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As with most of these early Societies no records appear to now exist but it is possible to piece together details of their shows from newspaper accounts (1).

The first annual show took place in August 1905. The founding father of the shows was Mr Ralph Scrivener Keep (2) who was a poultry farmer, and the shows were held in his grounds at Oak Hill. Mr Keep was the President of the Society and seems to have stayed as such until his death in 1928. In the first year the Hon. Mark Rolle was Patron of the show and Mr W. H. Drummond and Rev. W. F. Green were the Vice-Presidents. Mr Richards worked hard as the Hon. Secretary. The prizes were presented by Mrs Edith Keep.

They were very lucky with the weather and the show attracted a large number of visitors from the immediate neighbourhood. In addition to the many flower and vegetable classes, prizes were given for the best cottage garden and four men from the Bicton Estate received long service awards. In addition Mr Keep exhibited a plant collection. At the end of the show, sports had been arranged by the committee which comprised Messrs. Lipscomb, Morris, Annis and Yearsby, and in the evening the East Budleigh Band provided a programme of popular music.

Earlier in 1906 the Society’s Committee Meeting re-elected Mr Keep as President and Messrs. Lipscomb, Yearsley, Pye, Martin and Clatworthy as members of the executive committee, with Mr J Richards again as he Hon. Secretary. The show took place on August Bank Holiday Monday and this became the usual annual date. Sports were again included and were organised by Mr Lipscomb, and the music was provided by the East Budleigh Band.

By 1910 the usual format had been enhanced by competitions for needlework and table decoration. Various side-shows were also included, a practice which seems to have been introduced prior to 1910. Music on this occasion was provided by the Budleigh Salterton Band conducted by bandmaster Harding. Major Morrison Bell MP for Honiton and the Head Master of Westminster School were Mr Keep’s guests and both showed a great interest in the event. Mr Richards was still doing the hard work of Hon. Show Secretary. Nearly 700 people attended but unfortunately it rained on the day, and the prizes were presented by Mr Keep in one of the tents.

The annual shows continued until 1915 when they were suspended during WW1. They restarted in 1920 and Mr Keep was now being assisted by his daughter Miss Dorothy Keep as Hon. Secretary.

In 1921 and 1922 Miss Dorothy Keep was still the Hon. Secretary supporting her father. Both shows were successful with reasonable weather. The 1922 account commented that “The exhibition is noted for the excellence and number of entries; this year’s show in these respects constituted a record... Mr Keep kindly allowed the use of his beautiful grounds for the event..”

The 1923 show again attracted large numbers of visitors from Budleigh Salterton and surrounding villages. “The committee put on an excellent programme of athletic sports and there were numerous side-shows including a hoop-la, Aunt Sally and weight judging competitions”. One change was necessary due to the marriage of Dorothy Keep earlier in the year, and her place as Hon. Secretary was taken by Mr Keep’s other daughter Mrs Margorie Vere Doake.  Mrs Keep organised a needlework competition for the children.

In 1927 the 18th annual show again attracted a large crowd to see the usual flower and allotment classes and there were classes for needlework and table decoration. The vicar, Rev. Green was the Vice-President, Mrs Doake was still Secretary. The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette declared that “the show was probably the best ever held by the Society for the exhibits were of wonderful fine quality”.

The President Ralph Keep died in October 1928 and his son-in-law Mr Richard Vere Doake (3) took over as President for the 1929 show. Lieutenant Colonel H.W.Gardiner was Vice-President and Mrs Vere Doake continued as Secretary. It’s not clear whether the shows were still held at Oak Hill, although probably not (see below).

The newspapers seemed less interested in the shows until 1937, although they did report in 1930 that Mr Clemens the landlord of the King’s Arms in East Budleigh had unsuccessfully applied for an extension to his licence for the afternoon of the show. Apparently he had been successful for the previous seven years but Inspector Dart said the police objected as it had been a mistake and if Mr Clemens was granted an extension there was no reason why the Rolle Arms should not also have an extension. Dart also said the show was in a field some distance from the King’s Arms (and this perhaps suggests that it was possibly not being held at Oak Hill).

The Second World War brought a temporary end to the show until the end of the conflict, and also probably an end to the Society. During WWII a branch of the Village Produce Association (4) was formed at the end of 1943 or early in 1944. The Western Times reported the formation of the branch in February of 1944 which by that time had 24 members. The Chairman was Mr Macaskie of Bicton, and Mr L. Clemens of Wynards House and Mr W. Rogers were Secretary and Treasurer respectively. The East Budleigh and District Village Produce Association seems to have been responsible for the local flower and vegetable shows after the war as there is a record of the 2nd annual show in August 1946 held in aid of funds for the Red Cross. It was held at Wynards House and Revd. H.W. Gardiner was the President with Mr C. Nute as show secretary. There was a fancy dress competition and further money was raised by an auction of most of the produce. The Association had held a whist drive at Wynard’s in June also to raise funds for the Red Cross.

In 1947 the committee of the Association were visited by Professor Caldwell and Mr Hosegood of the University College of the South-West who gave advice on the growing of food. At the meeting Mr R. Anderson was elected President and they decided to hold another whist drive at Wynard’s to raise money for prizes for the autumn show.

In 1950 the “4th annual chrysanthemum, fruit and vegetable show” (5) was held in November and there was a record entry of 350, an increase of nearly a 100 on 1949. For the fourth year in a row Mr F. Farr won the Hudson Cup for the highest number of points in the members’ section. Mr Anderson was still President, Mr McClaskie was Chairman, Mr Clemens was Secretary, and Mr H. Boulton was the Treasurer.

The last record of the Association I have found was the 8th AGM held in the Institute in December 1950 when Mr Boulton as Treasurer reported a balance of just over £27 and the officers were all re-elected. Whether there were subsequent shows in unclear but local knowledge might well subsequently provide this information.

Written and researched by Roger Lendon, © December 2015

(1) Exeter & Plymouth Gazette, Western Times, Western Morning News
(2) 1870-1928, formerly a brassfounder in Edgebaston, Birmingham. Was a keen croquet player who competed in national tournaments. In 1914 he donated a silver cup, which is now in Fairlynch Museum, to the Budleigh Salterton Chrysanthemum Society.
(3) Captain Richard Lionel Vere Doake DSO, MC, Bedfordshire Regiment WW2
(4) This movement started in WW1 and was encouraged to revive in WW2. East Budleigh branch was set up two years after the Exeter branch.
(5)  This suggests that the show had moved into the autumn from August in 1947

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