CUMBRIA’S young farmers were determined not to let the cancellation of field days amid the coronavirus pandemic dampen their spirits as they threw themselves into a virtual event which was held instead.

14 different classes - from biscuit decoration through to poetry - tested participants’ innovation, initiative and creativity.

Alice Walmsley, of Kent Estuary YFC, was victorious in the ‘junior garden on a tin lid’ category, impressing judge and Northern District president Richard Gardiner with her ‘wigwam’ garden featuring miniature mushrooms and washing line.

Other competitions included one which saw contestants make a thank-you card for Captain Tom Moore, the Second World War veteran who raised millions for the NHS by walking laps of his garden during lockdown, and another in which young farmers had to write an acrostic poem using the word ‘isolation’.

The idea for the virtual event was borne out of a desire to involve the county’s young farmers in some elements of the cancelled field days despite the restrictions on gatherings and movement imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Participants had to email their entries in. The photos were then collated and emailed out to the judges, who placed the top five in each class.