be shifted to fit in with others.

"I don't think we were aware of the timing of Chalford Show when we chose the date," she said. "But at that time of year there is a good chance of clashing with something whenever we decided to hold the show."

She accepted that the Chalford Show was a major event in the calendar of summer festivities but once the wheels had been set in motion it was difficult to alter the date.

"Hopefully it won't make too much difference," she said. "But we are looking at a smaller show than we have had in the past in any event. "We're hoping to make it a country fair style event with more focus on agriculture."

There will no longer be a fun fair or arena events and the show itself will focus on livestock and horticulture.

The ever-popular procession will still take its normal route from Park Road to Stratford Park.

But Chalford Show has a secret weapon when it comes to drawing the crowd. The madcap international brick and pin throwing competition, which sees people from Strouds around the world pitting their hurling skills against one another, will take place in Chalford this year.

"We're hoping to get the brick and pin throwing back in Stroud next year," said Ms Welsh. "It split with the Stroud Show a while back because it was difficult to fit around all the other Strouds in the world."

SB