It has been a challenging year for exhibitors--spring was early and summer sunshine had been in short supply before the show, leaving the development of some plants weeks behind where we might expect them to be.  It also proved a challenging show for the entries secretary when the spreadsheet used to calculate the winners of the various cups was clearly providing the wrong answers and required a hasty return to pen, paper and mental arithmetic.  After a thorough post-show check of all the results, we do have one correction to make and the Harrison Cup has now been awarded to Dorothy Crawford.

Although we didn't have a large number of sweet pea entries, their glorious scent mighled with neighbouring roses and filled the air as we browsed the exhibit benches.  Lindy Bates took home the Baker Cup for most points in the sweet pea classes and Raymond Crawfurd was a worthy winner of the Le Blanc Cup for most points in the rose classes.  Lindy and Raymond were also each awarded a Certificate of Merit recognising the quality of their exhibits.

In the Miscellaneous classes, it was good to see the first prizes shared amongst eight different exhibitors.  Particular congratulations go to Hilary Wilkins, a first time exhibitor, who won three first prizes across the flower, vegetable and cookery classes, including a well deserved win in the Hosta class where there were seven entrants and strong competition.  The overall winner in the Miscellaneous classes was Jan Page, who took home the Fuggle Cup.

Some of the vegetable classes were impacted by the weather and we were lacking entries in the carrot, beetroot, cabbage, courgette and tomato classes.  Dorothy Crawfurd won the Percy Luck Salver for her Championship collection of produce and the Harrison Cup for most points in the vegetable classes.  Lindy Bates took the Jary Cup for most points in the fruit classes and the Coronation Cup for most points across the flower, fruit and vegetable classes.

In Cookery, our judge had 31 entries to taste, including six beautiful chocolate fudge cakes, so she perhaps didn't need much for dinner that evening.  Three of the exhibitors had clearly spent many hours in the kitchen, entering all six classes.  One of these, 18 year old Jess Wilton, only finished her 'A' Levels on Wednesday and celebrated her escape from the examination hall by cooking for two days.  She was placed second in the Summer Cookery Cup, a very worthy runner up to Jan Page who secured the most points overall.

In the Floral Art section, the small exhibit classes had titles of Heat and In the Round.  No oasis was allowed in the latter class and the judge made a point of congratulating both exhibitors on their use of alternative mechanics to secure the flowers within the arrangement.  Lindy Bates won the Kath Weeks Memorial Vase for best exhibit in small floral art.  She also took the Yorke Cup for best exhibit in the large classes, where the titles were Great British Bake Off and A Work of Art.  In this section we were treated to a lemon meringue pie  and a wedding cake which wouldn't have looked out of place on the cookery benches.  It was also really pleasing to see Alex Sperling join the competition this year and she was commended by the judge for her innovative interpretation of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers".  Winner of the Johncock Cup for best exhibit in classes 56-57 was Jan Page.

In the Juniors section, Theo Akrimi and Oscar Sperling both created amazing bug hotels and shared first place.  Oscar's handwritten note explaining how he had constructed his entry really showed the value of these classes in helping to encourage an interest in nature.

In photography the titles were Buzzing Bees and Gravel Gardening.  Having encouraged more first time entrants to "have a go" after the Spring Show, our judge was delighted to see 13 entries across the two classes.  He was impressed with the standard of photography throughout and felt there was much to admire in both composition and skill.  Winner of the Photography Summer Cup was Lindy Bates in Class 61 with her image of a bee hovering in mid air.  The judge initially found it hard to choose a favourite but overall he felt the composition and structure of this image lifted it to a professional standard.

So, in summary, it was another very good show.  As a Society we are luck to have the support of our members in submitting entries and being able to run a summer show when other societies have had to cut it from their schedules.  We also couldn't put on a show without the hard work of our committee, members and their families.  As always, our thanks go to everyone involved in the planning and delivery of this event for our members.