THOUGHTS of resurrecting the historic Alton Agricultural Show have been firmly quashed with the decision to dissolve the North East Hants Agricultural Association after 175 years of running the show.

North East Hants Agricultural Association members voted at the end of July to dissolve the Association and pass on its assets to the Alresford and District Agricultural Society.

And president Julian Lewis said: “This was a sad and momentous decision for our Association, which was founded in 1840 and has held agricultural shows in and around Alton most years since our founding.”

Having struggled in recent years to find enough volunteers to support the running of what for years has been a major event for the district’s farming community and in Alton’s calendar, the final nail in the coffin was the sale of the showground site at Lower Froyle by the Treloar Trust to facilitate the relocation of Treloar School to the college site in Holybourne.

Mr Lewis said: “The sale of the Lower Froyle site, on which the show had been held in recent years, resulted in us having to look for an alternative venue. No suitable alternative, with the required vehicle access, could be found which, when combined with the decline in livestock farming in the area, led us to conclude that we would struggle to retain the scale and reputation of our show in future years.”

Having weathered a similar period of uncertainty a few years back, the Alresford and District Agricultural Society will be holding its annual Alresford Show at Tichborne Park on Saturday, September 3, which, according to Mr Lewis, the North East Hants Agricultural Association fully supports as a “fantastic opportunity” to demonstrate the best of Hampshire farming and rural life.

According to North East Hants Agricultural Association secretary Simon Fraser, the Alresford and District Agricultural Society is going to name a cattle class after the Association and the cup for the winner will be one formerly handed out by the group.

The rest of the trophies are considered assets of the North East Hants Agricultural Association and, as such, in line with Charity Commission requirements, on disbandment the Association is obliged to attempt to achieve their market value. While they will be offered in the first place to members, it is expected that the balance will be sold to a silversmith, with the exception of those going to the Alresford Show.

As a mark of respect, the programme for Alresford Show is expected to contain a potted history of the North East Hants Agricultural Association, paying tribute to the many volunteers who, over the years, have put a great deal of time and effort into staging the Alton Agricultural Show.

The Alresford and District Agricultural Society has also agreed to continue, for the foreseeable future, to run the North East Hants Agricultural Association’s successful educational programme for primary and junior schools.

But the Alresford society doesn’t run a ploughing match and has no intention of taking on this annual event. As a result, the the North East Hants Agricultural Association is planning to hold a final ploughing match in October – an event which marks the end of an era for Alton.