It’s been a long time. The last time I stood in front of a showbench and fulfilled my judging responsibilities was in March 2020 and though I’ve had a few dates in my diary, none of them have come to fruition.

Until now.

Moreton Show, on the first Saturday in September is a favourite and I’m always happy to be invited to judge. It’s a one day event and an incredible amount of work for such a short time. This year, above all, the unwavering commitment was impressive and I was never in any doubt that the 2021 show would go on. Yes, measures had to be taken to ensure everyone’s safety and the commercial food and craft stands which are usually inside huge marquees were out in the open this year. How lovely that all that effort was rewarded by bright sunshine all day!

The Home and Garden tent, first thing in the morning, is a place of great activity. Stewards are busy putting everything in place, receiving entries and completing the paperwork, organising the space and making sure nothing gets lost. I arrived early - the traffic can be gridlocked, even at 7.30am - so I found myself a quiet corner and kept out of the way with a cup of tea and a breakfast flapjack!

Moreton is a big show with a lively agricultural section; livestock, poultry and equestrian competitions and the Home and Garden section is usually well supported too. Quite how it would fare this year, however, remained to be seen and there was a real sense of relief as the entries came in, almost as many as in a regular year.

My colleague and former student Denise and I were judging the crafts section and divided the classes up between us. Unsurprisingly we work in similar fashion and there’s an easy air of cooperation and mutual support as we progress through the various classes. Denise judged the cushions, including this colourful character, beautifully pieced and appliqued with a high level of free machine embroidery skills there too. I judged the adjacent class of door stops, where I was fooled by the surprisingly lightweight third prizewinner there - it looks so heavy, doesn’t it?

It was a tight competition but the outright winner was this beautifully made entry showing similarly skilful fabric decoration, free machine embroidery skills and a great design - it was really heavy and the handle was a very practical feature. When the cards were turned over, was it a surprise to discover the same hand behind both the cushion and the prizewinning doorstop, then?

No sewing machine skills at all in another class I judged - for a walking stick. The entries here were beautifully made, every one of them, and finding a winner was extraordinarily difficult. For some reason I didn’t take a picture of all eight entries - possibly because of the light - but these two were very eyecatching, don’t you think?

My work done, I had time to take a look around some of the other entries, admiring the fine vegetables and other produce - honey, eggs and cookery.

The flower judge lamented the decline in growing competition chrysanthemums, noting how dahlias appear to be replacing them in the popularity stakes. Funny how these things come and go, isn’t it?

The work done, we judges were entertained to lunch in the livestock area this year, so it was through the footwash and in with the big chaps.

Don’t you just love them?

I stood and watched for a while, as each entrant was led quietly around the ring for the judge to find the winner.

Sometimes, it was difficult to tell who was leading whom and it wasn’t always that quiet, either!

I took a look around the rest of the show before heading home, feeling pleased to have made one more step on the road to “normal life”. I’m glad the show was blessed with good weather and hope that it was worth all the hard work that went into it.

As I headed back to the car park, I ferretted about in one of the pockets of my bag for my car keys and came across some coins. Their origin shows how long it is since I last used this particular bag.

They’re Indian Rupees.