Oulton Manor care home host Yorkshire Show

The Yorkshire Show might have moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic but a care home from Leeds has decided to organise its own country show instead.

Oulton Manor in Wakefield Road, Oulton, and four other care homes organised a day of fun country-themed events for their residents in their grounds and on Zoom.

Residents and their families vied for the top titles in a variety of competitions, including the largest vegetable challenge, best Yorkshire pudding, a dog show or most impressive flower arrangement.

The four other care homes taking part are: The Manor House in Barnard Castle, The Manor House in Harrogate, Wetherby Manor and The Manor House in Knaresborough.

Residents were also entertained by films of Morris Dancers and a horse show thanks to staff from Wetherby Manor which was broadcast to The Manor House on Zoom.

The day had special significance for Kathleen Verity, 82, who used to own a small family-run farm when she was younger. 

She started the farm with her husband Cliff with just two horses, two geese and two beef calves but over time this grew to 70 head of cattle and more than 100 free range hens whose eggs she sold on the farm.

Kathleen, who has lived at Oulton Manor for two years, said:

It was sad the real Yorkshire Show was cancelled but I’m so pleased the carers here organised this event instead.

The day brought back many happy memories of when I used to drive a tractor and ride horses on the farm. I remember when my daughters, Julia and Susan, and I used to cut and bail straw from our fields. It was hard work but we always had a refreshing drink of lemonade afterwards.

I used to regularly visit the Yorkshire Show because I enjoyed seeing all the animals there.
 

Yorkshire Show organiser Diane Armstrong said:

We organise a wide variety of meaningful activities for our residents, which includes visits to the Yorkshire Show.

The residents were so disappointed when it was cancelled so we decided to organise our own Yorkshire Show to showcase the great talent we have in Anchor’s five care homes, whether it is master bakers, talented dogs and their owners or keen gardeners.

We also wanted to bring life in the country to our residents hence us organising films of local Morris dancers and different types of horses.

It was such a fun day with everyone having such a great time, and it was an opportunity to bring back many happy memories for our residents.