NOW that show season is almost at an end and all the organisers can breathe a sigh of relief before they get on with next year's events, let's give them all a big round of applause.

The summer has been far from perfect, again, but despite rain, wind and possibly even hailstones, everything has gone ahead - as far as we believe.

Just about every weekend over the summer months has seen some sort of event or festival from the 'younger' ones such as Skipton Pride and Skipton Car Show to the more traditional agricultural shows and village sports events. There's been all the fell races, and the Scarecrow festivals, film festivals and still to come, Yarndale, a glorious celebration of all things woolly.

We've had harness racing, dog shows, sheep shows, horse shows and young farmers shows, outdoor concerts and arts and film festivals.

Organisers of agricultural shows have reported healthy entries in classes, encouragingly, in the children's sections, where it seems some primary schools have worked the country show into the curriculum; and despite a rainy start to the day, crowds at Kilnsey were the largest seen for some years.

At Kilnsey, it was also interesting to see all the action from the showfield beamed onto two giant screens in the main ring - for the first time, people could see what was going on with the crag race, without using a pair of binoculars; an interesting addition indeed.

For the most part, all the events are the work of unpaid volunteers who put in all the hours for no other reason than their own sense of community; not to mention all the exhibitors who put in the hard work to get their animals show-fit; and the gardeners, crafts people, bakers and teachers who ensure the produce and crafts tents are full.

Without them, Craven would be a much poorer place.