By Alan Stone
£6.95 including P&P
150 Years of the Mid Somerset Agricultural Society
This 132 page paperback was commissioned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the popular local country show. It looks at the reasons shows developed and the farmers and farming community behind it in the mid nineteenth century as they looked to raise farming standards. The book focuses on many aspects of local agriculture including the key role local farmers had in the evolution of Cheddar Cheese. Along with the Frome Cheese Show, Shepton Show was one of the two biggest cheese competitions outside London. There is a chapter on the pivotal role the Society played in improving the standards of Farmhouse Cider and also chapters on the changing role of the horse on farms and on the development of livestock. The book also explores the relationship between the market town of Shepton Mallet and the show – the only week of the year the ‘sleepy town of Shepton woke up’. Over 70 photographs of the show and local farming illustrate the book.