CHAPTER
9
FROM 1975 TO 1988
Over the remaining years from 1975 the Society's business
remained superficially the same as before, the main event
of the year being the Summer Flower Show supplemented by
the Spring show of children's bulbs and handicrafts. However,
many details of presentation, personnel, organisation and
content changed in response to public attitudes and major
social developments in culture, entertainment, and, not least,
the onset of the computer age. Small Flower Shows often found
the going rough particularly as older committee members retired
and finding younger replacements became increasingly difficult.
In addition our own Society lost several of its longserved
and committed committee members by untimely death over a
quite short period.
It is however gratifying to see that successful adaptation
to changing circumstances and the continued cooperation
of friends and helpers has ensured that the Horticultural
Society has coped well with the many problems which new
social conditions have thrown at it and retains to this
day a successful presence in the locality.
Changes in local administration in 1980 whereby West Kilbride
District Council became swallowed up within the newly created
Cunninghame District Council resulted in responsibility
for the Public Hall (and ownership of it) passing from
the village to the new Authority. Hall renting and supervision
became much less flexible than formerly and substantial
increase in charges were to follow.
Minute books cover the years from 1978; supplemented by financial
records and press cuttings they provide good coverage of
events and proceedings.
Show Venues Mention must first be made of two occurrences
which caused substantial disruption to the Society's activities
and made major re-arrangement of both Spring and Summer shows
necessary. These were
1. The destruction by fire in 1980 of the Primary School
and
2. The permanent location of a West Kilbride Museum in the
upper rooms of the Public Hall, in 1988.
The School
In the late 1970's the Committee had been considering a
move away from the School because of staging and organisational
problems, and the use of the Public Hall for the Spring Show
was a possibility. Thus after the 1980 fire the enforced
move was coped with relatively easily and in fact proved
to be a great success with immediate improvement in the Show
numbers and presentation. In any case the open-plan design
adopted for the new school would have made its use for a
flower show problematical.
The Museum
Though the establishment of a West Kilbride local Museum
had been mooted for some time in the 1980's the Horticultural
Society never believed that the then owners of the Public
Hall, Cunninghame District Council, would allow a substantial
part of the building, effectively the whole of the top floor,
to be taken out of public use on a permanent basis for this
new enterprise. The result would be that something like one
third of the space for our summer Flower show would no longer
be available .
Naturally the Committee took this suggestion very hard and
engaged in protracted correspondence and discussion with
both the Museum and the District Council. Sadly for the Horticultural
Society, the Museum proposal went ahead and as a result major
Flower Show reorganisation had to be undertaken in 1988.
Details of the changes, which considerably altered the character
of both Shows, are given later in Chapter 10.
Summer Shows 1975 - 1988
Over this period the summer shows continued in much the same
fashion which had been established over previous years,
being held on a Friday in late August. Up to 1984 the number
of entries remained over 1000 but there was a sudden drop
to 779 in 1985 prompting a hard look at many aspects of
scheduling, children's participation, timing and organisation.
To be complacent would be fatal, and it would be vital
to strive always to maintain standards and to be innovative.
It was therefore decided to make a change of show day,
on a trial basis, from the hitherto traditional Friday
to a Saturday 30th. August in 1986, and in that year the
entry number came back over the 1000 mark to 1023; whilst
this was welcome it once again put considerable strain
on hall accommodation, particularly for the clerical and
administrative staff who at times found themselves working
at tables in the hall corridor outside the toilets! However,
from then on the Show day remained as a Saturday.
The Society was fortunate in numbering amongst its members
expert and dedicated horticulturists who not only shouldered
much of the burden of Show organisation and management
but were also prolific exhibitors in their specialist fields,
notably Bill Jack with sweet peas and Bill Sutherland in
dahlias; they were ably supported by other stalwarts of
the time like Sammy Grant, John Reid and Finlay Currie.
No matter what problems emerged it was always agreed that
the one thing which continued to make this summer show
so successful was the friendly atmosphere which the Committee
were determined should never be lost.
