CHAPTER
6
THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS, 1947 - 1955
Following resumption of activities in 1947 the Horticultural
Society has continued without interruption until the present
day (1998). It is convenient to deal first with the 8 year
period up to 1955, for the reason that this period is covered
by available minute books to supplement the information that
can be gleaned from press files. Unfortunately there is a
gap in Minute Book records thereafter until 1977 and for
this twenty year period we have had to rely on press reports
and peoples' memories to build up the picture.
Resumption of activities in 1947
The 1946 Committee held a meeting on 21st. November 1946
and followed this with a Public Meeting, reported as being
poorly attended, with the object of recommencing the Society's
activities by holding a Flower Show in 1947. The following
appointments were approved:
Hon. President Lady Hunter-Weston
President J.K.Rutherford
VicePresident F. Welch
Secretary D. Currie
Hon. Treasurer J. Plenderleith
Collector Ann Paton
Hon. Auditor G. Ballantyne
Committee W. Barr, J. Meikle, A. Menzies, R. Guy, J. Grierson,
D. Paton, G. Ballantyne, C.Robertson,
J. Lockhart, A. Taylor, T. Wilson, W.Martin-
dale, J.McLaughlin, J. Brown, J. Ritchie. J. H.
Gemmell, J. Workman jnr., G. Connolly,
A. Brown, G. Houston, A. Reid.
Ladies' Committee To be established under the chairmanship
of Mrs. Rutherford.
The 1947 Show
This took place in the Public Hall on
Friday 29th, August, being formally opened by Mrs. Caldwell
Ker, Whinhurst. Staging
was erected and removed by Gemmels using materials borrowed
from Saltcoats Horticultural Society, with tables from church
and Bowling club halls. The vases were in charge of Mr. T.
Paton. Catering was by Betty's Tea Room. The President, J.K.Rutherford,
introducing the Show, commented that even though the war
was now over, the years of peace seemed to be more austere
than the years of war, and for that reason the Society would
no longer hold a produce sale as was done during the war
years, but revert to an annual exhibition. Regrettably because
of family illness Mrs. Caldwell Ker was unable to open the
Show, this now being carried out by Mrs. Marion Allan, Dunskey,
who said that it was no indignity "to accept a fiddler's
bidding", and named the Show "Enterprise West Kilbride
1947".
The Trophy and Special Prize awards were:-
Amateur Gardening Diploma for Best Exhibit in Show - E.
Temple
Glenbryde Rose Bowl - D. Paton
Orchard Trophy - D. Paton
Overton Vase - Miss B. Tonner
Amateur Gardening Diploma for most meritorious
exhibit in Amateur Section - Mrs. E. Temple Special Prize
(Miss Dyce, Co-op Home) for most points
in Pot Plant Section J. Brown
Special Prize for best Pot Plant C. Murchie
Society Officers and Committee 1947 - 1955
During this period the Society's affairs prospered and the
Summer Shows increased both in scope and in standards. A
Spring Show was instituted and a programme of winter lectures
was commenced. It is noteworthy that during this period the
posts of Treasurer and of Secretary were held throughout
by the same individuals, Messrs J. Plenderleith and D. Currie.
Lady Hunter-Weston remained Honorary President until her
death in 1954, being then replaced by Mrs. Marion Allan.
The President appointed in 1947, Mr. J.K.Rutherford, held
office till 1950, when Mr. Frank Welch took over, being replaced
by Mr. J. McPhie in 1954.
In 1949 Mr. J. Allison of the "Ardrossan and Saltcoats
Herald" wrote congratulating the Committee on the excellent
arrangements they had made for the Show. The Society Minute
Book records that Mr. Allison, who had attended many Shows,
wrote " It is no mean compliment to say that I received
most co-operation and courtesy in West Kilbride". Compliments
are rarely received by Show Committees! In 1950 there was
a letter from an exhibitor saying that the West Kilbride
Show was the best in the District though a slight blip in
1954 indicated a rather small number of entries.
There continued to be some six Committee Meetings each year,
together with the Annual General Meeting; membership of Committee
was around 18 together with the Officials. As well as the
General Committee there was an Honorary Committee of those
no longer able to take an active part in the Society's affairs.
There was also a Ladies' Committee initially led by Mrs.
Rutherford, which essentially ran the Home Industries Section
and prepared the appropriate sections of the Show Schedule.
Its membership, however, appears to have been shrouded in
some secrecy and is not disclosed in the Society's Minute
Book.
Summer Show Matters
Show date Fridays, late August
Show opener
A local landowner or someone of note such as Mrs. Caldwell
Ker, Sir Chas. McAndrew, Mrs Allan, Mrs McKenzie
(See also Appendix 4)
Music
Apparently no longer deemed necessary
Hall premises
As the extent of the Summer Show grew it became necessary
to bring more parts of the Public Hall into use, and in due
course, as well as the Main Hall, exhibits were staged in
the Lesser Hall, Billiard Room, Card Room and the Library.
