OLYMPIC rowing hero Matthew Pinsent brought the curtain up on what organisers are already calling the best Royal Lancashire Show in 15 years.

Show bosses say an estimated 12,000 people visited the show -- held at Salesbury Hall, Ribchester -- on the first day of the event.

Site manager David Marriott said: "There is every indication this is one of the best first days for 15 years, in terms of people coming through the door.

"We estimate around 12,000 visited by the end of the day.

"This is partly down to the organisation which has improved after the problems of last year.

"Also the police and traffic management teams are now finely tuned with this being the third show here in a row."

Residents flocked to the showground hoping to sample produce from local sources, exciting animal displays and hundreds of livestock categories.

There were also plenty of attractions including showjumping, The Company of Horsemen Display Team, cookery challenges, fashion shows and the Mounted Pony Club Games.

Opening the show, Sir Matthew Pinsent, winner of four consecutive Olympic gold medals for rowing, said: "Shows like this give people who normally live in towns and cities the chance to really experience the countryside.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed that the weather stays fine."

As ever, one of the biggest pulls at the show was the impressive range of shire horses on display.

Richard Mortimer, who is in charge of large livestock at the show explained why: "This is the best display of shire horses we have had going back to the Blackpool Royal Show in the 1950s.

You just have to stand next to them to see their attraction.

They represent a certain image of British farming, nobody uses them for farming any more but their popularity is passed down from generation to generation."

But it wasn't just the big things that attracted the punters.

The world's smallest sheep -- a breed called Ouessant -- drew just as many admiring glances.

Owned by Kevin Taylor, of Roberts House Farm in Osbaldeston, the rare breed only grow 50cms high.

Closely related to tiny Shetland sheep Ouessant are named after the tiny island near Brittany which is home to their largest flock.

Mr Taylor said: "These are just here for novelty value, we don't use them for wool or anything.

"But we brought them along because we knew children would find them very cute."

Yesterday afternoon saw the best-dressed lady competition and women visitors aged 16 to 25 will have the chance to become Miss Royal Lancashire 2005 in a contest which ends tomorrow.

An angling centre on the banks of the river was also a popular addition to the show giving visitors the chance to see a variety of fishing techniques