The balmy weather could not go on indefinitely and as expected the rain arrived around mid-day on Saturday. It dampened the ground at the ploughing match but not the spirits of the competitors, stewards, judges or the public. They all took little notice and carried on.
The site was perfect and the standard of ploughing across the board tip top. The hedge layers transformed a poor looking hedge which was never going to be stock proof, into a thing of beauty which will certainly keep livestock fenced in for a long time to come. The grain, hay, arts, crafts and cookery competitions produced a show of quality and some distinction.
Everything went like clock-work thanks to the professionalism of the 'old hands' who are an experienced team, plus a little help from those of us who are less proficient but full of enthusiasm.
The South of England Agricultural Society's Autumn Game Fair was certainly worth a visit. The crowds on Saturday were a little thin, (they were probably all at the Ploughing Match) but on Sunday the attendance was exceptional in the glorious sunshine. There was a wide variety of competitions, many trade stands, and an assortment of entertainment, all of which made for a good day out. The Game Fair theme introduced by former chairman of the Society David Allam some years ago, has proved to be increasingly popular and successful and it is good to see the shooting and fishing enthusiasts out in force.
Increasingly there is a view that children today must be 'protected ' from just about everything?
Not so long ago children climbed trees, rode bicycles without hard hats, roller skated without knee pads and crash helmets. They even watched cartoons, including Tom and Jerry without being warned that "they contain some ethnic and racial prejudices".
Generations of kids have taken proportionate risks and watched and enjoyed the cappers of Tom & Jerry, without too much grief. I would bet my bottom dollar that none have ever considered black Americans to be inferior because the black maid in the cartoons, called Mammy Two Shoes is only seen from her waist downwards on screen.
Why Amazon has now decided this is a crude racial stereotype is quite beyond me. I would suggest such an attitude treats today's youngsters with a certain contempt and distain. Why should kids not be allowed to make their own judgements; surely it is for them to decide, it is all part of growing up.
Quite rightly a number of commentators suggest that this is a worrying example of the way history is being re-written by the politically-correct brigade. They are imposing their own 'narrow minded, modern day moral views on not only the past but imposing artificial unhelpful regulations for today'.
It is troubling to see that a library in East Sussex has removed Babar the Elephant books from its shelves for the way they portray African natives as primitive and ignorant. Some books have been wrapped in protective packaging similar to that used for top-shelf pornography! I wonder if these do-gooders have considered that perhaps in the days when elephants spoke, wore clothes and got into interesting scrapes, all human beings including black, white and kaki did indeed appear to be a bit simple and ignorant!!!
Having taken a straw poll of my three children, they assure me that they are not mentally scarred or racist from watching Tom and Jerry or indeed reading the many Babar the Elephant books. These still clutter our book shelves patiently waiting to be read by the next generation, in due course.
None of this political correctness encourages tolerance, nor does it encourage debate and increase awareness. If anything it probably does the opposite and brings to the attention of young minds the differences rather than the similarities, and as with anything imposed on us as youngsters, we tend to do the opposite.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is reported to be 'way out of control'. This follows a gradual widening of the categories of patients included in the 'hopeless and unbearable suffering', cases. Dr Peter Saunders of the UK’s Christian Medical Fellowship, said: 'What we are seeing in the Netherlands is the steady intentional escalation of numbers with a gradual widening of the categories of patients to be included'. He believes that this example 'should be a warning to Britain'.
Indeed if what Dr Saunders says is true it should be noted, but without the warning. What people fail to grasp is that medical advances make once deadly diseases and old age survivable but often with consequences. More and more elderly and sick people are having to find another way to be allowed to die when life, pain and sickness become intolerable. What about their quality of that life? It is all very well for those who are hale and hearty to lay down the law, it is not they who are suffering pain, confusion or despair.
I have said it before and no doubt I will do so again; why is it that we treat our pets and farm livestock so much better when they reach the end of their lives or are desperately ill, than we do frail human beings? It's a mystery to me.
