Next week, West Wales lawyer Ian Fudge stands down following a very eventful year as president of the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society. His successor is to be a popular South Pembrokeshire figure, Dennis Ll Reed.

Cardiff-born Mr. Fudge has lived in the county for more than 30 years during which time he has been a partner in a local law practice and more recently joined the JCP group as a director working mostly from offices in Fishguard and Haverfordwest.

Married to Lesley, the couple have two daughters, Ailsa, a qualified member of a Cardiff law firm, and Kirsty, a dental technician employed in Bristol.

Quite a sporting family the Fudge’s were mostly into golf with Mr. Fudge (senior) being captain of the Whitchurch (Cardiff) club where Ian was also an active team member. However, his brother, Mervyn, gained prominence on the rugby field as a number eight playing at different times for the formidable Pontypool and Abertillery front rows.

Lesley had been a keen horse rider in her teenage years and, as their daughters also gained enthusiasm, Ian also took up riding, learning the ropes at the nearby Bowlings centre, and eventually becoming proficient in dressage and also enjoying cross country activities.

In addition to taking good care of their own horses, they now together devote a great deal of their spare time to the BHPS as qualified stewards at many local shows, pony club meetings and also representing Wales at national events.

Ian reflects with great pride on his year as president of the increasingly popular County Show which attracted record crowds on both the first and last days but, he says, the downpour on the second day is something best forgotten!

Whilst remaining a registered charity, 2015 also saw the society, which has a remarkable and valuable heritage, become a limited company as the culmination of many months of diligence and focus by a small group of members.

The society, generally, is held in high esteem across Wales and it’s work within the community has great relevance. Education is one aspect in particular involving hundreds of children from many schools across the area promoting a better understanding of food and agriculture, particularly those from more urban districts, and being fully integrated into the school’s curriculum.

This year’s pancake days(!) saw 260 children from six schools - English and Welsh -being delivered objectives through five learning zones and in May the annual fun day (begun in 1989 with the help of society members, young farmers and other very helpful bodies) provides a memorable day out for young people with special needs.

Emphasising the charitable status, at the pre-show religious service £1,250 was raised for the President’s charities - the RABI and the Catrin Vaughan Foundation -and from the show’s well-supported Ladies’ Day reception and fashion show a further £1,250 came in.

The spacious showground, with ample room for parking, is also the venue for a considereable range of other indoor or outdoor events almost every week of the year and a particular attraction is the expansive showground pavilion - extensively refurbished to an exceptionally high standard at a cost of approaching £200,000 - which now provides for weddings, parties, corporate functions and so forth. Both the Parkhouse and Camrose buildings and the Brithdir exhibition hall also offer unrivalled facilities.

What was the president’s biggest surprise of the year? “I was stood in the main ring presenting awards and, not being able to hear what was being said over the loudspeakers, up pops Maureen Lipman to present me with a memento from the society in the form of a shepherd’s crook - a show tradition that had been overlooked for almost 20 years. Maureen was present at the show filming for a TV series of Lost Countryside programmes to be shown later this year.”