Livestock floats, lorries and hundreds of vans pulled away from the Royal Highland showground at Ingliston as officials predicted attendance over the four days was just 1000 short of last year’s record 188,000 crowd.
Sunshine and clear skies held until the last few hours of the event and show president Willie Gill insisted he wasn’t hung up about creating new records so long as visitors had enjoyed a quality day out and learned more about food, farming and the best of rural life.
“Once again the Royal Highland Show has proven that, along with being the country’s premier exhibition for the finest livestock, it is one of Scotland’s favourite days out. It is also a great stage on which to do business, and we know that a number of deals have been struck over the four days, which is great to hear,” he said.
The show’s organisers, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) said the referendum result had failed to engulf the event and claimed measures put in place to improve facilities and standards had made a difference this year.
To the general public the most obvious improvement was the £100,000 underpass which allowed cattle and horses to access the main ring without interrupting pedestrian movement round the show. Stricter controls on the consumption of alcohol at kist parties and a clamp down on anti-social behaviour were also largely welcomed.
Mr Gill acknowledged the need to take control of unofficial drinking was long overdue.
“The atmosphere was better this year and more in line with what we perceive kist parties to be,” he said. “The response I got from the public was ‘thank goodness you are doing something about it’. Not before time.”
Mr Gill also confirmed that one of the show’s best-known landmarks, the members MacRobert Pavilion will be demolished before next June’s event.
“We will start off with an asbestos survey next month and following that the demolition warrant has been approved. There will be a new one but it won’t be ready for 2017.” he said.
“But facilities will be put in place for members. We are now drawing breath. We have to be sure of the costs and we don’t have an endless supply of money. The more we spend on members the less we can do on other things, so we have to keep that balance.”
