Yapton Cottage Gardeners’ Society: Autumn flower show proves excellent end to the season

There were 32 people taking part in the show at the Village Hall on Saturday, two of them new to showing in Yapton.

Show secretary David Donovan said: “The show was generally well supported across the horticultural sections, whether flowers, vegetables or fruits. Visually, the event was well worth an afternoon’s visit by the 90-plus members of the public who attended.

"The dahlias were first rate and a specialised judge had been engaged to determine the prizes. Very satisfying, too, was the fruit section, with some excellent apples, while the ‘any other vegetable’ class featured shallots, squashes, French beans and chilli peppers.

"The remainder of the schedule included the flower arranging classes with their autumnal theme, photography with half a dozen images in each class, once more a good cookery display and, lastly, the much smaller handicraft and children’s sections.”

During the afternoon, the club operated a tombola, the sale of parish church draw tickets, a busy kitchen dispensing tea and cake, a cake and preserves stall, crafts and the raffle.

The day ended with the presentation of trophies, starting with a special award. The Deegan Shield, donated in memory of the late George Deegan for the best vegetable exhibit, was presented by his grandson, Toby, to Peter Rogers.

Stella Whitelock, the cottage gardeners’ vice-president, then took over officiating and Mr Rogers continued to garner awards. For most points on the day he was awarded the Edith Godfrey Trophy, for most points over two shows in the fuchsia classes he received the Joan Waddington Memorial Trophy, and for most points in the horticultural classes gained in the year’s four shows, he was awarded the Village Criers Trophy.

Mark Wilson was presented with the Fruit Challenge Bowl for his prizes, with some quite excellent apples, and Alan Humphrey took both the Silver and Bronze Medals of the National Dahlia Society for bringing the two best vases on display.

Away from the horticultural content, Mary Liverman was awarded the W.R. Trophy for her year-round successes in the flower arranging classes.

Mr Donovan was awarded the Neil Baxter Memorial Trophy for prizes in cookery and handicrafts.

Alan Thew was presented with the Annual Photographic Championship Vase and the first offering of the Jan Wood Trophy for most points during the year, for specified classes of images of nature.

The final offerings were for children. Owen Wadey, ten, won the Junior Autumn Cup with a single first prize for his small cakes and seven-year-old Mabel Coomber won the Junior Village Criers Trophy for her season-long winning exhibits.

Other first prize winners were Seamus Buckley, Anne Hollis, Gill Henry, Eva Pendreich, Angela Rogers, Barry Moore, Graham Coomber, Katharine Horwood, Alan Thew, Annabelle Heath, Liesma Mezulis and Brannon Masters.

The first event in Yapton in 2023 will be the spring flower show on March 25 in the Village Hall. Visit www.yaptongardeners.co.uk for more information.