CONSIDERING what is happening elsewhere, the Great Yorkshire Show comes as a particularly welcome reminder of this region's pride and tradition.

Thousands of people basked in the sunshine at the showground yesterday, as the farming festival got off to a cracking start.

Yorkshire has changed dramatically in the century and a half since the show began. But our roots, in the North Riding especially, grow deep in the fertile soil of our farms.

After so many agricultural setbacks and crises, the confidence exuded by this year's entrants bodes well for the farming future.

Updated: 12:08 Wednesday, July 13, 2005