Stained glass gift for former society chief (From York Press)

Stained glass gift for former Yorkshire Agricultural Society chief, Michael Bannister

7:59am Saturday 28th April 2012 in Harrogate and Ripon news

A former president of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society has presented the organisation with a gift of a stained glass panel.

Michael Bannister, whose term at the helm of the organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show and Countryside Live ended in 2010, commissioned York-based artist Julia Spall to design a medieval-style panel depicting the Society’s crest.

The piece will now be displayed in the Society’s offices at the Showground in Harrogate to mark Mr Bannister’s time in office.

Mr Bannister, who lives near Skipton, is still involved in many agricultural pursuits, and remains a member of the Society’s foxhound committee.

He said: “I’ve been involved in the Society for many years and wanted to present something permanent to mark my year of office. The crest is iconic and it’s fascinating to see it reproduced in this context. The workmanship is very impressive and the panel works extremely well.”

Glass restoration expert Ms Spall has worked on windows in York Minster and several Oxford colleges.

“It was a challenging but very rewarding piece of work,” she said.