Mexborough and Swinton Times, August 25.
The Conisborough Show.
The Conisborough Floral and Horticultural Society, for the third time since its re-establishment, held on Wednesday afternoon, in the board school rooms, its yearly show of flowers and fruit and plants and vegetables; and for the first time there was added a collection of poultry.
The society has for its president Mr T Colley, its vice president, Mr C Searle, its honorary secretarys Messrs G E Needham and W H Smith; its committee includes the chief residents of the district; it is patronised by the Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam, the Honourable W.A Fitzwilliam, M.P., Viscountess Milton, Mr W.H.Letham, M.P., Major Sturrock, Capt Horton and Johnson, Dr Hills, and others who help on the Kilnhurst society; and there are over 100 subscribers.
A stroll from the station along the ascending Lane up the face of the beautiful grass and woodland slope crowned by the ancient castle, in the stiff breeze of Wednesday afternoon, revealed a very picturesque scene of cornfields and meadows, and presented in the inns and cottages and shops and so forth almost an ideal of village life.
A long flag marked the place of the show. Three prizes had been offered for street decorations; but there were none. It was harvest holiday at the time at the board school, and the vegetables and the more prosy items were restored in a large room at one end, the flowers and plants in that at the opposite end.
In front of the little group of buildings the members of the Attercliffe Common Band, in uniform, were seated playing vigourously, and the poultry cages, about 40 in number, were opposite to them in the open.
The show had been declared open at one o’clock by the late secretary, Mr E Greaves, and the judges were still at their work, which they had a pull of three or four hours.
There were two classes, the amateurs and the cottages, and the judges were Mr Tyndall, of the Sprotbrough gardens, and Mr J S Gibbs, of Rotherham, the latter taking the place of Mr Ulverston, who was too unwell to attend.
The poultry had been judged by Mr J Earnshaw, of Rotherham, and a stroll in front of the pens to note the varied tints and listen to the cackling and crowing and chucklings of Cochins, Brahmas, Hamburghs, Polands, ducks, turkeys and geese was amusing as well as interesting and instructive.
The general quality was looked upon as being good, and the Cochins, the Spanish, the brown head bantams, the many variety bantams, with yellow legs sent by Mr George white of Mexborough, the Hamburgh cock, in good comb and colour, the well grown jokes, and some fine game chickens, hatched in 82 were considered worthy of special mention.
Passing thence into the schools one saw in front a room wherein refreshments were provided by Mr Shutt of the Red Lion Inn, Conisborough, and going through a doorway to the right, the visitor found himself within a large room having long tables covered by vegetables and fruits in trays, and in groups, and in great size and variety.
A smaller table, too, both fruits and vegetables, butter and eggs, fine in quality, and sent by Mr C. H. Brown, of Conisborough, but not for competition.
The verdict with respect to most of the classes was that the specimens shown were excellent; the vegetable tables alike of the amateurs and the cottages were good, and included some sterling specimens of potatoes, spring sown onions, and eschalots.
One tray of vegetables of eight sorts, cucumbers, tomatoes, Scarlet runners, Russian eschalots, spring onions, peas, kidney potatoes and turnips, secured for its owner Richard Vernon, of Conisborough – the competition was limited to the village – a special prize, a plant preserver worth 25 shillings and given by Mr R. Howard, of Doncaster.
Some of the potatoes were marked size; one seemed enough for a meal; and a dish of white elephants of excellent quality won a special prize given by Daniel brothers, of Norwich, for the secretary, Mr Needham. The fruits too were attractive, and the apples, baking and dessert, were very fine.
A couple of dozen prizes had been allocated for farm produce, red and white wheat, barley, oats, beans, swedes, turnips, butter, eggs. But there seem to have been a misunderstanding or dissatisfaction with respect to these items, and only butter and eggs were sent, and those by Mrs Slater, of Sprotbrough, to whom prizes were awarded for each by Mrs Baguley, also of that place. There was much regret expressed with regard to this department.
Entrance into the lower school room disclosed a collection of plants and flowers some of them lent by Mr J. Blyth and Mrs Simpson, local residents. The cut flowers of the amateurs were good, and a trio of balsams and the quartet of dissimilar coleuses were specially approved. The cut flowers of the cottages were, of course, ordinary; they succeed most with their vegetables.
Distributing the prizes.
The school within the shade of the old church was on Monday night in part filled by the price takers at the flower and poultry show gathered to receive their winnings from the hands of Mrs Ward Brown, wife of the vicar, the reverent, J. G. Wood.
The money was enclosed in envelopes and the articles, table forks, knives, teaspoons, teapots, jugs, saws, cakes, bottles of wine flower vases, and so forth, given alike by the society and by various tradesmen in Doncaster, Rotherham, Mexborough, Swinton and elsewhere, were set out on tables at hand.
The watchers, including the vicar, Miss Lee, Mrs Simpson, Mrs Colley, Mrs hills, Mrs Hawkins, Mrs Nicholson and Miss Nicholson, Mr Colley, the new president of the society, Mr Nicholson, the treasurer, and Messes T and R Fearn, Taylor, Twiby, Bird and Bamforth.
The prizes were handed by Mrs Colley to Mrs Ward, and she gave them over to the winners with kindly remarks.