Members & Stewards
Show President: Richard Smaridge
Show Chairman: Dave Trigger MBE
Show Secretary: Helen Baker
Honorary Vets: South Moor Vets
Show Directors: Richard Balkwill and Julie Higgin
Richard and Julie are both responsible for the overall layout of the show ground, you’ll find them on site the week prior to the show marking out the pitches for trade stands and ensuring that all marquees, cattle lines etc are located in the correct place. Their work never ends, from discussing the complexities of how to manage the variety of main ring attractions through to managing the catering tenders Richard and Julie put a huge amount of time and effort into making sure that show day runs as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.
Chief Craft Tent Steward: Emily Smaridge
Food Drink Marquee Steward: Angela Smaridge
Angela and her husband Richard farm at Borough and are very generous in letting their land to host Kingsbridge Show. Angela is responsible for the Food & Drink Marquee, for the show. Angela organises the allocation of pitches and any queries that arise.
Members Tent Chief Steward: Elizabeth Perraton
Elizabeth looks after the needs of all the members and people who help to make the show the great success it is. On Show Day, Elizabeth and her team will ensure that everyone is catered for be it a bacon buttie in the morning or a lovely lunchtime meal through to afternoon tea. This is no mean feat and we are all very appreciative of her efforts – especially welcome are her cups of tea when you’ve been on your feet all day!
Chief Horse Steward: Louise Sharpe
Louise has a wealth of knowledge and experience with horses, being a BHS Senior Accredited professional coach in eventing, freelance coach, EAL Facilitator and practitioner for the Mare & Foal Sanctuary. She is a keen supporter of local and county shows and is on the judges panel for two societies. She is a rider, mother and coach. Louise is always appreciative of any help that can be given to assist with running the horse section of the Show.
Chief Cattle Steward: John Woodley
John – to be honest there were so many things we could say about John we just didn’t know where to start. He’s always on the show ground to help with the setting up and is often seen running from one point to another to get the job done in the fastest time possible. Always reliable (but a tad late on occasion) we all know that if we need a hand John will be there to lend his support. Thanks John!
Chief Sheep Steward: Sadie Darke
Sadie has been involved with showing sheep all her life. She and husband Matt have established a small flock of texels which they enjoy exhibiting around the summer show circuit. She is a very enthusiastic Show member, something she says she is “very excited to do: to showcase the best livestock from around the South Hams and further afield is something she firmly believes in and without our wonderful exhibitors we wouldn’t have the sheep section we have – so thank you to them all.
Fleeces, Arable, Hay, Corn & Straw Chief Steward: Emma Ford
Emma has taken on the role of Chief Steward in the Arable section from Joan Soper, a hard act to follow. Emma was chairman in 2023 and is a keen supportive member of the Show. She manages to juggle her show responsibilities with her young family, who also enter the childrens’ classes.
Horticulture Chief Steward: Keith Steer
Keith has extensive experience within the horticultural sections as he organises several shows within the local area. Competitors can enter in classes for vegetables, fruit, flowers of all kinds and pot plants. Keith will be found within the marquee prior to the show arranging the staging for exhibitors entries and particularly on show day and is always happy to speak with exhibitors and potential newcomers. For help and advice beforehand you can contact Keith on 01548 561509
Floral Art Chief Steward: Helen Reeve
Helen has a passion for the Floral Art Section and rightly so too as it’s always full of the most beautiful displays in the area. We are very proud to have her with us on the committee and we always look forward to seeing the exhibitors interpretations of the classes because the variety of flowers and the vibrant colours are absolutely stunning – please take time to see this section of the marquee.
Children’s Arts Crafts Section Chief Steward: Catherine Acton
Homecraft Chief Steward: Ann Brooks
Ann has looked after this section for a number of years, the twenty four classes cover a variety of talents from jam making to photography and a selection of handicraft classes. There’s something for everyone and no age limitations, so get your children cooking the Victoria Sandwhich while you produce lemon curd and your parents try out the photography classes.
Young Farmers Chief Steward: Lynda Wreyford
Kingsbridge Young Farmers Club is such a great group of young people who are always challenging themselves by taking up officer roles, participating in speaking competitions, fundraising, stock judging and so much more. They certainly make sure they have a whole lot of fun along the way with socials planned throughout the year. She has been involved with KYFC for nearly 20 years, held many officer roles, been club leader and now she is an advisory member. She competed at every level from a Club to National and took part in many trips and scholarships. She is so pleased to be Kingsbridge Young Farmers’ Chief Steward at this year’s show. The YFC area of the tent is always set up and organised by the members themselves and the club members fill it with fantastic entries. Be sure to pop in and enjoying looking around the YFC section within the Arable Tent.
Country Scene Tent Chief Stewards: Emily Squire & Jamie Rundle
Emily and Jamie are enthusiastic show members who have some great ideas for the future of the Countryscene section. They hope to bring back a poultry display soon but no classes as yet. Much depends on the DEFRA rules and regulations owing to avian flu. This section of the Show is always popular and they are keen to promote rural skills
Chief Gate Steward: Richard Bath
The car parks and gate entrances and exits are very efficiently organised and run with a huge band of volunteers assisting! Believe us when we say that it’s no mean feat to achieve this successfully, year after year. Our Gate Stewards are worth their weight in gold and we want to thank them for doing such a wonderful job from organising signage, health & safety policies and general management of the huge volumes of traffic we see on show day. Well done team!
Sponsorship: Helen Baker
As Show Secretary, Helen is the point of contact for sponsorship and advertising. She is from a well known local farming family who have been involved with the Show for many years. Helen is very passionate about the Show, which she feels is the shop window for the local farming industry.
Main Attractions Secretary: Maggie Cornhill
Maggie has been a show member for several years and organises the main ring attractions. Keeping to the timetable is no mean feat.
Music Entertainment Steward: Apple Taylor
Cup Secretary: Shirley Barrett
Shirley started with the show trophies when she was just 16 years old working for Luscombe Maye! Since then she has had some years off but has always been persuaded to come back to the fold. On show day you’ll find Shirley working hard in the Secretary Tent, logging all the results and recording all the cup winners. If you’ve ever won a trophy at the show Shirley is the person behind the scenes who made sure you received it.
Dog Show Organiser: Anita McCoy
Anita (or Neats as we all know her) has managed the dog show for many years, seeing it grow in popularity year on year. Entries are taken on the day. There are ten classes, each of which are allocated rosettes 1st to 6th placings. Make no mistake, that’s a lot of rosettes for a lot of dogs! All dogs are welcome on the show ground providing they are on a non retractable lead and are kept under control.
If you have ever thought ‘I would like to get involved’ whilst visiting the Kingsbridge Show or if you are new to the area and would like to join us we would be delighted to hear from you. If you only have an hour or two or maybe you would be interested in becoming a Chief Steward we have lots of areas to get involved with and become part of the team.