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Competitions
SHIRE’S FANTASTIC COMPETITIONS
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Another great issue, another chance to win fabulous prizes.
Good luck!
Snoozers, losers! Fill in your entry form and post it today
WIN! A FAMILY WEEKEND A FAMILY WEEKEND CAMPING PASS FOR CAMP BESTIVAL
Arguably the biggest and best family-friendly festival has a new home at Weston Park, Shropshire, on 18th-21st August. With massive headline music acts, comedy, plenty of activities and a fireworks finale, this is a festival like no other. Tickets and further info can be found at shropshire.campbestival.net
We are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a family weekend camping pass, for two adults and up to four children (aged 0-17), worth in excess of £800! To enter, fill in the form below. CLOSING DATE 15th July
Wisteria Tours offers a range of day tours and short breaks around the UK, with a focus on gardens and beautiful scenery. For details see wisteriatours.com wisteriatours.com We We are offering a pair of tickets for a two-hour canal cruise on 11th October, including return transport from Shrewsbury, three-course lunch and a stop at the Lowry Museum. To enter, fill in the form below. CLOSING DATE July 15th.
Win! A family ticket to RAF Museum Cosford Battle of Britain Proms
Look forward to six hours of musical entertainment for all tastes at the brand-new Battle of Britain Proms on 13th August. Set against the unique backdrop of aircraft hangars at RAF Cosford Museum, the evening is rounded off with a traditional Last Night of the Proms finale. Ticket information is available at rafmuseum.org.uk We have a family pass up for grabs. To enter, fill in the form below. CLOSING DATE 15th July
Win! A pair of tickets to the Ballroom Blitz at Welshpool 1940s Weekend
Don your vintage best and dance the night away to the sounds of the Ashby Little Big Band plus guest vocalists and dance instructors, at the Ballroom Blitz on 24th September. This is a ticket-only event, see welshpool1940sweekend.co.uk for more information and booking. We have a pair of tickets to give away. To enter, fill in the form below.
CLOSING DATE 15th July
Winners
Congratulations to our lucky winners from the previous issue of Shire
Kay, Warrington, Classic Car Show Nerys, Llanfyllin, BeWILDerwood
HOW TO ENTER Fill in the form with your answer circled (you’ll need to read the magazine to nd it!) and include your name, address, email and daytime contact number. Send it by the closing date to Competitions, Shire Magazine, PO Box 276, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 1FR Q: How many Ferraris is CarFest’s Chris Evans said to have owned? a) 3 b) 7 c) 17
Tick the ones you want to enter! Camp Bestival
Ballroom Blitz
Battle of Britain Proms
Manchester Canal Cruise Name Address
RULES OF THE COMPETITIONS The promoter of these competitions is Shire Magazine, Superstar Publishing, PO Box 276, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 1FR. The competitions are open to all readers of our magazine and viewers of our websites except employees of the prize providers. The winner(s) will be the fi rst person or persons drawn after the closing date who has completed the correct answer. No cash alternative is available. The winners’ names can be obtained by writing to the competition address with a self-addressed envelope after the closing date. The winner agrees to participate in any follow-up publicity and must provide a photograph to be published in the following issue to claim their prize. Superstar Publishing may print the name only of entrants to this competition in subsequent issue(s) of Shire Magazine. This is to enable competition entrants to fairly claim a promotional o er, for competition entrants only. By entering this competition you are giving permission for Shire Magazine to print your name only. No personal information will be printed. No purchase necessary, answers on a postcard accepted. For full details of our Privacy Policy, please go to shiremagazine.co.uk DATA PROTECTION NOTICE Superstar Publishing Ltd will use your information for administration and analysis purposes and may contact you from time to time with relevant o ers, information or for research purposes. Your details will not be passed on to third parties except the sponsors of these competitions. Please tick the relevant box if you wish to be contacted. Postcode Daytime contact number Email (please complete)
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For the first time since 2019, we are going to have a full calendar of agricultural shows, completely unfettered by any sort of Covid restrictions
DID YOU KNOW? Badgers can run 16-19mph in short spurts
I’ve done a fair bit of showing myself in the past, with some modest success. I’m not one of the big boys, you understand – more Conference League than Premiership – but it was hugely enjoyable. I’m off to the Cheshire Show shortly and am looking forward to seeing all the rare and traditional breeds; the Tatton Park event is the best for such livestock. I do object to paying exorbitant prices for refreshments. No matter, as I’ve perfected the art of looking prosperous. I wander around the trade stands and show just the right amount of interest in whatever it is they’re promoting, and you soon get plied with tea and cake. Repeat until you are sated! Despite living in the countryside all my life, I’ve yet to see an otter. This despite clocking up what must be hundreds of miles along river banks I know they inhabit. I’ve seen their footprints, droppings and the remains of many a meal, but never the animal in the flesh. I’ve had my ‘Dear Diary’ moments though. One moonlit evening I saw a tawny owl swoop out of a sycamore tree and pluck a bat out of mid-air. I’ve also been lucky enough to see, in my front garden of all places, a stoat resplendent in full winter ermine. It was all the more spectacular because it was during a mild spell and he stood out against the green sward like an ostrich in a chicken run.
A friend’s wife told me of how she happened to look out of the bedroom window early one summer’s morning and saw a rabbit hop
across the garden. It stopped by a shrub and started to dig and, lo and behold, pulled out three kittens (baby rabbits). The mother carefully laid them on the lawn, lay beside them and they began to suckle. Breakfast over, she placed them I’ll never forget seeing a tawny catch a bat back in the hole and covered them up again. I explained that it was perfectly normal behaviour and rabbits give birth in a shallow run called a stop and visit them several times a day Eryl Jones was brought to feed them. Here they stay for a week or 10 days until up on a small Welsh farm and studied agriculture in Aberystwyth. He became farm manager on a large estate and later farmed “You can be strolling to the pub and, out of the blue, one they are mobile enough to move to the main warren. I impressed upon my friend how unbelievably lucky she’d been to see it, because I never have. If you look along hedgerows during the spring and early summer months, you’ll see the remains of stops: a hole about a foot deep on his own account. Eryl does voluntary environmental work with comes waddling up the road” with soil at the entrance topped with tufts of rabbit fur. And that’s the beauty of living and spending time in Denbighshire Council the countryside. You never know what you’re going to and has a passion for see. You can spend hours lying in wait trying to catch a glimpse of the rural way of life. something or other, and end up cold and stiff for your trouble. The very next day you can be strolling to the pub for a swift half and, out of the blue, a badger comes waddling up the road towards you, oblivious of your presence because you’re downwind. Every chance encounter gives me a genuine high – what’s more, it’s free and totally harmless. An encounter with a badger is always special
