| The
Parish Church of St James St. James's Road, Hampton Hill, TW12 1DQ (Parish Office 020 8941 6003) |
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| THE
HISTORY OF ST. JAMES'S CHURCH |
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1884-1889: Our Flower Show - 1885 July
Our Horticultural Society is supported, as is well known, by the mother parish of Hampton, as will as by Hampton Hill. This year it was our neighbour's turn, and Mr. J. P. Kitchin, who is the President for the year kindly lent his pretty grounds for the occasion. At an early hour all was astir at the Show Ground, and Cottage Gardeners arrive with the fruit of the labour of their leisure hours. Then come van loads of beautiful plants, some for competition and others kindly lent to adorn the tents. Little ones with their bouquets and plates of wild flowers are succeeded by the ladies who are busy for some hours in arranging the various adornments of table and person, to which the more cultivated flowers, in artistic hands, lend their beauty and grace. Last of all the produce of the flowers in the shape of honey in the comb gathered by the busy bee. By two o’clock the chaos and confusion of the earlier hours of the morning have disappeared. The Secretaries and Stewards have succeeded, not without severe labour and some vexation of spirit, in completing all the arrangements; the Judges have made their awards; the Band plays; and public begin to arrive. At first the numbers are small, and the faint-hearted begin to tremble for the success of the Show; but between four and five the tents are rapidly filled, and with the reduced prices, the numbers are all that could be desired. It would be invidious to single out the successful competitors in any department, sufice it to say that the Society itself appeared to have laboured with great success to judge by the results produced. Excellent collections of vegetables and fruits, and lovely specimens of roses and other flowers are staged by the Gardeners’ of the larger houses and villars. Jobbing Gardeners and one and two-day-a-week men run the former class very hard, and in some cases surpass their brothers of a larger scale. Most interesting of all are the products of the cottage gardens and one cannot but rejoice in the sight of the well grown vegetables and tempting fruits, which must very greatly improve the good cheer of the family of the industrious Cottage Gardener. The specimen flowers, in their beauty speak volumes of the greater brightness and attractiveness of the cottage home. The fields and lanes have been run over by numbers of little active feet, and nature’s own garden has been ransacked to produce one of the prettiest features of the Show. We rejoice, too, especially in the success which crowned the efforts of the Committee, in the honey department, and can state confidently that the honey exhibited would have done credit to a very much larger and more important Show. May Cottagers be encouraged to try what they can do with bees, and see whether they cannot pay their rent by the produce of their hives, and also store their cupboards with a sweet which will always be welcome to the little ones. Whilst speaking of the success of the Society, we must not omit to mention one special feature which does not directly appear at the Show, but which is certainly most important, if not the most important of all, viz., the improvement of the cottage gardens. Those who have for some time taken part in the careful inspection, to which the gardens in competition for prizes are subjected every year, can speak to the continuous improvement, which is brought under their notice from year to year, of the gardens of the competitors and their neighbours. This year it was a hard matter to choose between the most perfect specimen that we have ever seen of the old fashioned many flowered garden of the winner; and the perfect tidiness and taste of the miniature mansion garden of the second prize taker; whilst the third prize fell to a garden which had it not been for the others, our parish might well have been proud of; and others pressed very hard upon this. May our Horticultural Society long continue to flourish, and may its shows be always as successful as that of the year 1885. Source: The Hampton Hill Parish Magazine - 1885 August |
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