& officially opened by the Mayor of Wakefield at 7-30 PM.
We were glad to have with us earlier in the day, the representative of Garden News, Mr Ken Lander who travelled from Kent to report on our Society & take photographs of some of the members & their tulips. Mr Lander was unable to stay to the opening ceremony, but we are very grateful to him & to Mr John Bloom,
Managing Editor of Garden News for their great interest in our Society & for the publicity which subsequently arose from it.
We were honoured by the presence of the Mayor & Mayoress of Wakefield, Councillor & Mrs Frank Ellis & the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress
Councillor & Mrs Henry Hall. The Mayoral Party were conducted round the show by the Chairman Mr Akers & the Secretary & were very impressed by the display of both Darwins & old English florists Tulips.
Unfortunately the weather had not been kind & three of the English florist classes had to be transferred to the Altofts show the following week.
The chairman apologised for our President Mr F.R. Hunter, who was unable to attend the opening ceremony, but we were pleased to see him later in the evening. Mr Hunter has not been very well for some time & we were sorry to hear that Mrs Hunter had passed away recently. We offer our sincere condolences to Mr Hunter & his family.
A full list of prizewinners has appeared in the Wakefield Express, but here are the
Special awards. Mr Akers won the Perkin
Trophy, the local Challenge Cup, the Open
Challenge Cup & showed the Premier Breeder.
Mr A. Tear won the Needham Memorial Cup
& showed the Premier flamed. The Stages Cup was won by Mr W.D. Tear who also showed the Premier feathered. Mr R.D. Wood won the
Silver Plate & the Perkin Special Prize, & the
Brooke Silver Challenge Cup went to Mr J. Taylor of Altofts. Mr W.D. Tear brought along some seedlings which he had raised from the Darwin tulip Charles Needham.
As a result of an appeal in the Wakefield
Express & at the Show there had been nine applications for membership of the Society.
The Show at the Horse & Jockey on Saturday & Sunday 21st & 22nd of May 1966 had not as many entries as in previous years & some of the
Darwins showed the effects of the weather, but the English florists classes transferred from the Annual Show were well represented with blooms of very good quality. One exhibit by Mr J. Taylor, a new member from Altofts, was exceptional. It was a set of three
Columbines, breeder, flamed & feathered & members agreed it was best exhibition in its class to be seen for many years. Mr Akers won the F.R. Hunter Memorial Trophy, Mr W
Markham the prize for most points in Darwin classes & the Stand of 3 English florists tulips was wons won by Mr J. Taylor.
Wakefield & North of England Tulip Society.