Carola Godman Irvine
The site was perfect and the standard of ploughing across the board tip top. The hedge layers transformed a poor looking hedge which was never going to be stock proof, into a thing of beauty which will certainly keep livestock fenced in for a long time to come. The grain, hay, arts, crafts and cookery competitions produced a show of quality and some distinction.
Everything went like clock-work thanks to the professionalism of the 'old hands' who are an experienced team, plus a little help from those of us who are less proficient but full of enthusiasm.
The South of England Agricultural Society's Autumn Game Fair was certainly worth a visit. The crowds on Saturday were a little thin, (they were probably all at the Ploughing Match) but on Sunday the attendance was exceptional in the glorious sunshine. There was a wide variety of competitions, many trade stands, and an assortment of entertainment, all of which made for a good day out. The Game Fair theme introduced by former chairman of the Society David Allam some years ago, has proved to be increasingly popular and successful and it is good to see the shooting and fishing enthusiasts out in force.
Increasingly there is a view that children today must be 'protected ' from just about everything?
Not so long ago children climbed trees, rode bicycles without hard hats, roller skated without knee pads and crash helmets. They even watched cartoons, including Tom and Jerry without being warned that "they contain some ethnic and racial prejudices".
Generations of kids have taken proportionate risks and watched and enjoyed the cappers of Tom & Jerry, without too much grief. I would bet my bottom dollar that none have ever considered black Americans to be inferior because the black maid in the cartoons, called Mammy Two Shoes is only seen from her waist downwards on screen.
Why Amazon has now decided this is a crude racial stereotype is quite beyond me. I would suggest such an attitude treats today's youngsters with a certain contempt and distain. Why should kids not be allowed to make their own judgements; surely it is for them to decide, it is all part of growing up.
Quite rightly a number of commentators suggest that this is a worrying example of the way history is being re-written by the politically-correct brigade. They are imposing their own 'narrow minded, modern day moral views on not only the past but imposing artificial unhelpful regulations for today'.
It is troubling to see that a library in East Sussex has removed Babar the Elephant books from its shelves for the way they portray African natives as primitive and ignorant. Some books have been wrapped in protective packaging similar to that used for top-shelf pornography! I wonder if these do-gooders have considered that perhaps in the days when elephants spoke, wore clothes and got into interesting scrapes, all human beings including black, white and kaki did indeed appear to be a bit simple and ignorant!!!
Having taken a straw poll of my three children, they assure me that they are not mentally scarred or racist from watching Tom and Jerry or indeed reading the many Babar the Elephant books. These still clutter our book shelves patiently waiting to be read by the next generation, in due course.
None of this political correctness encourages tolerance, nor does it encourage debate and increase awareness. If anything it probably does the opposite and brings to the attention of young minds the differences rather than the similarities, and as with anything imposed on us as youngsters, we tend to do the opposite.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is reported to be 'way out of control'. This follows a gradual widening of the categories of patients included in the 'hopeless and unbearable suffering', cases. Dr Peter Saunders of the UK’s Christian Medical Fellowship, said: 'What we are seeing in the Netherlands is the steady intentional escalation of numbers with a gradual widening of the categories of patients to be included'. He believes that this example 'should be a warning to Britain'.
Indeed if what Dr Saunders says is true it should be noted, but without the warning. What people fail to grasp is that medical advances make once deadly diseases and old age survivable but often with consequences. More and more elderly and sick people are having to find another way to be allowed to die when life, pain and sickness become intolerable. What about their quality of that life? It is all very well for those who are hale and hearty to lay down the law, it is not they who are suffering pain, confusion or despair.
I have said it before and no doubt I will do so again; why is it that we treat our pets and farm livestock so much better when they reach the end of their lives or are desperately ill, than we do frail human beings? It's a mystery to me.
Carola Godman Irvine
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