Policing the Royal Agricultural Show
| Author | R. R. M. Bacon |
| Published date | 01 October 1953 |
| Date | 01 October 1953 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5302600405 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
278
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
of
appeal to a
court
of
summary jurisdiction. It will be appreciated
that the right
of
appeal in this case differs from
that
given in respect
of old metal dealers, where an appeal lies to the quarter sessions.
It
is believed
that
the whole
of
the above legislation with the ex-
ception of old precious metal dealers are peculiar to Huddersfield.
and
have not as yet been granted to any other authority.
Policing
the
Royal
Agricultural
Show
By
LIEUTENANT
COLONEL
R. R. M. BACON,
Chief Constable of Devon.
THE policing
of
a large agricultural show -
and
especially of the
"Royal"-
presents problems
that
are more troublesome
than
many other occasions for vast concentrations
of
humanity. On a
single day, greater numbers are to be found at The Derby, at Silver-
stone, or at Wembley.
The
Royal, however, lasts for four days, must
be prepared for up to 100,000 paying for admission on each
of
the
two middle days,
and
has extensive preliminaries with a crowded
aftenrath.
Moreover, each year it changes its venue, so
that
- unlike
most other events - only a small proportion
of
the visitors
"knows
the ground". Add to this the rooted objection of the farming fraternity
to travelling by train or coach if there is some other form of con-
veyance. Many like to fly. At Oxford in 1950, I believe a plane
landed every three minutes with an average complement of eight.
At Stover
Park
in Devon in 1952 we
had
no convenient airfield, which
must have added at least an extra car or two per minute.
The police functions are to ensure a free flow
of
traffic, to provide
a force sufficient to police a small temporary township, to give security
to a huge mass of extremely valuable stock
and
machinery,
and
to
smooth the way
of
visiting Royal Personages.
CHOOSING
THE
SITE
One great advantage of the Royal is
that
you get plenty of notice.
The site is chosen at least two years in advance.
About
150 acres
are
needed for the Showground itself
and
120 acres for
parking-
all good flat grassland. The actual fields must be picked
out
at this
early stage so
that
they may be grassed down where necessary. This
is the time to draw up the general traffic plan
and
fix the main approach
routes
and
car-parks. To fit the 1952 Show in conveniently it was
necessary to let it sprawl across an
"A"
class road, which meant
closing a section of
about
half-a-mile of it for a fortnight. I do
not
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