The 69th annual Alderley Edge Allotments and Garden Society show was another great success on Saturday, with over 400 people attending. The number of exhibits, 460 in total, represented a 25% increase on last year.
In addition to horticulture the competitive show catered for a broad range of interests, including Floral Art, Domestic Crafts, Cookery, Children's Classes and Newcomers' classes.
The cups and trophies, which were presented by the Society's long serving President John Carter, went to some of the usual suspects - Duncan Ward for his magnificent gladioli and dahlias and Chris Yearsley for some stunning floral and vegetable displays. Lawrence Bardsley repeated his successes of 2008 by scooping the Peet/Percival Memorial and the Stockport Express Silver Trophies for best horticultural exhibit and the Chris Dixon Medal with his entry for his 6 dressed onions.
Others who joined them on the podium included Jim Hart who collected the Harry Hardy award for his runner beans and Chris Booth who won the Howard Saunders Trophy for his shallots. Jean Vann won both the Midwood Silver Cup and the Sally Ann Silver Cup for her intricate embroidery exhibit.
The Show Secretary, Ian Copeland said "The hotly contested cookery section resulted in Gill Lewis winning by a small crumb and there were also some other entries worthy of note - the huge pumpkin, and by huge I mean huge, over 56lbs from Louise Mason. We nearly ran out of weights to put on the scales."
The Children's Classes awards of the Cockshott Cup (Animal made of Fruit or Vegetable) and the W V Percival Silver Cup (Floral display) were won by Akram Salkini and Hannah Frost respectively. In Floral Art the Mr & Mrs C Harden Silver Cup was won by Mrs Deirdre Carey and the Proctor Silver Cup for handicrafts was awarded to Ann Shepherd, which is not surprising when you see some of the exhibits displayed in the local library.
The Newcomer's Shield was won by Elaine Bowes. And last but not least, the Society's Silver Cup for the heaviest marrow, which had a huge number of entries, was won by Christine Copeland with a marrow weighing in at 18lbs 2ozs.
Ian Copeland said "The awarding of special prizes from the local traders for individual classes certainly had the desired effect of increasing the number of entries quite significantly, this is something we plan to do again next year.
"I was also very encouraged by the enthusiasm and comments from both the exhibitors, would-be exhibitors for next year and the visitors who provided suggestions on how the Show can be made even better and remain an integral part of village life.
"A big thank you to everyone who contributed to make the Show another great success – exhibitors, judges, visitors, the support members of the Society, local businesses for kindly donating prizes, all those who helped with the publicity, and to the Methodist Church, not only the hall facilities, but also for the refreshments and lunches which were provided.
"And finally a special thanks must go to the Judges; Mr J Saunders, Mr S Clancey, Mr M Lee, Mrs S Dykes, Mrs D Armstrong, Mrs A Gompertz and Mrs V Langton who kindly give up their time to assess the exhibits."
The Alderley Edge Allotments and Garden Society show looks like breaking even this year, thanks to the generosity of the attendess in supporting the Show and generosity of local traders who donated raffle prizes.
Ian Copeland explained "Breaking even or a slight loss is essential to keeping the Show going. It has previously run at losses of £350 to £450 per year, which is something the Society could not sustain, so it is good that we have turned the corner and can keep the Show going for the foreseeable future. In this context, a special big thank is also due to Birse Civils who have for the past two years donated £100 each year to the Show and the Union Club who have also dug deep and provided similar support."
Photos have kindly been supplied by Louise Mason.
