Crowds flocked to the Showground at Harrogate over the three days from Tuesday to Thursday with the highlight being a visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Thursday.

Show Director Bill Cowling, who escorted the Queen during her visit, said: "We have had an excellent show and it was a real honour, not just for the show but for Yorkshire, to have a visit from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They spent five hours with us and thoroughly enjoyed their stay.

"They were able to get a real sense of the region's agriculture and our heritage generally.

"It was clear that they have genuine interest and empathy with country life, and that showed throughout the day.

"The 2008 Show has been hugely successful and we're now looking forward to next year."

Heavy rain on the Wednesday night forced the cancellation of some equine classes on Thursday morning, but the cattle parade went ahead in the afternoon, watched by the Queen and Prince Philip.

The famous Hornbeam Park Cock o' the North Championship, the culmination of show's show jumping classes, also went ahead after designers modified the course to avoid some of the mud.

It was won by Laura Stephenson of Keighley on Harvey Smith's Sultano.