YORKSHIRE'S Young Farmers' Club members are celebrating after six of their teams were placed in national finals at the Royal Show.

The show, which was held at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire earlier this month, was the venue for 14 hotly contested national YFC finals and members had travelled from counties across England and Wales in order to compete.

Although the winning trophies proved elusive for the Yorkshire contingent, they managed to make their presence known by securing five runners-up prizes and one third prize in competitions as diverse as Silk Painting, the ATV Challenge and Cheerleading.

Three of the second prizes were awarded in the junior, intermediate and senior sections of the craft competition, which this year was silk painting.

Louise Swann and Stephanie Wilson from Farnley Estate YFC, and Holly Richardson from Worth Valley YFC had all competed at county level with their three very different and colourful ties to secure their places in the national final.

The fourth of the runners-up prizes went to Phillip Henry from Catterick YFC, who took part in the promotional leaflet competition.

Chairman of Amotherby YFC Bruce Wilson paired up with Helmsley YFC member Ed Blizzard to compete in the ATV (all terrain vehicle) Challenge, sponsored by Massey Ferguson.

The two boys had competed at district, county and regional level to win one of only 10 places in the national final.

Bruce and Ed had to drive an ATV through a set course, negotiating various obstacles and terrain.

In addition, Bruce had to reverse through one part of the course and Ed had to hitch the ATV to a trailer and complete a number of manoeuvres with the trailer attached.

The two boys scored a total of 71 points out of a possible 100, putting them in second place just three points behind the winning team from Cornwall.

By far the most entertaining of Yorkshire's competitors were the cheerleaders.

Five burly lads from Amotherby YFC formed the only all-boy team in the national cheerleading final, taking third place.

Other YFC finals that took place at the show included the physically demanding tug of war, the mentally challenging Farm Business Development competition and the entertaining Stars in Their Eyes in which intermediate Silk Painting competitor Stephanie Wilson from Farnley Estate YFC was placed fourth.

Updated: 10:24 Wednesday, July 27, 2005