Dahlias delight at Yapton Cottage Gardeners’ Society autumn flower show

Held in Yapton Village Hall, the show featured 150 entries from 28 exhibitors, four of them newcomers.

David Donovan, show secretary, said: “Support was rather patchy in the horticultural classes. There were a few roses and an assortment of potted plants and cut flowers. Quite the best cut flower exhibits were the dahlias – all the vases would have been prize winners at a much higher level of competition.

"The vegetables looked interesting and the novelty classes saw two large pumpkins, a heavy onion, runner bean race and a sunflower head, with the fruit classes being relatively well supported.

"All the flower arranging classes had entries, as did the cookery and photography sections, although not at the usual number. On the positive side, the handicraft and children’s classes had a modest increase in items staged.

"During the afternoon, there were 70 visitors to Yapton Village Hall. Once having viewed the competition, they had a choice of side stalls to attend, from the tombola in the entrance to sales of cakes and preserves, a numbered ball jackpot, the raffle and the presence of the village Eco-Group. The kitchen was busy for most of the afternoon dispensing tea, coffee and cake.

"The afternoon’s activities were closed with the distribution of the trophies, both for the day and for cumulative points over the season. The vice-president, Stella Whitelock, remained on site to officiate.”

David Stubbings, with a single entry, took the Peter Crouch Memorial Trophy for chrysanthemums while Alan Humphrey’s dahlias fully justified the award of both Silver and Bronze Medals of the National Dahlia Society.

Mr Donovan had a good day, with most prizes at the event, for the Edith Godfrey Trophy, the Village Criers Trophy for most points in the horticultural classes during the year, and the Fruit Challenge Bowl for accumulated points over three shows.

Past chairman Roy Phillips produced the best vegetable exhibit on the day for the Deegan Shield, a set of yellow plum tomatoes, while current chairperson, Eva Pendreich, regained the Joan Waddington Memorial Vase for her successes with fuchsias, as well as taking the Annual Photography Championship Vase.

However, the Jan Wood Trophy for nature photography went to Liesma Mezulis and her abundant talents also brought the Neil Baxter Memorial Trophy, with numerous prizes in cookery and handicrafts.

Unsurprisingly, Mary Liverman retained the W.R. Trophy for her many successes in flower arranging during the season.

Newcomer Caitlyn Gledhill, five, was the best of the child exhibitors, taking the Junior Autumn Cup, while the year-long Junior Village Criers Trophy saw seven-year-old Thomas Duckworth winning it with points garnered entirely at the August show.

First prize winners were Seamus Buckley, David Stubbings, Mary Liverman, David Donovan, Anne Hollis, Elaine Cordingley, Eva Pendreich, Caitlyn Gledhill, Alan Humphrey, Jonathon Stock Malton, Jerry Carruthers, Roy Phillips, Graham Coomber, Katharine Horwood, Bernadette Gledhill, Janis Bryan, Leila Buckley-Thomson and Ted Coomber.

Now the society is looking to 2024 and the spring flower show, which is scheduled for April 6.