Dorset County Show 2023: fun, farming and monster trucks

Around 60,000 people are expected to visit the show over the weekend which celebrates Dorset agriculture and rural life.

Stands include sheep shearing, axe chopping, dancing sheep and judging of prize cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

New for 2023 the Dorset County Show also features a monster truck display featuring the largest and heaviest monster truck in the world.

The truck is called Big Pete, it is 16ft tall and 12ft wide, weighing 7.5 tons.

Monster Truck Big Pete with driver and owner Michael Murty (Image: Tom Lawrence)

The truck can jump 15ft in the air and crushes cars and everything in its path.

Driver Michael Murty claims that his prize truck is the only true monster truck in the world.

He said: "I make the brave claim that this is the only real monster truck in the world, because an American would call a pickup a truck, over here a pickup is a pickup and a truck is a truck, so ours is the only real monster truck. 

The other reason is that it has a genuine fifth wheel coupling on the back, for anyone that doesn't know what that is, when you see a truck going down the road it is the device that the trailer attaches to and swivels on.

"This truck has its own monster trailer, we have a hand-built custom-made 24ft long 8ft wide monster trailer.

Michael and his team specialise in doing shows on grass rather than just tarmac and are the only monster trucks in the UK that specialise in agricultural shows.

Michael said: "The crowd were amazing, when I was in the truck I could see the crowd all up the hill, I couldn't believe how many people were watching."

The Monster Trucks will be performing once again at 12.00pm and 5.10pm tomorrow.

Among other events and attractions, there is a black horse named Amadeus which appears on the well-known TV advert for Lloyds Bank.

Black horse Amadeus with owner Jonathan Marshall (Image: Tom Lawrence)

He appears alongside four falcons as part of a show run by owner Jonathan Marshall.