As reported by Chair of Broadwindsor & District Horticultural Society, Brian Stone:
“The Handicraft section was the star of this year’s show, with 54 stunning exhibits, including a magnificent rocking horse, from Howard Foster, that took pride of place at centre stage.
Despite yet another difficult growing season, due to the weather conditions, there was still a good display of flowers and vegetables.
The mega marrows caught everyone’s attention, with the winner, grown by Bill Pearson, being an impressive 38 kilos (84 lbs). There were also a good number of entries in the other five sections: flower arrangement, photography, homecraft, art, and the classes for younger people.
We received a total of 417 entries (373 in 2022) from 65 people (60 in 2022). The quality of the entries was very high and it was particularly pleasing to see ones from people who had never entered the show before. Visitor numbers were similar to last year at 135 compared with 143 in 2022.
The winner of the Comrades Hall Cup for the highest total of points in the show was Kirsty Moore.
In the Fruit and Vegetables section, the winner was Bill Pearson. Second place went to Kirsty Moore. The WL Giles Cup for the Top Tray was won by Bob Link and the Bennett Cup for the best onions was won by Roy Gunning. In the Flowers section, the overall winner was Jo Love, who received the Jim Crabb Trophy. The Reg Hansford Trophy, for a vase of mixed flowers, was won by Bob Link and the Ian Jones Dahlia Cup was won by Pauline Busk. The Doug Creed Trophy for the best perfumed rose was won by Liz Studley. The Bob Wills Hydrangea Cup was won by Jo Love. This year, the Garden Cup was awarded for the best hanging basket and this was won by Mandy Turner. In the Flower Arrangement section, the Floral Challenge Cup was won by Julia Borland and the Leonard Studley Cup for the best buttonhole was won by Jo Love.
In the Photographic section the Jubilee Photographic Cup for the best photo was won by James Dawson, with Ali Barton taking the Photographic Trophy for the most points in the section.
In the Homecraft section, the WI Challenge Cup was won by Mandy Turner, with Ali Barton winning both the Richard Thornburgh Chutney Challenge Trophy and the Maurice Yarham Cordial Trophy.
In The Handicraft section, Sheila Gray won the Art Trophy and Kirsty Moore won the Handicraft Cup.
In the Young People’s section, and for the second year running, Eden Nikolov won both the Children’s Cup for the most points and the Community Shop Cup for the best exhibit.
So, no prizes for me this year. I will just have to try harder in 2024. Many thanks to all the exhibitors for their entries, to the judges for their sterling work and to those of you who came along to support us on the day. However. my biggest thank you must be reserved for that small band of people who come along to help us set up the show and then on the big day undertake all those small but vital tasks that ensure that the show runs smoothly. In this respect, it was a pleasure to be able to present a special RHS certificate to John Staff in recognition of his contribution to the society and the show’s success over the years.”
Note: this year’s AGM will be held in the Comrades Hall Servery On Tuesday 17th October with a 7:30pm start.
Also in October – the Autumn General Knowledge Quiz on Friday 27th starting at 7.30pm in The Comrades Hall.
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