BY the 1930s, flower shows were a feature of life in many villages.

The Awbridge Flower Show of 1939 was organised by the village Horticultural Society and held in the grounds of the village hall. Apparently the weather was difficult that summer and this affected both quality and quantity of entries. Nonetheless 202 prizes were awarded.

Flower shows were mighty complicated, with entrants split between six categories. There was one for cottagers who did not employ gardeners and were not professional gardeners, another in which amateurs and garden labourers could compete and finally an open class in which professional gardeners could compete. The other three classes were for Women’s Institute members, one for ‘all women resident in the area of the Show’ and finally one for ‘children resident in the show area and all children attending Awbridge Elementary School’.

The women’s categories involved cooked and handicraft entries and the children’s included wild flower and grass arrangements as well as handicrafts.

The show was enlivened by the Michelmersh Prize Silver Band and by various side shows and stalls, with teas served in the village hall, followed by dancing in the evening.

READ MORE: Southern Water challenged about storm overflows in the Test

There were special prizes for the two competitors gaining the highest number of points in the cottagers’ section were won by: 1 Mr. W. J. Olden (25 points) who also won it last year, and 2 Mr. A. Hillier (18). Special prizes in the amateurs’ section were won by: 1 Mr. F. Parsons, last year’s winner (36), and 2 Mr. J. MacMaster (24). Mr. J. P. Nix, the Romsey jeweller, presented a cup for competition in the open section which was won by Mr. H. Baker (31), with Col. W. F. R. Webb runner-up (21).
Some families clearly had the knack of prize winning. W. J. Olden won 14 prizes and other Olden prize-winners were F. Olden with 8 prizes, E. Olden 4, and Miss V. Olden 2 – a total of 28 out of 202.
F. Parsons also won 14 prizes, and his schoolboy son won 1.

Thirty-three surnames feature in the prize-winning group. Of these, the largest family group was that of Phillips, with A. winning one prize, Beryl 2, F. 8, J. 8 and Walter 1, 20 in all.

J. Phillips won prizes in the cottagers’ class for carrots, cabbages, black currants, red currants, shallots, gooseberries, and a ‘specimen plant’ and for perennials in the gardeners’ class. F. Phillips, in the gardeners’ and garden labourers’ class, won prizes for a ‘specimen plant’, cooking apples, dessert apples, carrots, beet, marrows and dahlias – what joyous garden they had.