At the 1986 Show the Society President was Finlay Currie
and the show was opened by local priest Father Connolly;
as well as a high entry number the quality of exhibits
was reported to be of a high standard.
Although the 1987 summer weather was not good, and indeed
was reported as the "worst in living memory",
the show was again a substantial one; and the President,
Finlay Currie, noted that the West Kilbride Summer Flower
show was now probably the largest one-day flower show in
Scotland. A notable exhibit on this occasion was the largest
fuchsia ever seen at the Show, exhibited by Mr. Hugh Gibson
from Largs who apparently had to dismantle his greenhouse
to take the plant out for showing.
The 1987 Summer Show As will be explained later, the 1987
Summer Show was the last to be staged in the format which
had been basically unchanged since our Shows were first held
in the Public Hall in 1900; from 1988 onwards, as will be
explained in the next Chapter, curtailment of the space available
meant a major change in show layout. Entries in 1987 numbered
1113, 90 more than in 1986, and the number of exhibitors,
207, was more than double the 104 of 1986. A video of the
Show was taken by Mr. J. Willetts. The Show was opened by
Mr. M. Tebutt of the National Trust, Culzean.
Some Trophy winners at this 1987 Show were -
Allan Most points, Pot plant section R.J.Wilson Martindale
Best pot plant Hugh Gibson
Leimanis 3 Pot plants R.J.Wilson
Cactus R.J.Wilson Glenbryde
Most points, cut flowers W.B.Varley
Samson Most points, Rose section F.C.Bolton
White Best Rose bloom F.C.Bolton Cohen Best 6 vases sweet
peas W.B.Varley
Cubrieshaw Best cut flower exhibit Jean McEwan
Orchard Most points, vegetables Ian Halbert
Parkgrove Best exhibit, decorative Mrs S. Ashurst
Helen Strang Most points, decorative Mrs Parker
M.McKenzie Best bowl sweet peas Mrs Middleditch
Bowfield Best floral art arrangement Mrs Murray
J.T.Black Best exhibit, hobbies/handicrafts Anne Caldwell
Overton Most points, Hazel McGregor Bill Jack
Most points, Junior garden produce Gordon Menzies
Paterson Smith Most points, Junior decorative Barbara Perry.
The somewhat cumbersome method of recording entries, exhibitor
details and class prizewinners in a series of jotters was
becoming an anachronism and a source of much delay with the
possibility of error particularly where the counting of total
points was required. Major revision was initiated in 1984
based on large-scale tabulation of classes and exhibitors.
A further step forward was the introduction in the following
year of computerisation, a programme of data management being
devised and operated by Ian McSeveny and still in use today.
Its adoption allowed another administrative difficulty to
be resolved, the pressure from press representatives in the
show office for prize-winner information before the end of
the show. From then on this data, in the form of a computer
print-out, was sent directly to the Press by a member of
the Committee.
Two class sections which showed decline and gave cause for
concern were vegetables and domestic and the number entering
in the Novices Classes was also disappointing.
Other show matters
Judges
Once again there are few references to the judges appointed
for either Spring or Summer shows and it must be presumed
that the Secretary selected suitable people for each occasion
with little or no reference to the Committee. For the most
part judges were now members of the staffs of various local
Parks Departments and some served the West Kilbride Society
faithfully for many years - names such as Tom Morrison, David
Baxter, Hugh Paton, David Paton, Mr. Birch, Hugh Bayne, Brian
Ward (Wine judging). There were also ladies with expertise
or qualifications in fields such as baking, flower arrangement
and decorative arts such as Mrs Wilson (Dunlop) and Mrs Dempster
Staging
Remained in the hands of a small subcommittee
headed by John Reid. With the show being held on Fridays,
the staging
operation started on the afternoon of the previous Sunday.
One problem encountered was the possibility that storage
of staging materials, in particular the heavy forms belonging
to the Society which were the basis for the bench construction,
might be removed from the "dunny" storage; thankfully
this situation never came to pass. In fact, acquisition by
the Council, for Hall use, of some modern large folding tables,
reduced the number of forms needed for staging and simplified
the operation.
