The Haddenham Horticultural Society held its annual Autumn Show on Saturday 3rd September.
Although the number of exhibitors still needs to bounce back to the pre-Covid years, it showed a healthy increase over those in 2021 (we were of course unable to run the Show in 2020) and we were delighted to welcome some first time exhibitors. We were also particularly pleased that the number of children taking part had doubled since last year.
We had been concerned that the weather over the past few months would have had a serious effect on the number and quality of the entries in the vegetable and flower classes, but overall this worry proved to have been unfounded. Indeed there was an excellent standard of exhibits across the full range of classes, with only the bread section attracting very few entries, and some of the exhibits in the handicrafts section for example were outstanding.
This year we had two new trophies donated by the Chalk family in commemoration of their parents; Ian Chalk was our President for a good few years before ill health forced his retirement and he and his wife Jean had been enthusiastic and hands-on supporters of the Society, and sometimes exhibitors, for long before that.
We were delighted that two of the three brothers, David and Andrew, were able to attend the Show and present both trophies. The special prize presented by Haddenham Rotary Club for the best exhibit in the children's section was presented by their representative Humphrey Creed. The other trophies were presented by Mick Penn, our President.
The number of visitors to the Show was more or less back to its usual level and we also received many favourable comments about the Show itself, with people seeming to enjoy themselves as always, with the wide range of classes providing something of interest for everyone.
As usual, we will review the schedule over the next few months to see where changes might prove beneficial and are always open to receiving suggestions from outside the committee.
Finally, we would like to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped setting up in advance and on Show day, without whom we would not be able to function, as well as to all those who very kindly donated raffle and tombola prizes.
Grateful thanks also to Carol Mason for capturing photos of the prize winners' presentations – these and many images of the exhibits are featured in the Galleries section of this website.
Results
Please see the attached PDFs which summarise the complete list of prize winners and the special awards
