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A short history of the Society |
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A short history of the Romford Smallholders Society In 1911 several prominent local residents; Messrs. Carr, Blane, Edwards, Green, Richardson and others held an inaugural meeting of the Romford Smallholders and Allotments Society Ltd. at the Lamb Inn in Romford Market Place. An area of land 10.5 acres in size was selected and Sir John Bethel, the local Liberal Member of Parliament, was approached about its purchase. Sir John was able to acquire the site on payment of £100 to Mr. Gay for the manorial rights. Sir John Bethel lent the society the necessary money, free of interest and he became the society's first President. He also presented a Shield and Cup, to be competed for annually. All those wishing to become members were asked to purchase a five shilling share in the Society; this sum was quite a large one in those days and they were given time to gather the money together. Four people agreed to act as Trustees: Messrs. Brown, Edwards Green and Harris. The first Secretary of the Society was Mr. Millard. The rent for an allotment then was 6d. (2.5 p) per rod. The Limited Company went into liquidation in 1935 and the Society in its present form replaced it. Lack of support resulted in the annual show being discontinued in 1937 but was reintroduced in 1939 and went on from strength to strength. The shows, which were held mainly in the King's Head public house in the centre of the Market Place, were were well known for their musical accompaniment - a small ensemble conducted by Mr. Stan Ward played throughout the show. It became the biggest one day flower, vegetable and domestic show in the local area. Trading commenced in 1939 with the purchase of a hut and scales and the initial sales of bone meal, hoof and horn, peas and beans. Lime went on sale the following autumn when 10 tons was sold! For some time the Society managed three sites: Pretoria Road, Eastern Avenue and Victoria Hospital. The Victoria Hospital site was eventually released back to the hospital who wanted it for development, members who were working there were offered plots at Pretoria Road . The Society then released the Oak Street end of the Pretoria Road site back to the Crown. The Society's annual show flourished until the late 1990's when eventually it declined from over 1000 items shown by up to 100 exhibitors, down to just 300 - 400 exhibits. The show was then held on alternate years before stopping in 2002. The decline in the annual show coincided with the much reduced membership of the Society , a decline which is fortunately now in reverse as allotment gardening has begun to rise in popularity again. At an Extraordinary General Meeting on 16 May 2006 members unanimously agreed that the Society should apply for charity status in order to help develop its role in the local community. Information for the first 50 years of the Society were supplied by Mrs. Hilda Jeffrey, Claude Hollis and Bob Wilding and were taken from the Show Schedule for the Golden Jubilee Show |
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