A minor but successful innovation was the adoption of self-adhesive
numbered stickers to relate the exhibitor's card with the
exhibit, a modern development of the wooden sticks and
sticky labels used some years previously. This greatly
assisted
the accuracy of placing and identifying exhibits, particularly
when table space was limited.
Age Concern
Were enlisted in manning the collection table during the
public opening of the show and has been available ever since.
"Trade" displays remained a
feature each year, limited only by available space. There
was participation
by local traders and nurseries and, to a lesser extent, by
gardening bodies such as Garden News and Webbs, though the
latter ceased general show sponsorship in 1982. A stand was
provided by the National Trust, firstly from Culzean, later
from Greenbank. Local honey growers put on displays, as did
local craftsman and Committee Member Peter MacNab, who showed
his deerhorn handled staffs.
Decoration
The hall platform was for a number of these years in the
hands of three committee members who were dedicated begonia
growers, Messrs Bill Kerr, Alex Brown and Sam Grant, latterly
with assistance from the District Council's greenhouses in
Saltcoats and Largs. These displays were always greatly admired.
Publicity
Publicity was extensive, with where possible one member
of the Committee being responsible.. Newspaper and radio
coverage was sought, with occasional mention on the Beechgrove
Garden TV programme, though this was difficult to achieve.
There were posters in local shops, libraries etc and a number
on street lampposts, on one occasion incurring the wrath
of the then Ayr County Council as Roads Authority, though
a low profile was maintained.
Trophies During this period the Society was fortunate to
receive several new Trophies -
In 1975 the Helen Strang Trophy was presented by Mr. William
Strang in memory of his late wife, who was a sister of
Mrs Elsie Beveridge, Honorary President of the Society;
it is awarded for most points in the Decorative Section.
In 1977 the Jubilee Collectors Trophy was given for the
most points in the Collectors Classes in the Schoolchildren's
section, and in the same year Mr. William White, a rose
grower from Largs and a regular exhibitor and prize-winner
in the Rose classes, gave the William White Trophy to be
awarded for the Best Rose Bloom in the Show.
In 1978 there followed the Cubrieshaw Hall Trophy for the
best exhibit in the Cut flower Section, and also the Bowfield
Trophy for the best Decorative arrangement. while in 1979
the Cactus Society donated the Cactus Society Cup for the
best exhibit in the Cactus classes.
The Honorary President of the Society , Mrs Elsie Beveridge,
of Aiknut, Bowfield Road, who over many years had played
a prominent part in the Society's activities, died in 1971
and in her legacy gave the Society funds for the Elsie
Beveridge Trophy, to be awarded for the best exhibit in
the Summer Show. Over the passage of years successive groups
of judges have found it difficult to make a fair comparison
across the range of classes in the Show, in order to make
this award. The committee eventually restricted this Trophy
to the classes for flowers, decorative, vegetable and junior
exhibits, and the situation was also eased by the transfer
of the bulk of the Hobbies and Handicrafts classes from
the Summer Show to the Spring Show in 1988.
In 1982 the Leimanis trophy was awarded for the best exhibit
of 3 plants in the Pot Plant section. Mr Ken Leimanis was
one-time professional gardener at various local estates
both at West Kilbride and at Skelmorlie, and for many years
was a highly successful exhibitor in many show classes,
but most particularly in Pot Plants, winning many prizes
and trophies whilst he was gardener to Mr. W. Allan at
South Cottage. The Trophy is also referred to as the South
Cottage Trophy
Two more Trophies came in 1983. Miss Patricia Anslow, of
Ailsa View, member of committee, gave the Ailsa Bowl in
memory of her father Frank who had also been a member of
committee, to be awarded for most points in the Pot Plant
Section at the Spring Show. The Lockhart family of Springside
gave the Claire Marie-Anne Lockhart Trophy in memory of
their daughter who died in childhood following an operation;
it is awarded for most points in the Schoolchildren's Section
at the Spring Show (excluding Society Bulb classes).
