Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

GARDENING IN BUCKDEN 157 CHAPTER 10/ GARDENING IN BUCKDEN David Thomas, R. H. Gibson The first part of this chapter contains a brief history of the gardening societies of Buckden, based on the booklet produced in 1993 to celebrate the Buckden Gardeners Association’s first hundred years. It incorporates additional material by the booklet’s author, David Thomas . In the second part, Robin Gibson deals with the village’s various allotment gardens. t is not clear exactly when Buckden’s first gardening society was established. There was certainly one in existence by the late 1880s: the first annual Buckden Horticultural Society and Band of Hope Flower Show was probably held in July 1887, seeing that the second and third shows were held in July 1888 and 1889 respectively. But had the society already been active, perhaps for some years, or was it formed specifically as a show society? Whatever impulse brought it into being, its link with the local temperance movement was short-lived. In the spring of 1893, the following report appeared in the St Neots Advertiser: ‘At a meeting on Thursday evening last week [20 April 1893], attended by about 80 of the inhabitants of Buckden and Diddington, Rev. H. M. Roxby in the chair, it was decided to form a horticultural society for the villages. Mr A. W. Marshall was elected President and Mr Frank J. Smith Secretary. A committee of 13 were appointed and it was resolved to hold the first Show in the grounds of Buckden Towers, on Wednesday July 12th ‘. The date chosen was the Wednesday of Feast Week, a day that remained constant until 1939. The show itself was written up in both the Hunts County News and the St Neots Advertiser. The latter reported that five hours of heavy showers had proved ‘rather disastrous’ to the show’s finances, particularly as it kept outsiders away. Nonetheless, residents turned up in ‘goodly quantities’ to listen to the Buckden Brass Band as it entertained in the afternoon and then played again in the evening at a dance which was held for that year and the two subsequent years in a marquee at The Towers. In later years the show moved between The Towers, Stirtloe House, Diddington Hall and, later, Coneygarths. The venue of the show followed the presidency of the society. How many Buckden people today would walk with their exhibits in a basket or wheelbarrow in the morning, attend the show in the afternoon, and then walk back again in the evening for a dance, if it were held at Diddington? I Buckden and Diddington Horticultural Society 1893 President Mr A. W. Marshall Vice Presidents Rev. H. M. Roxby (Buckden) Mr J. Linton Mr J. C. Green Mr A. J. Thornhill Hon. Secretary Mr F. J. Smith Hon. Treasurer Mr A. Hallett Committee Rev. A Hannam (Diddington) Messrs Page Robey G. King D. Smith S. Green Looker Whitmee Copping Hawkins Hillyer Strachan W. Stoneham F. Brightman Petfield Jnr