RAIN clouds couldn't deter more than 10,000 visitors to this year's 164th Hadleigh show.Farmers and fun lovers alike flocked to Saturday's historic show, in the grounds of Holbeck's Hall.

RAIN clouds couldn't deter more than 10,000 visitors to this year's 164th Hadleigh show.

Farmers and fun lovers alike flocked to Saturday's historic show, in the grounds of Holbeck's Hall.

While some families enjoyed a picnic alongside the parade ring, other thrill seekers enjoyed all the fun of the fair.

Show director Martin Pratt, an arable farmer from Nedgling Tye, near Bildeston, said: "I was up at 3am worrying about it but in the end everything went according to plan. There have been a lot of people, considering the weather. A few stayed away in the morning but when the sun came out in the afternoon there must have been 10,000."

Money raised by the Hadleigh Farmers' Agricultural Association is donated to local charities, often to promote farming, during the year, he added.

The lifting of foot and mouth restrictions meant a return to the competition ring for sheep and goats and cattle were once more allowed back in the grand parade.

Charlotte Coleman whose three-year-old longhorn Chalkeney Echo won the rare breeds category said: "There's a lot of cattle here this year. It's great that Echo, who was a bit frisky in the ring, won her category."

The show was held in the grounds of Holbeck's Hall the home of the late Sir Joshua Rowley.

His daughter Emily Holden inherited her father's title as the show's honorary president and presented the cups and rosettes at the grand parade.

But favourite with the kids was the daredevil stunt rider, the Kangaroo Kid. Matt Coulter, from Combs, thrilled the crowds with his motorbike and quad bike stunts.

And for the more traditional farmhands the Essex and Suffolk Foxhounds, dressed in red, galloped around the ring.