Following the untimely death of Bill Jack, who had been Society
Secretary for an unbroken period of 27 years, his widow
Joan, in 1984 gave a Trophy in his memory, named the Dr.
Bill Jack Trophy. Bill was a Doctor of Science and taught
in the Botany Department in Ardrossan Academy. For many
years he also was Captain of the West Kilbride Company
of the Boys' Brigade. This Trophy is awarded for most points
in the Junior Garden Produce Section.
In the same year the Society were given the Wine Trophy;
this was an award belonging to the local Wine Circle and
when unfortunately this group had to close it kindly donated
the Cup to the Horticultural Society where it is now awarded
in the Wine Section of the Summer Show.
In 1985 Mrs Freda Black gave a Trophy named the John Temple
Black Trophy in memory of her husband John (Jack), former
committee member, chief steward and President over some
34 years. He was largely responsible for the design and
supply of the staging system which the committee adopted
in 1966 after terminating the contract for local firms
to carry out the hall staging each year. This Trophy is
awarded for the best overall exhibit in the Hobbies and
Handicrafts section.
These additional thirteen trophies brought the Society's
total to 32.
Spring Show 1975 - 1988
The committee gave much consideration to the relatively
poor performance of the Spring Bulb Show, covering such matters
as show date, source of bulbs, form and content of schedule
and so on, even considering a change of venue away from the
school to allow more flexibility in arrangements. Sadly a
major fire destroyed the school in 1980 and the resulting
enforced transfer to the Public Hall, a change of date towards
the end of March together with increased publicity, better
liaison with the school and improvements in show stewarding
and management, led to dramatic improvements. Indeed, it
is reported that at the first new show in 1980 the stewards
and officials were overwhelmed by the number of entries,
which could not be counted accurately but seemed to be some
500. In the next year 381 is the recorded total where it
is claimed that accuracy now prevailed; the entry numbers
seemed to settle in the 450 - 500 area over the late 1980's,
with 137 exhibitors noted in 1987.
The return of daffodil exhibits from bulbs issued by the
Society to the schoolchildren continued to decline from
the high levels (over 100) of earlier years; 1985 - 60,
1986 - 80 ,1987 - 48. Almost negligible return of hyacinths
caused them to be dropped from the bulb issue in 1986,
daffodils only being purchased. At this point the Hyacinth
Cup was made available for open competition instead of
being allocated only to children's classes.
The clerical improvements referred to in connection with
the Summer Show were also applied to the Spring Show, to
good effect.
For some years bulbs for school issue were purchased through
local shops but latterly there was liaison with Hunterston
Gardening Club for a joint purchasing arrangement, though
planting medium (peat) and pots (for sale to children who
did not bring their own) were still bought locally. Annual
costs soon exceeded £100 and were not balanced by the
Show income, though it was always (and still is) felt by
the committee that such school co-operation was to the long-term
benefit of all. Unfortunately as years went by the number
of daffodil exhibits returned by the children at the Spring
Show continued to decrease, perhaps reflecting the impact
of widespread domestic central heating in preventing ideally
cool situations to be found for the bulb cultivation.
In 1985, at the suggestion of Eleanor McSeveny, the Society
provided money for the purchase of a number of Easter Eggs,
to be awarded to all pupils in the school class which returned
the largest number of daffodil exhibits. (At that time
the number of bulbs returned was around 40) This incentive
had only a short-term effect, however, and was dropped
after a couple or so years.
New classes were introduced for handwriting and egg decoration,
and a competition for design of Schedule covers.
Plant Sale Though a small income was
derived by the sale of plants and flower during both shows,
the Committee decided
on a more ambitious venture and in 1976 had a Plant Sale
in Overton Church Hall on a Saturday in May, plants being
donated (and grown) by Committee members and friends. This
was an instant success, with a net income of £93 in
its first year, which rose steadily reaching over £300
by 1984. It was well supported by the public and soon became
a regular feature of village life.
To supplement the efforts of Society members some purchases
were made from Stanley Nurseries in Ardrossan. A yearly donation
was made to Overton Church for use of the Hall.
