Showgoers happy to get the hump

DESERT DASH . . . camel racing is proving a smash hit with the public.

THEY may be more at home in the desert, but a group of camels will be bringing a touch of the exotic to the hills at the annual Saddleworth Show in June.

The only racing group of camels in the UK will take centre stage with punters lining up to watch them gallop, complete with jockeys in Arab dress, around a course at Churchill playing fields, Greenfield.

The camels recently featured on Channel 4’s “Location Location Location” and are among a wealth of animals appearing at the show on Sunday, June 13.

Rebecca Forcett, from Joseph’s Amazing Camels, said: “Wherever we take the camels people absolutely love them and have a real fascination for them.

“It is a spectacle with them racing. People think that they will spit at you but ours are real exhibitionists, well trained and really sociable.”

Organised by the Oldham Metro and Saddleworth Rotary Clubs, the event - now in its 34th year - promises to be the biggest yet despite raising over £18,000 in 2009.

The success of last year’s Country Pursuits means that animal-lovers are once again in for a treat with a falcon display, petwise zoo, llamas, and an RSPCA dog show.

Show director John Ainley said: “People in Saddleworth have a great affinity to the show.

“It brings people into the area and it benefits local business, but it is 12 months of hard work by a great team to pull everything together.

“When I saw the camels on television they seemed to fit the bill, so they are the exciting new act.”

A local brass band and a fairground organ will be music to the ears of visitors, while fun-seeking youngsters can look forward to a climbing wall, canoes on the river, fun fair, Punch and Judy show and donkey rides.

Organisers are also pulling out all the stops to put show-goers in the middle of a battlefield, with the English Civil War Society bringing the sights and sounds of the 17th century to Greenfield.

The event received a welcomed cash injection last year as Veolia Environ-mental Services joined the Oldham Chronicle in sponsoring the event.

Retiring Chronicle editor Jim Williams said: “We are delighted to support the show.

“It is one of the events in the year that brings all the communities together in a relaxing and fun environment.

“All we need is weather as good as last year’s and it will be another record-breaking show.”