Barry’s frontier foray harvests the top prize in Yapton

Debbie Lawrence with her vase of shrubs C140929-6

Yapton Cottage Gardeners’ Society’s annual flower show on Saturday.

The village hall event attracted 267 entries from 41 exhibitors for the society’s final show of 2014 and when the points were tallied throughout the year, Barry Bezants was awarded the Village Crier’s Trophy as the most successful in the horticultural classes and also received the Joan Waddington Memorial Vase as principal prizewinner in the fuchsia classes on the day.

Society chairman Roy Phillips presented the trophies at the end of the show, which had a wide range of flowers, including fine dahlias, high quality chrysanthemums and roses on display for the 90-plus visitors to admire, as well as pot plants, impressive vegetables, the pick of the crop of fruit, cookery and preserves and flower arranging, photography and handicrafts.

Peter Mazillius impressive Savoy cabbage was among the prize-winning exhibits in the horticulture classes at the Yapton Cottage Gardeners autumn show Photos by Kate Shemilt C140929-5

Kent Kressner retained the Peter Crouch Memorial Cup for chrysanthemums, the silver and bronze medals of the National Dahlia Society went to Eric Norrell and Alan Humphrey respectively and the best vegetable exhibit, two Savoy cabbages, earned Malcolm Paradine the Deegan Shield.

The W.R. Trophy was won by Joan Jackson, for most flower arranging points at the four 2014 shows and show secretary David Donovan received the Neil Baxter Memorial Trophy for cookery and handicrafts. Eva Pendreich kept the Photographic Championship Vase, as did Judy Barratt the Ford Wine Circle Challenge Shield.

In the children’s classes, the Junior Autumn Cup was awarded jointly to Dennison Grimwood, 11, and Lacklann Grimwood, six, while Cerys Hier, also six, took the Junior Village Crier’s Cup for season-long success.

Other attractions included a successfully operated bottle tombola, stands for the sales of hardy plants, cakes and preserves, a competition to guess the name of a stuffed toy tiger, cards, jewellery and a raffle.

Cottage Gardeners chairman Roy Phillips C140929-4

First prize winners: David Donovan, Jenny Pay, Barry Bezants, Debbie Lawrence, Christine Fry, Barbara Coomber, Val O’Neill, Barry Moore, Kent Kressner, Eric Norrell, Alan Humphrey, Malcolm Paradine, Eddy Brown, Mick Marshall, Roy Phillips, Ruth Moore, Joan Bradley, Nora Trigger, David Day, Joan Jackson, Eva Pendreich, Terry Booker, Dennison Grimwood, Lacklann Grimwood and Eleonore Grimwood.

The society’s spring flower show will be held on March 21 at the village hall.