Other Society matters
Scottish Dahlia and Chrysanthemum Society
To stimulate interest in the growing of Dahlias and Chrysanthemums
the Society obtained affiliation to the Scottish Dahlia and
Chrysanthemum Society in 1974 enabling official certificates
and medals in the appropriate classes to be offered for competition.
This membership appeared to lapse around 1980.
Sale of "Eradite"
In 1977 an arrangement was made through
the Secretary's family transport business to bring bagged "Eradite" compost
from Kirkconnel (where the material was made from sewage
sludge) to West Kilbride for local sale. Some £50 profit
was made in the first year of operation but sadly the Secretary's
illness brought the venture to a premature end.
Winter lectures
Talks and film shows continued in winter
months, with occasional garden visits in summer. In 1979
there were talks by Mr.
Hartmann, Mr. Goff and Prof. Wilkins, these being held in
the Ardenlee Hotel; there was a visit to Carnell gardens
in July. Further garden visits were made to Bargeny (near
Girvan) and Logan (near Stranraer). In 1981 two of the regular
Judges, Mr. S. Hunter and Mr. A. Bayne, gave talks on Flowers
and on Vegetables respectively; these were held in the Incredible
Kitchen restaurant and appeared to be very popular.. However
the costs of putting on these talks gave rise to some concern
and in 1983 a move was made to the newly opened Community
Centre; here Mr. W. Ivey gave a talk in 1983 on Mountain
flora in Greece, and Mr. R.Wilson on Fuchsias in 1984. Mr.
Jenkins from Largs also spoke in 1984 on plants from abroad.
In 1986 a speaker from Auchincruive gave a talk on Pot Plants,
Mr. T. Morrison spoke on "From seed to Show Bench" and
Mr. Coutts on Fruit. Thereafter the winter programme was
discontinued.
Storage
In 1982 a room was acquired at the Community Centre which
gave greatly needed storage space for notice boards, posters,
stationery and numerous miscellaneous items which had hitherto
been kept at members' homes.
Commemorative Tree In 1981 the Society planted an almond
tree in the grounds of the Community Centre in commemoration
of the Royal Wedding, with a suitably-worded plaque. This
tree did not thrive and was replaced in 1993.
Society administration
In 1978 the Officebearers were -
President D. Leary
Vice-president F. Anslow
Past president J. Howat
Treasurer W. Sutherland
Secretary W.G.Jack
Show Secretary Judy Furlong
Chief Steward J. Black
Asst. G. Sloan
Auditor W.N.Paton
The position of Show Secretary had been established to ease
the work load of the Committee Secretary by dealing with
the details of show organisation
Executive Committee Miss P. Anslow, Mrs. M. Gazeley, Mrs
R.A.Furlong, Mrs. P. Hill, Messrs J.Black, F. Currie, M.
Furlong, S. Grant, P.MacNab, G. McKellar, J. Reid, M.Shepherd,
G. Sloan, F. Welch. Ladies Committee Mrs. C. Welch (Convenor),
Mrs. W. Allan, Mrs.J. Black, Mrs.D. Furlong, Mrs. M. Gazeley,
Mrs. D. Paterson, Mrs R. Smith, Mrs. H. Whyte.
Junior Committee Miss K. Shepherd (Convenor)
Staging Committee J. Reid (Convenor)
Publicity M. Furlong
In 1979 Mrs. J. B. Thain and Mr. J. Lightfoot joined the
Committee
In 1980 Dr. W.G.Jack resigned from the secretaryship due
to ill-health. Bill sadly died in 1983. In 1980 Miss Pat
Anslow became Minute Secretary with Miss Judy Furlong as
Show Secretary.
