A long-established family business in Dumfries is busy engraving the 105 beautiful glass bowls that will be awarded to the competition winners at the Royal Highland Showcase.
The trophies will be awarded to champions of all kinds – such as the keenly contested classes for beef cattle, sheep, dairy cattle, poultry, heavy horse and sheep shearing.
The Royal Highland Showcase in Partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland (at The Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, outside Edinburgh from 14-20 June) replaces the usual annual Royal Highland Show.
Many of the competitions will take place just as they normally do at the annual show, but this year will be live streamed (and free to watch) round the world as Covid restrictions mean that the public will be absent from the showground.
The trophies are being provided by Galloway Glass, which is owned by T B Watson, a third-generation family business dating back 112 years.
Karen Gibson, Director, said: “We are very proud to be providing the trophies for such a wonderful event.
“To come away from Ingliston as one of the champions is a huge achievement, so we hope that these trophies will be something that the winners will cherish for many years and which will be a permanent reminder of their success.”
T B Watson, which has always been based in English Street, has shown an impressive ability to change with the times. It began life as a gentlemen’s outfitters in 1909, later expanding into ladies’ wear and sportswear.
From the 1950s it became a wine and spirits merchant and later took over Galloway Glass crystal glass engravers – the two areas in which it still does business today. Galloway Glass supplies engraved glass trophies for agricultural shows, golf and archery tournaments and many other events, both in the UK and as far afield as Papua New Guinea.
While it has previously provided some smaller trophies to RHASS, which runs the Royal Highland Show and this year’s Royal Highland Showcase, this is the first time it has been responsible for the championship bowls.
Like many businesses linked to the events sector Galloway Glass has faced a challenging year, but is now looking forward to better times ahead.
Karen said: “Brexit and the pandemic certainly slowed things down but things are starting to look more positive and more orders are coming through.”
Once the bowls are engraved, the company will have the delicate task of driving them from Dumfries to Ingliston, for the event which runs from 14-20 June.
Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) honorary president, the broadcaster and Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries Fiona Armstrong, said: “Dumfries and Galloway is this year’s host region we’re proud that one of our businesses is playing such an important role in this year’s Royal Highland Showcase
“Whether it’s agriculture, forestry, food or drink we have so much to offer, including highlighting many family businesses like Karen’s which have proud traditions of quality and service and have shown remarkable resilience in adapting and changing across the decades and in the face of so many economic challenges.”
For full information follow the Showcase on social media @ScotlandRHShow.
