"County Show, then it's winter......"

There are cars parked all over the pavements and people are talking about "the dark nights drawing in". It must be County Show day.

Sadly, for the staff here, Orkney Library and Archive is open today and so we shall not be propping up the bar in the beer tent, munching on homebakes, vomiting on fairground rides or cooing at cute ponies. Life is cruel.

If any of you tire of having a brilliant time, then we hold County Show catalogues from 1936-1955 and 1965-1982 which you can read. You can also relive County Shows of yore by consulting our complete collection of both The Orcadian and the Orkney Herald.

Behold below two photos from our County Show file. First of all, an ace Shetland pony and, second of all, a tiny child in a kilt on a pony. You can find these images filed under 630, which is the dewey decimal number for 'almost unreasonably cute.'

Other dewey categories we use include 'dwindling chances', 'provocative foliage', ' butchers who are not averse to Eastenders', 'landscapes captured at prescisely 5.15pm' and 'ayyyye, but that's no the Orcadian way...'