Ham Horticultural Society – by GH

I was involved with it  [Ham Horticultural Society] at a fairly early stage, because of the most impressive show, which they used to have on Ham Common every August. This was indeed a very impressive affair, with the quality of the exhibits far above that of any of the neighbouring shows roundabout, which I’d better not name. The show was enormously popular; the Mayor of Richmond and the Mayor of Kingston always attended it, the people came from all around, and regrettably, it was brought to an end by vandalism. The marquee which we used to hire and put up, was severely damaged one year with the police simply looking on at it and it became apparent that it was no longer a viable alternative, so we then moved to a much smaller show held at St. Andrew’s Village Hall, which really took away a lot of the character of the original Ham Horticultural Society. To a certain extent, its function has been taken over by the Ham Amenities Group Fair on Ham Common, which is a far larger event than the Horticultural Society Show was, but is nevertheless a landmark in the calendar of what’s on in Ham.

Well, it was a social side, they had a trading hut, which is just near the doctor’s surgery in Lock Road. They used to sell garden supplies, plants, anything to do with gardens, every Sunday morning and this used to need about three to four people working more or less full time on the Saturday.