Our short series of articles going behind the scenes of the Monmouthshire Show this week meets stalwart committee member Rose Webb

I moved here many years ago as a young woman and have been involved with the Monmouthshire Show for more than 45 years.

I think someone found out that I had horses when I first moved to the area and asked me to be a steward in the horse section! That’s how it all started.

Then, about 25 years ago, the Show Secretary asked me if I would organise the Craft Marquee and I’ve been doing that ever since, helped very ably, for the past 10 years by Phyll, who is the current Show Secretary’s mum! My sister Sue has also been involved with the Show for many years and is now sharing the commentary in the main ring on the day.

I think that getting involved in different things in the community is in my blood. My mum was awarded an MBE for her work as a magistrate and charity work for the Red Cross and, like her, I struggle to say no if I’m asked to help out!

I’m a director and trustee of the Monmouthshire Show Society Ltd and took over as treasurer at our last Annual General Meeting. I am also responsible for the management and administration of the Showground, which the Society owns outright, and that means I work with our land agent to let the grazing of the land, manage the hire of the Showground for other events and organise the maintenance of the land and facilities.

Owning the Showground was fortunate in the Covid years as it meant that we could continue to earn a little income and put ourselves in the position to be able to bring the Show back, albeit in a ‘lite’ format, once the restrictions were lifted.

I was honoured to be asked to be Vice Chairman to (the late) Brian Spencer and so I will forever have the accolade of being the first lady Chair.

At the time, I remember we had the discussion about whether I should be known as the Chair or Chairman. We decided to stick with the title of Chairman as, for me, a chair was something you sat on! Oh, how things have changed!

Yes, it was a real surprise! Someone (I know who!) nominated me for services to the local community and I was proud to be included in the honours list at the beginning of this year.

I’m sure my involvement with the Monmouthshire Show was a big part of it but I’ve held lots of different community roles over the years, including Chair of Governors at Goodrich Primary School and the voluntary administrator of the Goodrich School Meals Association for 20 years, which feeds approximately 100 primary school children every day.

I’ve also homed several rescue horses over the past 25 years and currently have two, from World Horse Welfare and the Blue Cross.

It was lovely to be invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party earlier this year and I had an enjoyable few days in London with my sister.

It's been a difficult time for the Show, especially through the pandemic – what are you most looking forward to this year?

In all honesty, the years prior to the pandemic were the most challenging for me. With financial losses for many years the continuance of our historic show was in the balance.

Covid, and the enforced cancellation of the Show, gave us breathing space to recover financially from the point where we didn’t have enough funds to run another show to now, where we have a reasonable financial buffer.

And this year, like every year, I think many of the committee would say they struggle to actually *enjoy* the Show! The day itself is so busy that there’s very little time to look round and see all our work come together but the process of putting the Show on is interesting and challenging and offers a great deal of job satisfaction.

With my craft and shopping mall hat on, I enjoy looking after our traders, chatting to them and ensuring they have the best trading experience that we can offer them.

Now that is a question, so many challenges! I suppose striking a balance is the toughest thing, bringing together new and fresh thinking while not losing the history and traditions that people look back on with fondness.

It’s important we stick to our purpose as a charity, to educate and inform the community, while making sure we offer something for everyone to enjoy during their visit. We need to be careful with our hard-earned finances in times of soaring costs, while thinking about succession planning and encouraging new members of the committee. We must balance the need to hire the Showground out for other events to bring in additional supporting income, while protecting the ground for the Show itself.

Yes, that balance is the trickiest thing I think but without challenges, it wouldn’t be interesting would it?!