AT THE end of this month West Dorset will once again be celebrating its rich agricultural surroundings with the annual Melplash Show. The show is a steadfast event in the diary of local people of all ages and attracts visitors from far and wide. This week’s 60 Second Interview is with the show’s new chairman Nigel Jones. Having first been a part of the show 30-years-ago, as a car park attendant, Nigel has seen the show grow into one of the regions principle events.
In his spare time Nigel is a big sports fan. Having played rugby for Dorchester for many years, Nigel now intends to turn his focus to cricket after a knee operation later in the year. Nigel is also a proud co-owner of the racehorse The Jazz Musician who this season raced at some of the top courses in the country. The Melplash Show is on for one-day only on Thursday, August 26th.
HOW much preparation goes into the Melplash Show?
I don’t think people would credit how much background work goes into it, certainly from a quasi-professional role like the secretary and the assistants here in the office. Behind that there is also a huge amount of voluntary assistance, work done by an army of different people and without them the show wouldn’t work. It’s a fantastic testament to the good will of the local community.
HOW have you seen the show develop since your first involvement 30-years-ago?
Immeasurably, from a relatively small country show it is now a principle show in the area. What you will see in agricultural country shows is that some of them have gone very commercial and some have disappeared altogether. Whereas with the Melplash Show the whole idea is to try and portray that authentic traditional country image as well as being well-organised and slick as possible, catering for what everybody wants. We have a very diverse audience bearing in mind where we are. We are one of the only, if not the only show located this close to the sea, so we have an awful lot of holidaymakers who come to the show as well as the indigenous population.
WHAT makes the show special compared to others?
I think exactly that, it’s orientation towards its traditional nature. It has all the ingredients that people want and it isn’t trying to be a commercial show that some have moved towards, yet equally it is so much more than just a country fete. The Devon County Show is now a huge commercial event, we are very much in that traditional niche and that’s where we intend to stay.
WHAT have been the highlights to you from past shows?
The highlights for me have been my two years as vice chairman, making sure everything has gone alright. From an organisational point of view to get through the day, making sure everyone has enjoyed it and that everything ran on time is the main goal.
WHAT are you particularly looking forward to this year?
I’m looking forward to the main ring attractions. We have got the white helmets motorcycle display team and as a sort of antithesis to them for people who don’t want noisy motorbikes we have also got the fabulous Rockwood dog display team who are just extraordinary. All the cattle and the sheep classes will be tremendous; we have lots of entries there. All the horse classes again have lots of entries. A new thing we introduced last year is the By the Sea marquee because of where we are we thought the agriculture of the sea is just as important as the agriculture of the land, so that’s lot of good fun. This year we also have the curry competition, sponsored by Mr and Mrs Michaud who grow the world’s hottest chilli and it is judged by the Taj Mahal in Bridport.
WHO would be your three dream guests at a dinner party?
I just want people who are funny. I would like Jeremy Clarkson, I think he is just hilarious. He’s not PC and is generally upfront and fairly rude and difficult, I find him extremely amusing. I’d like Tommy Cooper who is my favourite comedian of all time. Then I’d like somebody equally funny, the cricket commentator Brian Johnson.
WHAT was the last book you read, CD you listened to and film you watched?
The last film I watched was Toy Story 3 in 3D with my daughter, the last book that I read was the autobiography of Paul Nicholls, the racehorse trainer, and the last CD I listened to was Eva Cassidy.
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