Staging
This continued to be dealt with by Gemmells, members of
Committee assisting; it was erected in the evening before
the Show. There were frequent problems with the supply of
timber, help being sought from Peebles in Saltcoats. Proposals
to divide the central staging in the Main Hall by having
a middle aisle were unable to be implemented. In 1950 additional
tables were first introduced for the preparation of competitors'
exhibits. The central staging was tiered by using boxes (loaned
by Mr. F. Welch) In 1952 the Auditor queried the year-by-year
award of the staging contract to Gemmells and requested that
competitive tenders be sought but no other firm could be
found to tender for this work.
Platform decoration
This was first mooted in 1948 with Mr. Ritchie of the Paisley
Home being asked to provide plants, and was subsequently
carried on by Mr. Hugh Paton, gardener at the Home. The results
attracted much favourable comment, and in 1957 the Committee
made a presentation to Mr. Paton in recognition of his work
each year.
It is noted that in the 1950 show Mr. Allan of Portencross
displayed a Yucca plant which was in bloom for the first
time in 25 years.
Trophies
In 1948 the Seedsmen and Rose Growers in Kilmarnock, Messrs.
Samson's Ltd., who exhibited and displayed regularly at the
Summer Show, presented the Samson Trophy for annual competition
in the Rose Section.
In 1949 the Committee decided that the Orchard Trophy and
the Glenbryde Rose Bowl, both hitherto awarded for competition
within West Kilbride, should in future be given in open
competition.
In 1955 mention is made of a Cup awarded by the periodical "Popular
Gardening" but no details are given.
Prizes
There were regular donations of money for prizes and special
awards; garden periodicals and local seedsmen, nurseries
and so on made frequent and generous offers of prizes, diplomas,
medals and awards of flowers, plants, seeds etc., such as
Lister's of Rothesay (Dahlia display and dahlias as prizes),
Samson's of Kilmarnock (Rose displays and Rose Trophy), Blackmore
and Langdon (Begonias), Austin and McAslan, Fraser's Nursery
(Auchans), Springside Nursery (West Kilbride, Scottish Co-op),
Plant Protection Ltd., Miss Dyce (Holywood, Largs), Mr McGhie
(Lochwinnoch), Amateur Gardening, Popular Gardening, The
Smallholder, The Daily Record, Woman's Own. Prizes, prize
money, medals and gifts were generously donated too by many
private individuals, members of the Society and anonymous
donors. In the 1950 show, as well as the three Trophies mentioned,
there were some twenty medals and diplomas for competition.
Clerical and recording
It was standard procedure to record competitors entries,
class lists, prize-winner lists in notebooks on Show day.
Coloured discs were introduced as a means of identifying
entries, supplemented by wooden tallies inserted in plant
pots where appropriate (the gummed discs wouldn't stick to
the clay pots). Class cards were introduced to properly segregate
exhibits on the staging.
Best kept garden
From time to time the Committee toyed
with the idea of an award for something like a "Best Kept Garden" but
generally foresaw too many difficulties in securing entries
and in judging. However in 1954 the Daily Record sponsored
a competition for the best kept Council House Garden in Scotland,
and it was agreed to have a local competition, entries to
be in by 20th. July (later extended to 27th. August). Six
entries were received and were judged by Mr. Tom Morrison
(Burgh Gardener, Saltcoats) and Mr. A. Grigor (Cemetery Superintendent,
Kilwinning). The winner was Mr. John Paton, Meadowfoot Road.
Judging There is surprising little reference to judges in
the Minute Book of this period. For the 1947 Show the Flower
and Vegetable Sections required 6 judges, whose names were:-
J. Campbell, Largs; - Thompson, Kilwinning; Walker,Prestwick;
T. Ritchie, Skelmorlie; - Mitchell, Kilbirnie; - Bruce, Ardrossan.
There was also one judge for honey, and in the Home Industries
Section one for jams, one for baking and one for needlework
etc. There is little doubt that the recruiting of judges
each year continually presented problems; there were periodic
suggestions for new names and in 1953 the Secretary was instructed
to seek assistance from the West of Scotland Horticultural
Society. The responsibility for getting judges for the Home
Industries Section gradually passed to the Ladies' Committee.
Catering
The practice of providing breakfast for judges was terminated
and the catering requirements were confined to coffee and
lunch, at Betty's Tearoom and the Wellington Hotel.
Schedule and prize list
There were continual reviews of the class lists to alter,
update and modernise and much attention was given to the
details of individual classes and descriptions with deletions
of unpopular classes and addition of novel items, particularly
in the Children's Sections.
