Wilmslow Show is held at Wilmslow High School, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, as a one-day event on a Sunday – usually the second Sunday in July. Sections include Horticulture, Dogs, Classic Cars, etc.
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Early history
Details of the very first Show have been lost, but the earliest record dates from the 1897 Show Schedule. This Schedule published by the organisers, the Alderley Edge and Wilmslow Horticultural Society, makes reference to a 'Past President' suggesting that this was not the first Show.
In those days there were numerous large houses in the area, where one or several gardeners were employed. The Society staged a large horticultural show in the Harden Park area and advertised it at the time as the largest one-day show in the North. The show was undoubtedly a big event in the local social calendar and a large proportion of the entries were grown and staged by the gardeners of local residents in their employer's name. Major spectacles at the show were large trade exhibits by many of the nationally known horticultural specialists and there were big displays by several of the regional local authority parks departments.
After World War I
There is then a gap as no shows were held during the First World War. The annual show restarted in 1919 and shortly afterwards, reflecting new horticultural fashion, the Society became the Alderley Edge and Wilmslow Horticultural and Rose Society. During the inter-war years the show continued to be held at Harden Park and remained of a purely horticultural nature. The Second World War necessitated another halt for the show, which then resumed in the late 40s.
50's and 60's
During the 50's and 60's with the decline in the number of large houses and with it, the number of employed gardeners, the mood of the show changed and an increasing number of entries were from people doing their gardening in small or medium-sized gardens. The membership of the Horticultural Society reflected this change, but the show continued in much the same form until the late 60's. A succession of shows on wet days, coupled with the inability of a purely horticultural show to attract large numbers of people caused a financial crisis and the Society came to the brink of collapse.
Revival
Fortunately a few of the committee members of that time together with some members of the Society had the determination to try to revive its fortunes and a stop-gap small show was staged in the Public Hall, Wilmslow. In its own way this was quite successful and for a number of years this was repeated and a small marquee was used to extend the Hall in later years. The last of these shows was in 1976 by which time the finances of the Society had been revived and there was a general enthusiasm to stage larger shows again, avoiding the pitfalls which had led to the earlier problems.
The 1977 show was held on the Carnival Field, Wilmslow and although the horticultural element formed the backbone, it also included other attractions of interest to a wider audience. It was felt that the best way of doing this was to approach other appropriate local organisations with a view to them staging their own activities, largely run by them, at a venue provided by the society. This proved a successful strategy, and the National Cactus and Succulent Society staged their annual show (as they do to this day), the Wilmslow Riding Club staged a gymkhana and the local Austin 7 Club staged a Rally. Several local flower clubs put up exhibits, and there were smaller exhibits by the Police, the Manchester Flying School, the Waterways Preservation Society etc. There were also some children's amusements on site to keep the younger generation happy.
The Show proved very successful with over 3,000 visitors enjoying a low cost day out.