THERE was a general feeling of "it's good to be back" on Saturday.

Malham was the first agricultural show in Craven to reintroduce the livestock - a welcome sight for a community blighted by foot and mouth last year.

But less welcome was the traditional Malham weather - the steady rain turned the field into a mud bath, and made the fell races particularly perilous.

However the wet weather certainly didn't dampen the spirits of the locals and visitors who turned out to support this popular event.

Farmers were commended for bringing their livestock despite the 21-day restriction enforced by DEFRA. This meant show animals had to be kept in isolation for 21 days before and after the event.

Chairman Chris Hall thanked the farming community for supporting the show.

"I think it is a credit to the people of Malhamdale and round about that there are so many exhibits today. I am very proud that we have livestock here because of the foot and mouth last year. I think it is a credit to them that they are with us today."

President Ted Phillip finally took up office - more than a year after he was due to carry out his presidential duties.

"When I was asked to be president of the show, I was very proud and pleased to accept. Since then we have had the dreaded foot and mouth disease and businesses, tourism and farming have been affected.

"At the end of the day we have remained good friends and that's something about Malhamdale to be proud of."

Farmer Bill Bland, from Kirkby Malham, said it was "wonderful" to see the animals back again.

"I'd like to see a special message to the stock exhibitors thanking them for fetching as much stock as they could. This is the first show to have livestock and with a bit of luck it shows things are starting to get back to normal."

There was more support from show stalwart Elaine Butterfield, from Bentham.

"It is nice to have the shows back. It is a form of advertising and this is the first one we have been to this year," she said.

Her journey proved worthwhile, as she and her family took three trophies, and shared in a fourth. Among their awards was the Wolfenden Trophy for the champion dairy animal.

Champion sheep winner Stephen Raine, from Stainforth, was only able to show at Malham by chance.

His champion animal missed being culled because it had been moved to another farm for lambing before the foot and mouth outbreak.

"We show at many shows and enjoy success at them all, but this is my local show and obviously it is nice to come here and win overall champion.

"This is one of the first shows to have stock since foot and mouth and it shows the farmers are striving on. It's grand to see, and although the numbers have been down, the quality of exhibits has been exceptional."

Secretary Tony Robinson said that cattle classes were down by two-thirds and sheep classes were down by 50 per cent.

He added that a lot of the exhibitors had diversified in recent years and some farmers, who had had their animals culled, had not re-stocked.

"Every year sees less local farmers here and it is becoming much more of a family day. You have to be dedicated to come to Malham which traditionally sees the wettest day!"

Expecting the reduction in stock classes, the show committee had worked hard to ensure that there were enough attractions to compensate.

In addition to the horticultural, floral and craft classes, there were displays of show jumping, beagle hunting, a sheep dog display, fancy dress and children's sports.

Following the theme of "past, present and future", there was also a display from Craven Museum, with a guess the mystery object game, and old photographs and reports of the show from 1907 to the present day.

Mr Robinson explained: "At the initial stages of planning the event, we were unclear what the rules about exhibiting livestock and things of that nature would be. That meant we had to delay a lot of decisions that we would normally make earlier on.

"We spent much more time to ensure our crafts and other classes were full to make sure that the shortfall in stock exhibits was made up. We were trying to display the Dales at its best.

"The turnout has been tremendous in view of the uncertainty and to see so many cattle and sheep here is brilliant."

The bad weather also caused problems for the horticultural exhibitors. One competitor, Betty Wall, of Glusburn, said it had been an awful growing season.

Nevertheless, she had persevered and her efforts paid off with her 15 exhibits winning 13 prizes. "I started to prepare my entries at 5pm last night and finished at 1.30am this morning," she said.

As the show progressed, the heart-warming tableau of children sloshing about in the mud turned into the heart-stopping sight of competitors hurtling up and down the rain-soaked hills in the fell races.

t the end of the day, as visitors looked back as they made their way to the car park, they were reminded of what they had missed last year - sheep and cattle nestling against the splendid backdrop of Malham Cove.