Fun is in fashion at flower and dog show

BINFIELD Heath Flower and Dog Show attracted record crowds in its first year at its new home next to the allotments.

More than 1,600 people attended the 76th show, significantly more than that recorded last year when persistent rain kept some away.

While organisers and stallholders welcomed the bumper crowd, the unexpected turnout meant many struggled to find car parking spaces, with cars spilling out onto Sonning Common Road.

Organiser Caroline Dowling called the first year at the new venue “amazing”.

She said if the event decided to return to the same location next year, it would look at additional parking provision.

The show was previously held at a field opposite Holmwood House in Shiplake Row, where it had taken place since 1949.

Mrs Dowling, who is the second generation of her family to be involved in organising the show, said: “It’s our first year since moving from our other
location after 75 years so it’s been amazing.

“We’ve got more than 50 volunteers who set the whole thing up. I think this is the biggest amount of people we’ve had in years.

“Last year it bottled down, but this year I think there is a lot more than we’ve ever had, so that’s good.

“People were telling me they were coming from the other side of Henley, so it’s not just
Binfield Heath. People have come from Emmer Green as well, which is nice we are drawing people from other communities.”

Attractions included a petting zoo run by Basil and Crew animal farm which featured guinea pigs, rabbits, and goats.

There was also a tug-of-war, tractor rides, face-painting, and games such as skittles, “smash an egg”, hoopla and “hook a duck”.

A raffle which included prizes donated by The Flowing Spring, Shiplake Butchers, Henley Distillery, Loddon Brewery, the Bottle and Glass Inn raised money for show funds.

Despite the turnout, competition entries in the produce and flower categories were down this year.

There were a total of 69 people who submitted a combined 587 entries, down from 800 last year.

Producers said they had to make the best of the historically dry growing season and found some vegetables adapted better than others.

Nigel and Stephen Head, brothers who share an allotment in Binfield Heath, have been entering the show for almost 20 years.

Nigel, 59, who won first in almost 20 categories, said: “I’m overjoyed with the prizes I have won. It’s been a hard year with the weather and everything else, so I’m very pleased.

“It has made things a lot smaller in size, the beans are a lot smaller, the carrots have been non-existent. Other plants have somehow thrived and courgettes have been abundant.

“Some of them don’t get any water at all, it’s just how the plant goes into survival mode I suppose.

“I have got several water butts and a watering can, so not a lot is being watered at the minute. I try not to water too often.”

David Lloyd, 80, from Shiplake, a veteran of the show who has been attending for more than 40 years, won a raft of classes.

He said: “I enjoy it, it’s the camaraderie here, you get all the different people each year coming in and it’s just a friendly rivalry and competition.

“It’s a very well organised and very friendly show and it has been for years and years, and long may it continue.

“It has been a very strange season. I try to grow what I can, when I can.

“Some have done extremely well, others haven’t, and you’ve got the deer coming in and nipping this and that. We’re in the country so that’s how it is.

“I’m 80 now, I’m thinking about next year maybe just concentrating on three or four things rather than 20 odd entries and letting Nigel and Stephen Head have all the glory.”

The absence of last year’s celebrity judge Dame Mary Berry meant the show also saw a decrease in the number of cake entries.

Marilyn Mowatt, 72, from Sonning Common, entered a knitted garment, a crocheted piece, and a piece of lace, and won three classes in the handicraft section

She said: “It was a surprise, I didn’t put in that many entries so I didn’t think I would be the winner of a trophy.

“Last year I got a first for knitted, but I didn’t win a plate or anything so this is my first trophy. The actual show was brilliant but the parking is a bit dodgy.

We managed to squeeze in but I know lots of people parked all over the place.

“It’s a shame there weren’t more entries, but it was still nice.”

Woodley Concert Band entertained the guests for the afternoon, performing arrangements of Man in the Mirror, Bad Romance, Take on Me, and music from The Lion King.

Fiona Tompsett, 70, of Whitchurch Hill, was awarded a trophy in recognition of her work running the dog show for the past 30 years.

She said: “I’m a bit gobsmacked actually because I wasn’t expecting anything.

“I’m really quite proud of what we’ve achieved because we’ve had the best entries this year that we’ve ever had.

“We were obviously affected by the rain last year, so we had about 50 dogs. This year we’ve had 130 or something.

“It’s the most I can remember us ever having so that’s amazing really — whether that’s the new venue or just the good weather or what, it’s been really great.

“We’ve never been so late finishing, so we’re almost a victim of our own success.”

This year’s competition featured 16 classes including five “pedigree” categories and 11 “novelty” classes.

With more than double the number of entries from last year, the competition carried on well after the main show and presentations had wrapped up.

Stephen Kaseki, 47, from Binfield Heath, entered his six-year-old whippet, Toto, who was awarded “Best in Show” and “Best Sporting Dog”.

Mr Kaseki said: “We got reserve last year and we won it the year before and he has won each category three years in a row.

“I’m very happy, he is such a good dog, and he stands really well and behaves incredibly well so it’s all him. He is just very obedient.”

Mr Kaseki, who has been visiting the show for 18 years, was also complimentary about its new location. “The new venue is great, it’s really large, it’s been well prepared by the committee and everyone has pulled their weight — all of the volunteers and all the villagers — so it’s been really enjoyable.”

The fashion designer Jeff Banks was the guest of honour this year, and presented prizes in the flower, produce, handicraft and baking categories.

The former presenter of BBC’s The Clothes Show said: “I think it’s truly astounding. It’s a shame that things like this don’t go on all over Britain.

“It’s a unique moment in time and the effort and energy that people put into it, to grow vegetables, do flower arrangements, bake a cake, and it doesn’t actually cost a great deal of money, just a lot of time, and a lot of energy and a lot of effort.

“It’s amazing this year, I don’t know how big the turn out is, but it seems twice as big as it was last year.

“All credit to them, I think it’s amazing. I’ve been coming for ten years or so.

“This is special this year, I think it’s fantastic.

“The new location is brilliant, the thing they’re probably going to have to look at is the car parking, there was simply not enough parking space so that’s going to get bigger hopefully.”

The Binfield Heath Village Society ran a barbecue with burgers and sausages, a bar and tea tent. Other food providers included ice-cream from The Scoop Room in Henley, drinks from Jessecco Prosecco, based in Wallingford, and Orwells
restaurant served fried chicken at the show for the fourth year in a row.

Owners Ryan and Liam Simpson-Trotman said the stall was about twice as busy as it had been in previous years.

Ryan said: “It was absolutely fantastic, really good. It was just so busy.

“I didn’t expect it, I think the power of social media really drove it because there was a lot of people who came who don’t normally come as well.

“There were a lot more people this year.

“This year is definitely the busiest we have worked in the last three or four years, probably by about double.”

He added: “I think it’s great. We got hooked probably about three years ago.

“It’s our wedding anniversary around this time, we got married bank holiday weekend eight years ago, so we always come back off our holidays to do it.

“We’re quite dedicated to the cause and it’s nice to be able to give something back.”