130th Dean and Shelton Country Show

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12:30 pm, Saturday 7th September 2024

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What better way to enjoy an English Summer’s day than a traditional village show set in the beautiful countryside of the borders of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire set in the ancient Hundred of Stodden. The Dean and Shelton Country show offers fun for all the family young or old, with a range of fun-packed attractions including stalls, a Silver band, a dog show, a classic vehicle rally, etc. There is also the opportunity to enter your homegrown flowers and vegetables, cakes, crafts, and photography in The Produce show. The aim of the Dean and Shelton Country Show is to bring the people of Lower Dean, Upper Dean and Shelton together to provide a fun-filled event that helps to raise funds for charities. Continued success helps ensure that this event will remain on the calendar for many years to come.

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It is likely to have been village fairs or fetes held in the Huntingdonshire village of Upper Dean since medieval times these would have been held on Butt field off Shay Lane once the village green and used initially for archery practice. Village fayres are also known to have been held in local village churchyards, where beer is likely to have been sold. The historic Dean and Shelton Country Show is now one of the country's longest-running village shows and was founded by the Headmaster of the Old Dean School in 1885, and in 2019 held its 125th show. Originally just known as the Dean Flower Show, this was held at the old school and adjacent field. In the 1930s the show became known as the Dean and Shelton Flower Show and was held every Tuesday after the August bank holiday, the show was quite an event with teas and sandwiches, 50 pens to keep livestock, music, provided by local brass and silver bands, evening supper and dance held after the show.

 

The committee is dedicated to ensuring that this Great British Village Show is continued for at least another 128 years. In the 1980s the show moved from the Eileen Wade Lower School to the Dalton Hall, the show is still held at the Dalton Hall, every first Saturday in September. The Dalton Hall is filled with flowers, and local produce from homes and gardens in the same way that the original shows of the 1880s had done. Today the Dean and Shelton Country Show is like a country fair and still has a live band, a beautiful produce show, a juggler, a glorious tea tent, stalls selling crafts, foods and toys, demonstrations, and exhibitors like the Royal British Legion and the Dean Dog Show are now all part of this historic event. Classic vehicles including a rally of cars, commercials, motorcycles, tractors, military and steam are now all included. When possible the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will also provide a flypast or a display. 

 

With your help, the show will continue for another 130 years.