It has been another busy summer around Montgomeryshire, attending local fairs and shows and meeting individuals and community groups across the county. I find agricultural shows and local carnivals ideal places to speak to people informally about what truly matters to them. I just want to share with you a few highlights of the last 6 weeks.
The summer season is always kick-started by the Royal Welsh Show. The Show had even greater significance for me this year as it was my first as new Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. It’s always a busy few days but it was even more so this year as I met more farmers, farming bodies and organisations associated with the industry.
Closer to home, the weather at the Trefeglwys Show was not quite as glorious as the four days at Llanelwedd. Through August, the weather became somewhat changeable. On August 9th, I attended shows in both Llanfyllin and Llanguirg; one was very hot and sunny and the other was cool and pouring with rain. It shows that in such a sizeable county as ours – it took 1hr 30mins to drive from north to south - there can be a real difference in climatic conditions.
At the Llangurig Show, I met a number of Montgomeryshire bee keepers. We should not underestimate the considerable contribution that bees make to our ecosystem. They are in real danger from parasites and pesticides and with the decline of beekeeping in the UK, it’s up to all of us to do what we can to encourage the population by making our gardens and community spaces more attractive places for them to pollinate and nest.
At the Montgomery Show, I spent time talking to WI members and learnt about their 2015 calendar. Be prepared to see local WI members as you have never seen them before! At the show in Carno, I took the opportunity to discuss matters regarding the campaign to re-open Carno station. It was good to receive updates on progress and I will be raising further questions with Welsh Ministers when the Assembly shortly reconvenes.
The memorable highlight of the Llanbrynmair Show was of course the dog race, which is always brilliantly compared. At the Berriew Show, I had the pleasure of meeting people from the Powys Dyslexia Support Group. The group was launched by Cllr Barry Thomas when he was the Chairman of Powys County Council back in 2012. Cllr Thomas did a significant amount of work as Chairman to raise the profile of dyslexia and he opened up publically of his experiences of coping with the condition. The key message was with the right support, you can lead a normal life and achieve great things. Did you know that Steven Spielberg, Richard Branson and Cher are all dyslexic? Even Albert Einstein had the condition!
At Machynlleth Carnival I got hit with a cream pie! Now I know sometimes politicians say and do things which leaves them figuratively speaking, with pie on their face. Yet in this instance, I really was given a pie in the mush by a mischievous clown. Thankfully it was an enjoyable experience because it was all for charity but I can see the activity catching on with the general public!