HEAVY rain turned Appleby showground into a mud bath but failed to dampen the spirits of exhibitors and visitors.

Plans to bring the new Cumbrian Air Ambulance helicopter to the show ground had to be cancelled after fog on the Pennines prevented the aircraft from flying over from the North East to attend.

Under the dripping red and white striped canvas of her tent, the secretary of Appleby Show summed up the day.

"The weather's disappointing but it's amazing how many people have turned up," said Annie Collinson.

Outside the tent, a damp but healthy crowd squelched around the show field and some stallholders profited from the conditions.

As 14-year-old waitress Francesca Steggel rushed to deliver slices of cold beef and salad, Eden Valley Catering boss Jackie Kirkpatrick said: "We've got everybody flocking in."

Carl Walkden, of Eden Angling Centre, was at the show for the first time. He said: "Everybody keeps saying it's good weather for fish!"

But it was not only some stallholders who were new to the show. Ingrid Wilson, with her son Adam, had gathered relatives from Aberdeen, Holland and Hong Kong to come along during a family reunion.

Behind them, the show's poultry tent was a quacking, clucking, cock-a-doodle-doing menagerie of all kinds of fowl. But five-year-old Adam preferred the "black and white cows, because you get milk from them".

Past the "genuine" fortune-telling gypsy and the smiling members of Cumbria Gospel Outreach, beyond the C'est Si Bon jazz trio, the livestock winners were judged.

Fifteen-year-old James Winter, who has only been breeding sheep for two years, won the champion sheep title with his Texel.

John Harrison, of Crossrigg Farm, Cliburn, won the John Harrison trophy, named after his grandfather, for overall dairy champion.

But despite the wet weather the Rotary Club of Appleby sold balloons for the Great Balloon Race which last year raised £1,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance.

Past president of Appleby Rotary and co-ordinator for the Great North Air Ambulance fund-raising in Appleby, David Ridehaugh, told The Messenger: "Despite this very bad weather we have sold 323 balloons today."

The industrial tents proved very popular this year, as people made desperate attempts to shelter from the heavy rainfall. Jazz Band C'est si Bon, from Bolton, who were this year sponsored by WA Developments to play at the show, entertained visitors while crafts people in the Voluntary Action Cumbria marquee, such as basket maker and willow artist Phil Bradley, of Cockermouth, were popular attractions.

This year the show had cookery demonstrations, given by popular local celebrity chef John Crouch.

The annual show was held in The Barley Field by permission of Appleby Golf Club as Lord of the Manor and Hilton Commoners.

Patron of the Appleby Show, Mayor of Appleby Frank Harland, said: "The committee would like to thank all well-wishers who have donated towards prize money and confidently solicit the support of breeders who have entered for this year's show and, it is hoped, will enter freely in future."