Latest news with #IanBebbington
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shropshire County Show's 150th year is 'magnificent achievement'
An organiser of the Shropshire County Agricultural Show has said reaching its 150th year as an event is a "magnificent achievement for Shropshire".The show's aim is to promote the role of the agricultural industry, but over the years it has evolved and now welcomes thousands of visitors from outside the is held at the West Mid Showground, Shrewsbury, and will be on Saturday from 0900 BST to about 1730."We're 150 years old, it's not the 150th show and the reason for that is world wars, foot-and-mouth, Covid," said Ian Bebbington, who is chief executive of the Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society. "We're absolutely delighted to have lasted this long and hopefully it'll be there for many generations to come," he told the show has been a staple in the county's events calendar since started out in the Quarry in Shrewsbury, before bouncing around various venues, and finally making its home at the county town's showground."One of the constants is the animals," said Mr Bebbington. "We're delighted this year to have record entries, over 1,000 animals on site, which is what the show is all about."Attractions at the event include racing pigs, ferrets, a cooking show, and traders selling crafts and food."It's just a celebration of country life, really," he year, the highly popular monster truck show is back after a three year hiatus."We're really looking forward to seeing them smash some cars up."He added that the site, notorious for flooding, was ready for visitors."It's well documented about the flooding, and every year we seem to get it back up and running, and it looks magnificent down there," he said. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Flooding a ticking time bomb
The chief executive of an agricultural showground said flooding is a "ticking time bomb" and called for more to be done to prevent it. Ian Bebbington said the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had suffered five major floods in the last 10 years and it was costing thousands of pounds to repair the damage each time. The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme, a partnership between organisations including the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council, called a meeting in the town on Wednesday to discuss the issue of flooding. Mr Bebbington said he wanted housebuilding on flood-plains to be looked at and more dredging of rivers. He said the showground was "a huge asset to Shrewsbury" and that "they'll only miss it when it's gone". His team is preparing to clean up the site, to get it ready for more events in the spring, including the 150th year of the Shropshire County Agricultural Show. But he said it might come to a point where it was more cost-effective to clear the site and run it without any facilities. Asked what message he wanted to send to the meeting in Shrewsbury, he said there needed to be an acknowledgement that flooding was getting worse. He said: "It's just like a volcano, we've had the warnings and we're going to get the big one." David McKnight, from the Environment Agency, agreed the situation was becoming worse. "I think sadly we've seen a real shift, an increase in the frequency and the type of flooding over the past five or so years," he said. Reacting to floods was becoming "more and more challenging" he added, and he explained the water management scheme was looking for new solutions. He said that would still include defences which were built by organisations but also "nature-based solutions" such as planting more trees and creating more flood plains and holding pools. Mr McKnight added, while dredging always came up at meetings like the one in Shrewsbury, "it doesn't necessarily reduce flood risk in the way we might want it to". He said it was "part of a whole toolbox" rather than the solution to the problem but it was also "not always economically viable". Mr McKnight said he hoped there would be a good turn out to the meeting at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, to hear what people's priorities were. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Huge milestone approaches for agriculture show 'Abnormal becoming normal' as flood clean-up begins County show returns in full after pandemic West Mid Showground Severn Valley Water Management Scheme
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Flooding a ticking time bomb
The chief executive of an agricultural showground said flooding is a "ticking time bomb" and called for more to be done to prevent it. Ian Bebbington said the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had suffered five major floods in the last 10 years and it was costing thousands of pounds to repair the damage each time. The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme, a partnership between organisations including the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council, called a meeting in the town on Wednesday to discuss the issue of flooding. Mr Bebbington said he wanted housebuilding on flood-plains to be looked at and more dredging of rivers. He said the showground was "a huge asset to Shrewsbury" and that "they'll only miss it when it's gone". His team is preparing to clean up the site, to get it ready for more events in the spring, including the 150th year of the Shropshire County Agricultural Show. But he said it might come to a point where it was more cost-effective to clear the site and run it without any facilities. Asked what message he wanted to send to the meeting in Shrewsbury, he said there needed to be an acknowledgement that flooding was getting worse. He said: "It's just like a volcano, we've had the warnings and we're going to get the big one." David McKnight, from the Environment Agency, agreed the situation was becoming worse. "I think sadly we've seen a real shift, an increase in the frequency and the type of flooding over the past five or so years," he said. Reacting to floods was becoming "more and more challenging" he added, and he explained the water management scheme was looking for new solutions. He said that would still include defences which were built by organisations but also "nature-based solutions" such as planting more trees and creating more flood plains and holding pools. Mr McKnight added, while dredging always came up at meetings like the one in Shrewsbury, "it doesn't necessarily reduce flood risk in the way we might want it to". He said it was "part of a whole toolbox" rather than the solution to the problem but it was also "not always economically viable". Mr McKnight said he hoped there would be a good turn out to the meeting at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, to hear what people's priorities were. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Huge milestone approaches for agriculture show 'Abnormal becoming normal' as flood clean-up begins County show returns in full after pandemic West Mid Showground Severn Valley Water Management Scheme
