Page 50 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2021/22

Scottish Branch Championships 2021
Back in the Summer, we had advised that the Scottish Branch Champion- ships venue was adversely affected by covid and so the Committee had agreed to still ensure that we held the Branch Championships and subsequently moved from The Corn Exchange at Haddington to Larbert Old Parish Church Halls in Larbert. The committee were adamant that going ahead was vital to get people back together and in a better frame of mind to exhibit.
A few changes were quickly implemented including staging & judging times with a relaxed flexible approach which worked well and was most appreciated by those wishing
to compete and have a degree of normality.
On the back of previous successful trials of allowing a judge to judge certain classes at the Championships whilst being allowed to compete in others, provided a continued positive success. On this occasion, we also added an extra two judges on the day to help maintain the reduced Judging timeframes. Our two extra judges, Gareth Cameron and Jim Veitch, were able to judge the collections as they had not entered these classes. Thanks to all our judges for the day including George Bartling, Allan Manning, Andrew Watt and Norman McBean.
The duo of Neil Muirhead, Show Secretary and Frank Taylor, Show Manager worked their usual magic
to ensure all went well along with Linda Stocks who worked tirelessly as usual plus Ian Stocks and the team of volunteers who set up the hall ready for the show. Thankyou everyone.
As this was the first time our members had met for some time, the event became a great social get together with scones, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, tea & coffee for everyone who attended the show.
With the advantage of being right next door to the plot where Ian Stocks, John Currie and the Turners grow, an
impromptu garden visit around the plot was held whilst the judging was happening. This gave growers a bonus to see how Ian Stocks grows his peas and also his autopot set up for his tomatoes and cucumbers which had some great success with this year. Ian grew his peas in a greenhouse, angled to a) to utilise as much height as possible and b) to allow the pea pods to hang freely to reduce risk of being marked. We also had the joy of seeing hundred of beautiful dahlias in bloom.
and we were delighted to have Mary Roger visit the show to present the fabulous Bill Roger trophy. The big collections were a close call with only half a point in it, with Niall Currie narrowly winning over Alistair Gray, however Alistair still won his fair share of red tickets for his long leeks, Potatoes (both white & coloured) and Globe Beet.
With this day being the first big get-together in a long time, along with the presentation of trophy’s included a
Back to the show,
and with the judging
completed, some
fabulous exhibits were
viewed including a
new class which was
introduced for 2021 – a
Collection of vegetables,
15 points and under, four
kinds, three of each.
This gave a fantastic
display of a wide variety
of vegetables and saw
a number of new exhibitors who entered this class along with the 3
veg collection (one of each) which is for exhibitors who have not yet won
a red ticket in a branch or National Championships. In fact, it was great
to see 7 new exhibitors at the Scottish Branch Championships, who had not exhibited there before, thank you... we hope you all enjoyed the experience. Alan Laird was a worthy winner of the 3 veg collection and Ian Archibald, known for his expertise with Globe beetroot, won the new 15point and under class. Meanwhile, those pea plants we had viewed earlier at the plot had provided Ian stocks with a well- deserved 1st prize in the pea class.
The exhibitor entry numbers, like all events this year, were expectedly down, but this certainly did not detract from the quality of the exhibits. The most meritorious exhibit (Cockney goblet Trophy) was deservedly won by Niall Currie’s Large Exhibition Onions,
presentation to Bill Duff with his NVS Fellowship award from 2020.
So, all in all, a lovely social event, day out and Branch Championships. It was great just to see our members enjoying each other’s company and exhibiting again
in a happy relaxed atmosphere. The whole day was a great team
effort making it all happen from start to finish, including tidying it all up afterwards, well done everyone. And finally, a huge thanks goes to the Kirk Session of Larbert Old Church who gave us the use of their halls. The welcome we had and the positivity from the Church was unbelievable. What a fantastic facility and fantastic people.
You can see all the photos from the Scottish Branch Championships in the NVS Flickr account. Just click on the “library” within the NVS web site and click on the link to the Flickr albums. N.B. There is also a small guide to help you navigate the Flickr system should you need it.
Looking ahead for 2022, the Scottish Branch Championships will be held Corn Exchange in Haddington in conjunction with the East Lothian Horticultural Society’s Show on Saturday 3rd Sept. and we look forward to seeing you there.
It was great just to see our members enjoying each other’s company
50 Simply Vegetables