It’s 0929 and there’s a slight air of panic; the signposts for the entries, the class cards, aren’t complete. But Mike and Jill get things in place with seconds to spare – let the show begin.
The door keepers to the show, Dave and John, combine into a Laughing Buddha, calm and smiling, smoothing the flow of entries towards the trestle tables. At 11.45, the gates close, with over 200 entries awaiting the judges Mr and Mrs Coe to descend and decide. Descend, because they live in the Chilterns, 800ft above sea level . The 800ft. came from Mrs Coe during a conversation about the lower number of rose entries this year, due to the fine weather, her roses are at their best because the elevation means they are always 3 weeks behind Chiswick, all the more wonder at the perfect roses of Mrs Berger and Mrs Hughes. One last thing about roses, Fran who was recording the results, asked Mr Coe why was he tapping the stems? the answer, to see if the petals fell off.
William Cavendish, Lord Burlington, opened the Show. As if casting aside his diary wasn’t enough, his speech was full of support for the Society and humble that we had asked him, an inspiring mix and if that wasn’t enough, Henry asked if would be our patron and he agreed.
The entries were up on last year and entrants can’t be thanked enough for strengthening belief that the Summer Show will be an infinite pursuit.
Ben, the keeper of the cups, guided the graceful Alyson Sich through the prize presentation. Alyson’s great aunts, who were exhibitors at our very first show, would have been proud. Very pleasingly, we had debutants winning classes and even a trophy – proof that the CHAS show is a very open event.
Hearty congratulations to all the winners:
2015 Summer Show Trophy Winners
| THE ROSE CUP For the highest total points in the Rose classes | MARGARET BERGER |
| THE CHATSWORTH VASE For the highest total points in the Sweet Pea Classes | KAREN WYATT |
| THE CHISWICK PRODUCTS CUP For the best exhibit in Fruit classes | MARY BERGER |
| THE ORCHARD CUP For the highest total points in Fruit Classes | DENNIS FLAHERTY |
| THE HAZLEDENE CANDLESTICKS For the highest total points in the Vegetable Classes | STAVROS MICHAEL |
| THE THORNETT CUP For the highest total points in the Domestic Classes | VICTORIA WYATT |
| THE HAWKINS CUP for the greatest number of exhibits over all classes | STAVROS MICHAEL |
| THE SOCIETY CUP For the highest total points excluding the Domestic and Children’s Classes | ELAINE HUGHES |
2015 Summer Show - class winners
| Class number | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Roses | ||
| 1 | A bowl of roses; bowl not to exceed 30cm in diameter | Elaine Hughes |
| 2 | Rose, pink,1 bloom | John Hudson |
| 3 | Rose, red, 1 bloom | |
| 4 | Rose, white, 1 bloom | |
| 5 | Rose, yellow or gold, 1 bloom | |
| 6 | Rose, any colour not covered in the above classes,1 bloom | Margaret Berger |
| 7 | Rose, 3 blooms of a single variety | Margaret Berger |
| 8 | Rose, 3 blooms of different varieties | Margaret Berger |
| 9 | A vase of shrub roses | Elaine Hughes |
| 10 | Novice (for those who have not won a prize for roses before), one vase, 3 blooms | |
| Sweet Peas | ||
| 11 | Sweet peas, 1 vase, 5 spikes, single variety | Karen Wyatt |
| 12 | Sweet peas, 1 vase, 5 spikes, mixed | Karen Wyatt |
| 13 | Novice (for those who have never won a prize for sweet peas before) 1 vase 3 spikes, mixed | Peter King |
| General | ||
| 14 | 1 bloom or spike, excluding roses and delphiniums | Margaret Berger |