The number of Schedules printed remained at 300 and in most
years the printing contract continued with a Cheltenham
firm, Shenton's. who gave the cheapest quotation (£22
in 1952)
Vases
Issuing, returning, cleaning and repacking vases at Show
time continued to be the responsibility of one person, who
received a small payment. Where the Schedule called for a
Society vase to be used for an exhibit, the competitor paid
1d for vase hire. The vases were stored away from the Hall
between shows, usually at Lawwoodhead Farm. From time to
time new vases were purchased via a local ironmonger.
Society Finances
The Society's financial position remained
healthy, the balance in 1947 being £42/7/6, and in 1955 £46/1/1. Membership
in 1955 is given in the show report as 311, but the cash
book indicates a total of £63/19/6 taken in by subscription,
which at a membership charge of 2/6 corresponds to a roll
of 512. Subscriptions were gathered in by a paid collector.
Miss Ann Paton was collector from 1948 to 1953, carrying
out her duties so satisfactorily that her payment scale was
raised from 15% to 20%. From 1953 Mrs. Macgillivray was collector.
In 1951 finances were under some pressure due to additional
expenditure incurred on lecture programmes (referred to
later) and it was decided to hold a Prize Draw on Show
Day as a fund-raising event. However the Treasurer, after
consultation with the Police, advised that such an event
would be illegal, and so with reluctance, the matter was
dropped.
Spring Bulb Show
From time to time there were proposals
to hold a bulb show in the Springtime, and in 1951 a scheme
to involve the School
and to use the School premises was put forward and received
active support from the Head Teacher, Mr. J. K. Rutherford,
who was a member of the Horticultural Society Committee and
a former President. The first such show was held in February
1953, with the Society purchasing Hyacinth bulbs to the value
of £5, together with fibre, for distribution to some
of the older pupils in time to be grown and exhibited at
the Show. There was just one judge, and exhibits were staged
on tables borrowed from Church and other halls. In spite
of some misgivings beforehand, the Show was pronounced very
successful and well worth repeating. For this Show there
was no entry fee and no prize money, only coloured prize
cards. A collection was taken, which raised £7/2/6;
show expenses came to £10, and the Committee considered
this not to be a costly venture, and to repeat it the following
year. Indeed from then on the Spring Bulb Show became an
annual event in the Society's calendar. For 1954 the purchase
of bulbs by the Society was altered to become 75% hyacinths
and 25% daffodils, while for 1955 the amount spent on these
bulbs was doubled to £10. The spring show date in 1955
was Saturday 19th. February.
Lectures and Visits
From time to time there were proposals for holding a programme
of winter lectures on Horticultural Topics, and contact was
made with the Ayrshire Education Authority in 1948, and also
with the Gardening Editor of the Daily Record, Mr. Ian Grant.
The local authority was unable to help but Mr. Grant promised
to put on a lecture and film show on the subject of Fruit
production, and also one covering lawns, roses and bees.
The Committee advertised these widely and circularised members
individually. The first evening is reported as being very
successful and arrangements were made for a third, to be
given by Mr. Lister of Rothesay, on Dahlias.
The cost of advertising was burdensome, and it was later
discontinued; committee members were also asked to pay
for their own cup of tea!
In 1950 the Education Authority were again asked to allocate
a lecture and possibly an evening class to West Kilbride.
The Society organised two lectures/ film shows in that year,
one on Soils and the other on Fertilisers, and there appeared
also to be talks on gardening matters arranged by the Education
Authority. Further talks followed in 1952. one on Chrysanthemums
by Mr. T.Morrison, Saltcoats, and one on Begonias by Mr.
Ian Duncan. There were also displays using the Society's
own films and slides.
A similar programme in 1955 included a talk by Mr. Grant
on "Housing Scheme Gardens", one by T. Morrison
on "Chrysanthemum culture", and a show of films
by Plant Protection Ltd.
In 1949 the Society organised a visit to the Dutch House
Tearoom and gardens at Monkton and another to Lister's
Dahlia Nursery in Rothesay.
Other Societies
Contact was made with other local Societies
such as Largs and Saltcoats on various matters like lecture
programmes.
In 1950 affiliation was secured to the Glasgow and West of
Scotland Horticultural Society for an annual fee of £1/-/-.
Similar link-up with the Caledonian Horticultural Society
in Edinburgh was not pursued because of distance. There was
contact with the Royal Horticultural Society for technical
information particularly with respect to Dahlias.
Coronation
1953 Local celebrations were held in this Coronation Year
and the Society was invited to participate; a representative
sat on the West Kilbride organising Committee responsible
for events. The Society provided and planted two memorial
trees in the Glen and provided pelargoniums for decoration
at the War memorial.
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