There’s something very special about the Rye Flower and Veg Show and it’s not just the amazing local produce on display from passionate Rye gardeners. What makes it so good – year after year – is the team who put the show together: Lorna Hall and Helena Hudd.
Together they’ve worked on the show for 22 years, and on Saturday afternoon 22 August the community centre was packed once again as people viewed what had been entered and to find out who had won what. Competitive? Just a bit.
A long table ran down the middle of the hall, packed with fruit and veg placed carefully on white paper plates. Flowers in vases, and plastic tubs filled with cakes and biscuits. More tables along the side walls too, some with more produce, others with photography and art. All set up earlier in the day.
“The best bit is when you’re up on the stage in the morning and it’s a completely empty hall,” said Helena. “Then over the course of about four hours it just grows and grows and grows and then it looks fabulous.”
“Every year we get a few more entrants,” she said. “It’s a growing show and it’s so lovely to see such a buzz in the hall. It’s a real highlight of the year.”
“I love the judging,” said Lorna. Each year a judge from the Royal Horticultural Society comes to decide who deserves to win. “We follow the judge around and see how they make their decision. It’s very interesting and gives you a little heads-up about what you should and shouldn’t do in your own garden.”
She said the reaction from the competitors is also worth watching when the doors to the show officially open. “I love it when people come in to see how well they’ve done and they’re excited by their firsts, seconds or even highly commended.”
The pair took part in the show before taking over organising the annual event, and they still enter. Helena was awarded first prize this year for her vase of flowers in an unusual container, with Lorna coming out tops with her basket of veg.
The overall winner, taking home prizes including a silver cup and a presentation shield, was Liz Bamji.
“I always try to put in a good exhibit or two,” she said. “You never know until the day itself what you’re going to have. We’ve been watering like mad, getting down to the allotment early in the morning and giving them as much water as possible.”
The hot weather had been good for her favourite flowers – dahlias. “They don’t like the rain, but they grow really well in Rye and give a good show for weeks and weeks and weeks. Absolutely beautiful flowers.”
The Rye Flower and Veg Show has a long history going back well over a century. It was mentioned in Charles Dickens’ diaries when the author took the train to Rye to visit the show in 1852. He remembers a “most refined politeness in the whole spirit and the manner of this little confabulation.”
Some things never change. Congratulations Helena and Lorna. Here’s to next year!
Image Credits: James Stewart , Kt bruce .