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| Bob, no guesses as to why. |
Whoever would have thought that such a great day out to be had is only just under an hour away from us – and called, bizarrely,
The Big Sheep. Cue film noir thoughts of Raymond Chandler, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
My sister and niece were staying with us at St Vincent’s for a few days, and along with their Tesco vouchers, I gate-crashed their little excursion to just beyond Bideford, With just a little trepidation to be fair. A day out with the theme of sheep. Hmmmm.
However, none of us was disappointed.
Parking was smooth as was the getting into the park. Lots of space for kids and grown ups to move around and plenty to see. And I mean plenty – and all ovine themed. Who would have known? Pens with expectant mothers, baby lambs who had recently made an appearance and areas where we could feed the sheep.
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| Beauty pageant |
The highlights for us had to be the sheep trial demo with Craig (dog) and Chris (farmer). I can remember One Man and His Dog from the 1970s and all the trials and tribulations on a Sunday afternoon, but this was special seeing it all live. And then the sheep shearing demo, with Britney Shears no less having a haircut, followed by the sheep beauty pageant with all the various breeds. Lots and lots of laughs to be had here and as they paraded in front of us, we discovered all manner of detail about them, whether they were for meat, wool, milk, grass-cutting or simply stud. We had Bob (with fantastic dreads), Bruce (from Australia) and Tom (from the Welsh valleys) to name just three and each came onto the stage to their own music.
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| Britney Shears getting a haircut |
But perhaps one of the most memorable events for my niece was going on the rollercoaster. At seven, she felt brave enough to try it now and as we climbed on, she whispered into my ear: “This is a very big moment for me, Auntie Emma. This is the first time I have ever been on a rollercoaster”. So, we were strapped in, and off we went. Her eyes were closed for the entire trip and the fear was palpable. At the end, we were asked if we would like to go again. Half expecting a massive rejection, the reply was “yes, please”. As we got off for the second time, I whispered to her: “This was a very big moment for me too, Freya. It was my first time too”…
