Smithfield Show / Royal Show

[Selectamatic]

I wont post them up here as thee are plenty of them, but if you have a spare 15 mins and feel nostalgic, get on to Youtube and have a search for either of the above...

Brilliant old clips of 50's, 60's 70's machinery in the best agricultural show of its time!

I'm too young to remember those days, but can just about remember going to Smithfield in London when I was a kiddie.

Does anyone have some pictures of the Smithfield that they would like to share with us? Pictures that you took wandering around the big smoke before, after or during the show, probably belong on the "ooooooh" thead!!

 

[76masseyman]

A mate (sadly passed away now) used to organise bus trips to Smithfield, had some long, but good days, and a great laugh.
I was recently given a MF brochure from the mid seventies, with pictures of MF's lineup for that years Earls Court show, on the front cover.
But the adverts inside are mainly for 'gentlemans' entertainment in London for that week !!!

 

[jakeboy]

I can well remember attending my Smithfield show 78/79? Just couldn't get me head around why they had a show like this in London!! But it worked I guess, I can remember the Ford Fw 30 on the Ford stand!! All day there was a Que around this tractor, I remember stood open mouthed at the size of this bloody thing and tried to imagine what use it would be in the smaller fields of Somerset!! I couldn't persuade my new wife to let me by one!! No she wanted a house!! Probably worked out to be a good decision!
I have good memories of this show, but sadly no pictures happy days!!

 

[Kidds]

I was there about the time jakeboy, the thing that I recall most was the price of a can of Coke costing the same as a house back home.

 

[76masseyman]

Only pic I have of The Royal, would have to be an MF, passed to me by a mate of mine. 75 or 76 year.

 

[jakeboy]

There was a good feature on Smithfield show I think last year in one of the tractor mags, and also the experiences of a sales manager!! It was a good read,
I had some experience helping out on a well known excavator brand! Orange? Up at Sed plant show when it was at Milton Keynes, before it moved to Rockingham,
I was running that brand at the time, and I well remember the 9/ out of 10 visitors to the stand would normally start the conversation my mate!! Drives one of these!! Their sh#t!! And I would normally say are you an operator? No Its a sh#t job! and after 10 minutes of riveting conversation regarding the failings of this machine which he has no experience of operating? You would move on to the next one who has his mates around him and tells you he is buying 6 machines later in the year and might consider one of these!!? When asked how many he currently runs, none at the moment but been promised a load of work!!
Yes you meet them all at these shows, very likeable some, but the real buyers would look like they just got off the machine and were in a hurry to get back!! And haven't really got the time to stop and chat but this is my contact details I'll have two 220s and 3 130s!! Cheers Sony!!
Yes that did happen and a Irish gentleman walked on to the stand on the last day, and bought 2 machines and paid the deposits with cash from a supermarket carrier bag!? Bet that wouldn't happen now!
Happy days !

 

[Magnum Man]

I've been talking with one of the ag book publishers about putting together a book of photos through the decades of old Smithfield and/or Royal Shows or farm shows generally. Would anyone buy that sort of thing? Does anyone have any photos they might like to see included?

 

[Selectamatic]

I've been talking with one of the ag book publishers about putting together a book of photos through the decades of old Smithfield and/or Royal Shows or farm shows generally. Would anyone buy that sort of thing? Does anyone have any photos they might like to see included?

Yes, me!

 

[Magnum Man]

Is that yes to the first question or yes to the second?! I need to find out whether the RASE (Royal) and the AEA (Royal Smithfield) hold any decent number of historical photo files for the shows, but I'd also be keen to hear from anyone who has old show photos. Good care would be taken of them during scanning and return.

 

[Bob lincs]

I've been talking with one of the ag book publishers about putting together a book of photos through the decades of old Smithfield and/or Royal Shows or farm shows generally. Would anyone buy that sort of thing? Does anyone have any photos they might like to see included?

Yes I would .

 

[MrNoo]

Father attended the show a few times with his sprayer conversions, will ask him if he has any pics. He used to take the lads up for a couple of days off, would meet up with friends who farmed in Kent (Potter) spend a day at the show exhibiting then they'd all be off into the dark depths to experience London's finest nightlife!!!! I was very young at the time but the ex-workers still mention the London show stories whenever I see any of them!!

 

[Selectamatic]

Is that yes to the first question or yes to the second?! I need to find out whether the RASE (Royal) and the AEA (Royal Smithfield) hold any decent number of historical photo files for the shows, but I'd also be keen to hear from anyone who has old show photos. Good care would be taken of them during scanning and return.