By 1985 resignations, ill-health and losses by death had
seriously depleted the ranks - Bill Sutherland and Bill
Kerr and Sammy Grant all died quite suddenly, Michael and
Judy Furlong left the District, as did Matt Shepherd; Jack
Black resigned after 37 years service on the Committee,
including the Presidency. The then President, Finlay Currie,
instigated substantial re-organisation of administrative
matters; the position of Show Secretary was changed to
Show Co-ordinator, with an immediate object of assessing
and defining all necessary tasks and allocating them most
suitably. The Minute Secretary post was retained but a
new post of Membership Secretary was created. This latter
was necessary because of the difficulty in finding someone
to act as membership Collector; the Committee decided that
its own members would collect district by district, to
be organised by the new Membership Secretary. Several new
Committee Members were recruited, and the position in 1985
was:-
President F. Currie
Show Co-ordinator D. Leary
with subcommittee Mrs.P. Hill, Mrs E, McSeveny. J. Howat
Minute Secretary Mrs Eileen Lamb
Membership Secretary Mrs Pamela Hill
Chief Steward G. Sloan
Treasurer J. Lamb
Auditor W. Miller
Staging Convenor J. Reid
Committee Miss Anslow, Mrs Blair, Mrs Lightfoot, Mrs McSeveny,
Mrs Furlong, Mrs Hill, Mrs Caldwell, Messrs Furlong, Lightfoot,
Reid, Norval, Howat, and Kirkwood.
The former Ladies' Committee and Junior Committees were
deemed no longer necessary.
The deaths of Bill Jack, Bill Sutherland, Sammy Grant and
Bill Kerr lost the Society the services of knowledgeable
horticulturists whose expertise was greatly missed. They
had high levels of professional skills; Bill Jack was a member
of the Sweet Pea Society and Bill Sutherland of the Dahlia
Society in Scotland. They freely gave the Society dedicated
and committed service over lengthy periods. For example,
Bill Jack was Secretary from 1957 to 1980, a period of 27
successive years, while Bill Sutherland was Treasurer from
1971 till 1984, 14 years in total.
Society Finances 1975 - 1988
Finances remained in a healthy state
over this period, with the proceeds from the annual Plant
Sale, commenced in 1976,
making a welcome new contribution to income. The year-end
bank balance increased from £500 in 1975 to £1700
in 1987, assisted by a sponsorship donation of £120
from the Dunfermline Building Society. Each of the years
showed a net profit of up to £200 overall. The annual
subscription, 25p in 1975, was increased to 40p in 1981 and
to 50p in 1982; in 1987 the subscription income was £316
from 632 members. Subscriptions were collected by members
of committee. Income from patrons, which had been steadily
diminishing in previous years, was now negligible. There
were no admission charges for visitors to either show; donations
given were in every case more than might have been expected
from entry charges. The supplying of spring bulbs to the
school was now virtually self-financing; more schoolchildren
than before were purchasing pots rather than bringing their
own, as used to be the practice, and the profit which was
made on the sale of these pots together with that from the
sale of additional bulbs, effectively "balanced the
books" . Again tea-room costs for both shows were covered
by income, usually making a small profit; though involving
substantial effort by the personnel concerned the tea-rooms
provided a much-welcomed service for our visitors to the
Shows.
The principal sources of income, apart from membership subscriptions,
were now the sale of plants (at the spring sale and to
a smaller degree at the two shows), proceeds of raffles,
and donations/door takings (adult visitor admission at
summer show 20p); in a typical year towards the end of
this period these might be:-
Subscriptions £ 300
Donations/ door takings 300
Sale of plants 450
Bank interest 50
Raffles 100
Total income £ 1200
The major areas of expenditure were stationery/printing,
hall rental charges, and prize money/engraving. The costs
for stationery (schedules, prize cards etc.) fluctuated from
year to year as often bulk purchases were made in advance
to cover a number of years' needs, and the committee frequently
explored alternative means of coping with this large cost
item, but no significant savings appeared to be possible
whilst retaining the high quality of our documents.
Prize money payout and trophy engraving related only to the
Summer Show. Hall rentals now were levied for both shows
and were increasing, though still modest. Typical annual
costs might be:-
Hall rentals £150
Printing/stationery 450
Prizes/engraving 300
Insurance 50
Donations/ sundries 100
Total costs £ 1050
with something like £150 profit
over the year.
It is self-evident that the financial stability of the Society
had now become very dependent on a substantial income from
the spring plant sale
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