The 2011 Holkham Country Fair was pretty much a repeat of the 2009 event. The ring entertainment had changed little with the Flying Gunners being replaced with The Gamegoer Gundog display and Scurry Driving, but perhaps both the organisers and public wished they’d retained the covered ‘grandstand’ seating as Saturday was distinctly showery and Sunday afternoon became extremely wet late on.

The NVTEC display was in its usual place to the west of the trade stands and incorporated a couple of bygone displays, petrol cans and dairy items, amongst the stationary engines and horticultural machinery. Again, about a dozen tractors came to join us, amongst them Ferguson, Fordson, Massey Harris, Nuffield and Massey Ferguson.

The cars remained on the grass to the south of the house over-looking the ring and they were the usual mix from Austin to Bentley and Rolls Royce. Other Great British classic marques such as Alvis, Daimler, Jaguar, Lotus, Morgan, Morris, riley, Singer, Sunbeam & Triumph were all on show.

In contrast the Norfolk Military Vehicle group had very few British vehicles on show alongside a selection of Ford & Willys jeeps, a DAF lorry and a Mercedes Unimog accompanying the American staff cars. However, an Austin Champ, Morris Minor and a Landrover kept our flag flying, thank goodness.

To the northeast of the house, the Series I Landrover Owners’ had a selection of vehicles and a couple of classic camping outfits, this year a Rice trailer tent alongside an early folding half-caravan, possibly a Gobur, but the star of their display was Fred Flintstone’s weekend runabout apparently powered by a small open-crank engine from the Frome Engine Co, itself a very rare thing.

Again, the trade stands offered a variety of essential items for both home and garden or estate, with a variety of garden buildings available. There were some vintage items amongst the stands with Holkham Estate showing off the steam engine, old MF tractor and Bentley car alongside the tourism information. A trio of small traditional boats were also on show for a boat-builder but one has to say that the Heath-Robinson style fairground shooting gallery didn’t seem to be doing too much business considering the opportunities for real shooting available elsewhere around the Fair.

The food fair to the north side of the hall offered at first glance a diverse array of tastes and cultures, but I hope I was wrong when considering the merits of venison or bison burgers, I thought I witnessed a consignment of the same burgers being cooked and sold as both venison and bison to the public. However, having seen the recipients smother their premium meats with a huge dollop of ketchup, it was a safe bet they’d never notice the difference, even if they knew what to expect. I decided to wait until Heckington when I have more confidence in what is being sold is actually what it’s supposed to be before I sample an exotic burger.