| 15 | Garden flowers arranged for all-round effect in a bowl not to exceed 30cm | Joanna Taylor |
| 16 | Delphiniums,3 spikes or stems, 1 or more variety | Dennis Flaherty |
| 17 | A vase of mixed flowers, excluding roses | Lizzie Drake |
| 18 | A vase of pansies and/or violas, 5 blooms | Alice Cooper |
| 19 | A vase of pinks, 5 blooms | Roy Forshaw |
| 20 | A vase of irises, 3 stems | |
| 21 | A vase of flowering trees or shrubs (not roses) 5 stems | Elaine Hughes |
| Plants in Pots or Containers not exceeding 17.5cm diameter | ||
| 22 | 1 pot containing 1 plant; fern and/or other plant grown predominately for its foliage | Jill Morris |
| 23 | 1 plant in bloom, grown in pot | Caroline Gill |
| 24 | 1 cactus or succulent grown in a pot/container | Joanna Tyler |
| 25 | 3 different cacti and/or succulents each grown in a separate container | |
| 26 | 1 pelargonium or geranium grown in a pot/container | |
| Displays | ||
| 27 | A display of 4 pelargonium or geranium leaves | Alice Cooper |
| 28 | A display of flowers, fruit and vegetables grown outside not exceeding 45 x 45cm | |
| 29 | 2 dishes of fruit and/or vegetables, 2 distinct varieties not exceeding 45 x 45cm | John Hudson |
| 30 | Strawberries, 1 dish of 9 with stalks | Stavros Michael |
| 31 | Gooseberries, 1 dish of 12 with stalks | Dennis Flaherty |
| 32 | Raspberries, 1 dish of 12 with stalks | Margaret Berger |
| 33 | Currants (black), 1 dish of 7 strigs | Margaret Berger |
| 34 | Currants (red or white), 1 dish of 7 strigs | Dennis Flaherty |
| 35 | Any other fruit not listed above – max 9 of same variety | Mary Berger |
| Vegetables | ||
| 36 | Lettuces, 2 with washed roots | John Hudson |
| 37 | Peas (excluding mange-tout), 5 pods | Mark Rolland |
| 38 | Mange-tout, 5 pods | |
| 39 | Radishes, 5 with trimmed tops | |
| 40 | Broad beans, 5 with stalks | Andrew Steele |
| 41 | Asparagus, 4 spears | Oliver Saunders |
| 42 | Onions, green salad, 6 | Janice Ireland |
| 43 | Onions, 4 under 250g, tops dressed, roots trimmed | Stavros Michael |
| 44 | Collection of 3 stems of 3 different named herbs in separate vases | Oliver Saunders |
| 45 | Cabbages, 2 with at least 7.5cm of stalk | |
| 46 | Rhubarb, 3 sticks with at least 5cm of leaf | Oliver Saunders |
| 47 | Any other vegetable not listed above, max 3 | Lou Spencer |
| 48 | A misshapen fruit or vegetable, single specimen, with caption, To be judged by the public, so not counting towards other awards | |
| DOMESTIC | ||
| 49 | 1 jar of marmalade – named and dated | Jenny Sheather |
| 50 | 1 jar of chutney – named and dated | Victoria Wyatt |
| 51 | 1 jar of fruit curd – named and dated | Margaret Berger |
| 52 | 6 decorated cup cakes | Victoria Wyatt |
| 53 | 1 loaf of brown or white bread | Victoria Wyatt |
| 54 | 1 Trench cake | Victoria Wyatt |
| 55 | 1 decorated cake to celebrate the Society’s 100th anniversary, to be judged largely for creativity | Victoria Wyatt |
| PHOTOGRAPHY | ||
| A photograph on the theme of: | ||
| 56 | A bridge in Chiswick W4 | Catherine Steele |
| 57 | Insect(s) | Roy Forshaw |
| 58 | My favourite flower | Graham Hughes |
All the while Jennifer and her team fed, volunteers, judges and visitors with cakes, visitors including Lord Burlington asking for the recipes, they were that good.
Seen winning a mug at Andrew’s Tombola was Lord Burlington who exclaimed it was the first time he had ever won a raffle. And we ended with the traditional, and very popular, auction of produce.
Thank you to Roy for the photos – please share yours and tell us about your day at the show.