The 180th County Show held at Wick over Friday and Saturday had something to suit all ages and you didn't need to know the difference between a ewe and a tup to have a good day.

Thrills and spills were on display in the main ring on Saturday afternoon as the Stannage Stunt Team entertained hundreds of spectators who were lined up around its perimeter.

Charlotte Mountford, director of Lyth Arts Centre, was one of the many spectators watching the daredevil antics of the stunt team. "It's just fantastic after having those couple of years off with Covid it's very nice to be back again with the community. It's really lovely to be having a good time in the sun," she said.

Many flitted back and fore through entrance gates to enjoy the sideshows where cries of "Oggy Oggy Oggy" permeated the air from one of the resident DJs on the rides.

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James Cormack from Coolvalachy, Mid-Clyth, won first in the Massey Ferguson class with his painstakingly refurbished Ford Ferguson tractor and was overall champion for vintage machinery. James said: "It's the first tractor I had when I moved into the crofting business. This tractor is from 1941. It started off in Dunbeath and there's bits from John O'Groats and Lybster – that's how it's made up. It's an ABC – all bits combined!"

Nicol Mackenzie from Halkirk won first in the self-propelled machine class and was reserve champion with his Field Marshall Series II which dates from 1948. Nicol restored the immaculate green machine himself and also shows it at the annual Caithness and Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club shows held at John O'Groats.

Henry Gunn, a stalwart of the Mey Highland Games, is part of the County Show committee and was on the field to help adjudicate at the tug of war between Halkirk and Forss (won by the Halkirk team). "We've seen it all before with rain in the morning and sun in the afternoon," he said.

"There's a good crowd and people are out enjoying themselves. There's a great standard of competition and for me it's show number 62 out of 63 years so I can't complain. I'm always stewarding and helping do something."

Henry would not reveal too much about whether the new king would appear at the Mey Games, however. "We're not saying he's not coming and we're not saying he is."

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Liz Hewitson from Watten was also part of the show committee and is secretary and treasurer of the Caithness Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club. "We had 29 tractors that went around the main ring today and there were some pieces of vintage machinery as well.

"It was a really good display and chairperson Andrew Mackay did the commentating and said a little bit about each tractor. The sun came out and it was lovely."

Wick provost and Highland councillor Jan McEwan was enjoying the afternoon and said: "It's just been fantastic. What a turnout and the weather held out. What a lot of work has gone into this. Anyone that hasn't been has missed a great day."

Greg Hooker and his partner Terri Watt from the award-winning Puldagon Farm Shop and Restaurant were working flat out supplying local fare to the many hundreds of hungry visitors to the show. "We've got a hospitality tent and a burger van," said Greg.

"We've been doing home-reared lamb and Toftcarl locally-sourced Aberdeen Angus. There's also a beer garden and we've been catering for many different dietary requirements which includes vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options too."

Just as the event was coming to an end, two County Show stalwarts, Vivian Budge and Tracey Boyd, talked about their experiences over the two days. "I got second in the mini Shetlands and I won the novice flower wreath. It's been a lovely show and everyone seems to have enjoyed it," said Vivian.

Tracey was stewarding the working hunters on Friday and doing ridden horses and overall light horse champions on Saturday. "We had a really good day on Friday with the weather and the course rode very well.

"There were some quality horses in the working hunter classes and the ponies. Saturday morning was pretty dire with the weather but the afternoon was brilliant and it was really good going on the ground. There weren't the numbers we expected but there are some good champions." Tracey added that she has stewarded Caithness qualifiers for the Horse of the Year Show in the past but there were none going forward from Saturday's event.

As the John O'Groat Journal was about to take leave of the field, we encountered a special horse that was getting ready to return home. Michael and Jacqueline Munro have their own croft at Gersa and their filly, Gersa Lady Emma, won Best Yearling and went on to win Best Clydesdale.

Jacqueline said: "This show was quite special as we asked David Steven, of Steven's lorries, to use the original cart his company used in 1923 which had been completely restored. I got a suitable harness and used my friend's mare to pull it for the traditional cart event. It was amazing." She added that though they had been preparing the horses until midnight on the Friday and were up at 4am on the day it was well worth the effort. "This is our passion and we just love it."

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