Agricultural show draws crowd from Brighton and Hove

Hundreds of people from Brighton and Hove are expected to join the crowds turning out for the first day of the South of England Show tomorrow (Thursday 6 June).

One of the main attractions will be the focus on poultry at this year’s show – the biggest agricultural show in Sussex.

The show also looks at local sourcing and the provenance of food which has been under the spotlight since the horsemeat scandal made news.

One of the show’s organisers, Max Sanderson, said: “The poultry industry in the UK has come under increased scrutiny in the past five years with TV chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall demanding higher standards for egg and poultry production.

“The South of England Agricultural Society is proud to showcase new developments and best practice in this important UK industry and put the spotlight firmly on progress in poultry-keeping taking place in the south east region and beyond.

“The responsible production of poultry, meat and eggs, both commercially and as a fun and productive hobby, is recognised as being a significant contributor to the UK economy – not only to the grocery trade but also to other related manufacturers – feed stuffs, equipment, housing and fencing to name but a few.”

A spokesman for the show said that poultry-keeping was proving increasingly popular in places such as Brighton and Hove, not least since the recession started.

The show takes place tomorrow, Friday (June 7) and Saturday (June 8) at the South of England Showground in Ardingly.

The show will be officially opened by actress Penelope Keith, famous for playing Margot Leadbetter in the TV sitcom The Good Life.

Although her character looked down on the attempts by her neighbours Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall) to live sustainably, in real life she keeps chickens of her own.