Cowling to step down as Great Yorkshire Show director
BILL Cowling is to step down as show director after a decade at the helm of the Great Yorkshire Show and its sister event Countryside Live.
Cowling took on the role in 2005 after around four decades of involvement with the events’ organisers the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
The 2015 Great Yorkshire Show will be his tenth and last as director and the search for his replacement is underway.
Simon Theakston, chairman of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, said: “It is impossible to over-state the contribution Bill has made to the Society, not only as our honorary show director but in the 30 years before. He has been a brilliant show director guiding the show through a challenging period not only for the country’s economy, but also for the world of agriculture. The fact that the Great Yorkshire Show is now one of the most important of its kind in the UK is a testimony to his success. He now leaves us with the very challenging task of finding a replacement to take on the mantle.”
Cowling has also served as a trustee of the society on its executive committee and chaired its grants and education committee. He continues to be involved in the family farm near Harrogate.
In recognition of his services to agriculture, in July at the Great Yorkshire Show, he was made a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire.
Born in Leeds, Cowling’s association with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society began in the 1960s when he successfully showed dairy cattle at the Great Yorkshire. In 1978 he started stewarding the cattle section, going on to become chief cattle steward in 1995.
Over the years his involvement has encompassed many aspects of the society’s work. He was elected to the society’s council in 1989, and a year later became a member of the executive committee.
His interest in livestock is deep rooted. In the early 1960s, he became secretary of the livestock section of what was to become the Northern Counties Livestock Society, which formed the foundation of the show’s autumn event, Countryside Live, launched in 2003.
He and his wife Caroline live at the family farm at Pannal near Harrogate.
