THEY came in their tens of thousands to the hillside at Whitecross, overlooking Wadebridge, for the second day of the Royal Cornwall Show, a celebration of all the best things Cornish.

Visitors swarmed along the shopping alleys and thronged six-deep around the show rings and main arena to see a cornucopia of first-class livestock and an extravaganza of entertainment in a programme typifying a traditional county agricultural show.

The attendance figures will not be available until Monday, but organisers were hopeful that the 2009 show would see another record broken.

Last year's 129,000 was itself a record – remarkable in view of the bluetongue disease restrictions which severely limited the number of livestock that could be shown.

Yesterday, viewing the endless stream of show-goers passing his office window, event secretary Chris Riddle was hopeful of another record.

He said: "It's been another wonderful day, and perfect for showing, with sunshine and a fairly stiff breeze.

"The championships all went well and Princess Alexandra enjoyed another successful royal visit.

"She loves this show, and once again brought her gardener and her estate manager with her.

"The vibes all around the showground are good and all I can see are a lot of happy smiling faces.

"Of course, the weather makes so much difference, and what we have enjoyed for the past two days has been a real bonus. In fact, it is ideal showing weather.

"Now we are hoping for another record gate.

"So many people have enjoyed themselves that we hope the message gets around and people come on Saturday to sample what we have on offer.

"We have a lot of visitors from outside of Cornwall and indeed the South West, people who have family or friends living here who make a point of coming down for the Royal Cornwall Show every year.

"And we try to attract top names in the world of agriculture," he added.

Visitors this year have included National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall, Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Warden of the Stannaries, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, president of the Country, Land and Business Association, and John Thorpe, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Farmers, who has a Cornish holiday home.