Page 41 - ALG Issue 4 2020

Yorkshire
Yorkshire and parts of Humberside
REPRESENTATIVE
Mike Farrell
Based in Rotherham 07802 196 688 mfarrell.nas@gmail.com
MENTOR
Tony Urwin
Yorkshire & Humberside 0845 250 1292 turwin.nas@gmail.com
Welcome to our new members...
Newland Allotments & Tenants Association Queen Street South Allotment Society Springfield Association
11 Individuals
Oxenhope Village Council Pickering Town Council
The show must go on!
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With the coronavirus pandemic causing the cancellation of shows throughout the country, one West Yorkshire village decided its 99th show should definitely go on, especially as arrangements had already been made for the centenary
in 2021.
Calverley Horticultural Society’s annual show usually takes place on the August bank hholiday weekend. It’s a highlight of the village calendar, with more than 100 classes to enter including fruit, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, art, photography and baking.
With lockdown and the closure of all venues, including the hall where the show is usually held, the committee took an early decision to hold a virtual show, with a slimmed-down schedule, but with a few new ‘lockdown’ classes, including gardens and extra craft classes. The annual plant sale in
May was held online for the first time and was so successful it sold out completely, so a virtual version of the show seemed do-able; all it needed was someone with the know-how.
As it happened, one of the show’s organisers is a computer programmer and put together a website for entries and judging. People could register on the site from the beginning of August and upload entries for free. Judging was done online, with awards for first, second and third, though as this was hopefully a one-off, there were no cash prizes. Points scored went towards trophies as usual and these were presented at a socially-distanced pop- up show on the allotments site.
Show secretary Bev Smith said they weren’t sure what kind of response they would get and were amazed to receive more than 600 entries, with the most popular classes being for gardens.
“We wanted to make it easy for people to enter, so classes for front and back gardens, along with pots and planters worked well,” she said. “During lockdown, people have spent a lot more
Former President and proud grandad Pat Kelly with the trophy won by his Australian granddaughter Jemima
time in their gardens, so we wanted to give them a chance to show them off. It worked so well we’re going to include it next year to complement Calverley Open Gardens.”
Some of the traditional fruit and vegetable classes were kept, including the traditional allotment trug and longest runner bean (pictured next to a ruler), with fun classes added including largest cabbage or cauliflower, pictured next to the grower’s head.
Judging was done on the one photo per entry, which gave the judges a bit of a challenge. It took David Allison, of the National Vegetable Society, five-and- a-half hours to judge the fruit, veg and gardens.
“I’ve never had so many entries to judge in one show before; I felt like going to have a lie down afterwards!
Felted sheep, winner of the Best Handicraft entry
There was also a children’s class of loo-roll models and a class for recycled items.
“The idea was to encourage people to take part and to have fun, and they did just that!’
There were no restrictions on the number of entries nor on where the entrants came from, though most of the trophies were for Calverley residents only. However, the President’s Junior Cup was won by an Australian. 14-year- old Jemima Kelly is granddaughter of former CHS President Pat Kelly. Her sister Phoebe also won the art prize in her age category.
An artist has been commissioned to produce a banner which will celebrate 100 years of the Calverley Show in 2021. The artwork was funded by the Pudsey Charity and will be on display in the local library.
Anne Akers
“I’ve never had so many entries to judge in one show before; I felt like going to have a lie down afterwards!” he said.
A new ‘what, no flour?’ class was introduced in the baking section as flour was difficult to buy early on in lockdown – and bakers had to use their imagination!
Socially-distanced pop-up show at the allotments
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 41