No amount of money has given me more pleasure then a shiny £1 coin contained in a brown envelope, my winnings after coming third in a cake making competition at a local agricultural show.

Fast-forward many years and the whole family has been involved in Pembroke Farmers’ Club Show for a decade or more. When the children were younger it kept them occupied for a week or more in the summer holidays; there was painting to be done, photographs to be snapped and many and varied cookery competitions to prepare for.

There have been numerous rosettes, but with success came disappointment too. There was the year when a fruit smoothie contained in a hollowed-out pineapple was spilt on the show field on its way to the competition tent.

At that fateful moment I was at home putting the finishing touches to another creation and there came a tearful phone call asking me to whizz up a replacement. I didn’t have any ingredients left ,which is just as well as it was meant to be his creation after all.

However, tears were followed by smiles of joy when he was named top young handler in the poultry section the same day.

Shows like this have survived by staying true to their roots. They have retained an amateur atmosphere and that is part of their appeal.

Over the years local shows have increased the number of children’s classes, working on the principle that youngsters will drag their parents along and certainly at Pembroke show it’s been a real success story. Entries have gone up significantly.

Three million people enter rural shows each year. If organisers can get the car parking, lavatories and catering right too, then they have a magic formula for enticing competitors back year after year.