Old Haslingfield in the News: Annual Flower Show, July 1909
Every year, at the beginning of the last century, an annual flower show was held involving the villages of Great and Little Eversden, Harlton, Kingston, Comberton and Haslingfield (no Harston!). In July 1909 it was Haslingfield’s turn to host, and the show was held on Mrs. Wallis’ land. It was a splendid affair, with swing boats and roundabouts, a bowls tournament and a cricket match, where Haslingfield beat Comberton by 50 runs….
It wasn’t just a flower show – there were prizes for every category and size of vegetable as well. The report in the Cambridge Independent Press gives a flavour of the width of exhibits:
“The entries showed a satisfactory increase, and considering the bad season for horticulture, the exhibits reached a high standard of excellence. Undoubtedly the feature of the show was the display of bush fruit. Black currants were as fine as we have seen at any of the local shows this year, and the red variety, and gooseberries, were remarkably good. Vegetables were a nice lot, potatoes calling for special commendation. The recent rains were responsible for damage to flowers, but nevertheless some beautiful sweet peas were on view.”
It rained early in the day, but crowds increased as the weather improved. A grand day enjoyed by all.