Lifestyle

Lambeth Country Show: Review

Lambeth Country show

If you said the words ‘Country Show’ to anybody who has grown up in the countryside, much like me, I suspect the first images that would spring to mind are those of owls, possibly sheep shearing and possibly even shire horses. Now, if you reworded it to ‘Lambeth County Fair’, well, it was fair to say, I had no real idea what that would mean, or indeed what it would bring to mind.

Well, last weekend I found out. It was a last minute thing, spur of the moment if you will, but I had no better plans for the sunny Sunday afternoon and at the very least, my interest was piqued. So off I strolled with my housemate to find out, pretty soon it became clear. From quite a distance away the familiar beat of reggae could be felt, even before it was heard.

Walking into Brockwell Park was quite a sight if you did not know what to expect. Any images of owls, funny men with sideburns and sheep disappeared rapidly, in favour of a massive stage, sound system and a slowly moving throng of people. Everyone, from small children pelting around between adults’ legs, to the more venerable among the crowd was clearly enjoying themselves and moving along with the music, consciously or unconsciously.

Having established that a county fair in Lambeth meant lots of reggae, lots of soul food and a fair amount of alcohol, I decided to explore and to my delight (you can take the boy out of the country…) found that there were indeed owls, sheep and even a blacksmith from Rotherhithe, offering smithing lessons if you wanted to learn how to hammer out your very own iron horse.

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Set in the beautiful grounds of Brockwell Hall and delivering some of the best views of Central London, the park and annual show were brilliant fun for anyone. From the array of reggae bands to the sheep shearing competition and even to the more exotic; camel racing, it was a brilliant way to spend the afternoon outside, soaking up the sun and providing a countrified escape from City life for a few hours, this free afternoon’s entertainment is something I will definitely be revisiting next year.

This years show details can be found here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Country-Show/ and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the details of next year’s.

Pete Churchill