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Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Westminster 2010

What an absolutely amazing show! I would urge anyone who can bench remotely decent veg to have a go here in future. Yes, there are some excellent exhibits from the usual suspects but the difficulty of getting veg into the centre of London means anyone could get a few tickets here with a bit of planning. I put in some fairly ordinary entries but still managed to win £30+ and cover my expenses for the day. Next year I shall be seriously going to town as there are some good classes to enter and some very good prize money.

A 1.30am start to catch a bus in Nottingham isn't everyone's cup of tea but the banter soon started flowing. I had joined the annual trip of North Derbyshire District Association of the NVS and I'd had to make sure all my veg was properly boxed up for the journey in the bus luggage compartment. After arriving at 5am I had plenty of time to get my 10 entries in. I even had time to chat to legendary NVS tomato and runner bean man Charlie Maisey. What a character he is!

After staging, a hearty full english breakfast was followed by a short stroll past the Houses of Parliament. I took this picture of the great and the good of the North Derby DA contingent in the shadow of Big Ben.





















The London Eye couldn't tempt me into a ride.















As for the show some of the classes were distinctly sparse and I know I can compete in future years.














However, the spud classes were amazing with Sherie Plumb to the fore with some incredible plates.















As for me, a couple of 2nd places and five 3rds proves i'm not out of place in the company of some of the country's top growers. Most pleasing tickets were 3rd for 250g onions (my set in the middle)...














........and 2nd in the 12 shallot class.















However, my pal Dave Thornton had a great show winning with long carrots, 250g onions, the tap root class and of course beating me with shallots. Here is the big headed twat being photographed and interviewed by Medwyn.









More photos in the next few days....right now I need sleeeeeeep!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

well done look forward to more photos. rayden x

mistyhorizon2003 said...

Well done Simon, looks a great show, but not sure I could ever face train travelling with entries even if I lived in the UK now. Good on you for being so determined as to do this.

Richard W. said...

Good to meet up with you at Westminster, but wish I'd had more time to spend at the show. Certainly, it's inspired me to greater things including having a go at exhibiting in a small way next year.

Is it a coincidence that, in the photo, Dave Thornton's arse seems intentionally close to your plate of shallots? I thought there was a strange smell eminating from them. Medwyn's idea, I reckon, in retaliation for you beating him at Malvern.

JBA seed potatoes said...

Is that Sheries potatoes just beyond that yellow ticket?
It looks like them due to their skin finish and condition.

pies said...

Thats some entry for spuds,not what i was expecting at a central London show

Simon (Smithyveg) said...

Iain....yes they were Sherie's. Amazing spuds as always.

Pies.....not that many 'entries' in that view believe it or not. It shows the 3 plate class and the 6 plate class.