Yes, I would buy one, no I don't have photos.

 

[Magnum Man]

OK thanks Selectamatic. Good to know the idea has merit! I went to most Smithfields and Royals between the mid 1980s and mid 2000s when they ceased to be, but sadly have few general show shots. If I can source some good photos I'd like to put together a decade-by-decade history of one or both shows - or perhaps also including some county show photos - and the developments in machinery they illustrate.

 

[jakeboy]

Be very interested!! Magnum Man!!

 

[wr.]

My wife has taken photos of the machinery stands at the Royal Welsh for the last few years which will be good to look back on in twenty years time.

 

[cfr1964]

I'd be interested @Magnum Man
Would you be interested in the Royal Highland Show?

 

[yellowbelly]

I wont post them up here as thee are plenty of them, but if you have a spare 15 mins and feel nostalgic, get on to Youtube and have a search for either of the above...

Brilliant old clips of 50's, 60's 70's machinery in the best agricultural show of its time!

I'm too young to remember those days, but can just about remember going to Smithfield in London when I was a kiddie.

Does anyone have some pictures of the Smithfield that they would like to share with us? Pictures that you took wandering around the big smoke before, after or during the show, probably belong on the "ooooooh" thead!!

I went to the Royal (with dad,taking sheep) in the 60's and 70's and to Smithfield in the 70's and 80's but unfortunately have no photographs. What I do have, however, is quite a large collection of tractor sales leaflets e.g:-
Ford 2000,3000,4000,5000 circa 1967
Ford Force 3000,4000,5000 circa 1972
Ford 2600,3600,4100,4600,5600,6600,7600,8600,9600 delux cab pre 1976?
Ford 5600,7600,7700,8100,TW10 Q cab circa 1977
Ford 10 series all models
Ford TW series all models etc etc etc
14 various County models
MF 185,188,550,565,575,590,595,1135,1155,1200,1505
I don't know if any of these would be of interest.

 

[ACEngineering]

I went to the Royal (with dad,taking sheep) in the 60's and 70's and to Smithfield in the 70's and 80's but unfortunately have no photographs. What I do have, however, is quite a large collection of tractor sales leaflets e.g:-
Ford 2000,3000,4000,5000 circa 1967
Ford Force 3000,4000,5000 circa 1972
Ford 2600,3600,4100,4600,5600,6600,7600,8600,9600 delux cab pre 1976?
Ford 5600,7600,7700,8100,TW10 Q cab circa 1977
Ford 10 series all models
Ford TW series all models etc etc etc
14 various County models
MF 185,188,550,565,575,590,595,1135,1155,1200,1505
I don't know if any of these would be of interest.

We might have been out of the same mould I used to do the same, went to just about every stand asking for them used to come home loaded with bags of them, and the little fury sticky things they gave away and anything else I could get my hands on! Spent days looking at them all and cutting pictures out for a scrap book!

Some were but I cant find it at the moment is a picture of me aged about 8? sat on a very small late Marshell tractor with the squarer style bonnet etc I expect that tractor is as rare as rocking horse poo! also had some pics of dancing diggers etc and then they launched? the first fastcrap at the royal.

 

[7610 super q]

We might have been out of the same mould I used to do the same, went to just about every stand asking for them used to come home loaded with bags of them, and the little fury sticky things they gave away and anything else I could get my hands on! Spent days looking at them all and cutting pictures out for a scrap book!

Some were but I cant find it at the moment is a picture of me aged about 8? sat on a very small late Marshell tractor with the squarer style bonnet etc I expect that tractor is as rare as rocking horse poo! also had some pics of dancing diggers etc and then they launched? the first fastcrap at the royal.

And me. Got kicked off the John Deere stand at the local show for taking too many leaflets....
Still hate Deeres to this day.

 

[Still Farming]

I went to the Royal (with dad,taking sheep) in the 60's and 70's and to Smithfield in the 70's and 80's but unfortunately have no photographs. What I do have, however, is quite a large collection of tractor sales leaflets e.g:-
Ford 2000,3000,4000,5000 circa 1967
Ford Force 3000,4000,5000 circa 1972
Ford 2600,3600,4100,4600,5600,6600,7600,8600,9600 delux cab pre 1976?
Ford 5600,7600,7700,8100,TW10 Q cab circa 1977
Ford 10 series all models
Ford TW series all models etc etc etc
14 various County models
MF 185,188,550,565,575,590,595,1135,1155,1200,1505
I don't know if any of these would be of interest.

Got stack same here -worth a bit these days too ?