Chairman’s Message 2018

Welcome to the Chipstead Village Flower Show and Fair. This year is the 109th show, but there is evidence of a ‘Fair’ in Chipstead going back to 1549. The show was stopped in 1854 by the then new owner of the Shabden Estate, where the show was held, as he considered the show a nuisance! The show was revived by Lord Marshall of Shabden in the early 20th century and was first held on its current site, at Elmore, in 1947, thanks to Norman Wates where it continues to this day courtesy of John and Carol Wates.

With the proximity of Kenley and Biggin Hill airfields, Chipstead had a close involvement with the air force during the 2nd World War. Canadian air crew were billeted here and mosquito airframe parts were manufactured in the village. This year is the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the RAF and in honour of this event we plan to bring you (weather permitting) a repeat of the Spitfire fly over display that we had for the 100th show, in 2009.

We are hoping that the weather again will be good to us, and that you are all busy preparing your entries for the main event, the show marquee. Hopefully you managed to see all the magnificent entries last year, especially the children’s section and the superb cake entries.

Your committee never likes to stand still, so two new innovations are brought to you this year, the first is the schedule (which can be picked up in various locations around Chipstead) printed for the first time in colour, and second is this updated website where you can see all of the planned activities for this year’s show, past histories and photos of the 2017 show (courtesy of Elisabeth Spry) as well as being able to enter and pay for your classes on line. Our very grateful thanks go to Alexander Scrimgeour for his time and effort in setting this up.

The committee work so hard to organise this show, so can I thank them and all the other helpers and sponsors who make this show so successful. We are always looking for assistance prior to the show and on the day from anyone able to help.

Finally the entire committee was delighted to receive “The 2017 Volunteer Team Award” from The Mayor of Reigate and Banstead Council. Our thanks go to The Mayor, Councillor John Stevenson and Beverley Barry for all their assistance in helping us to achieve this award. Also to John and Carol Wates for allowing us to use Elmore once again for this year’s show.

I do hope you have a great day; next year’s show will be on Saturday 20th July 2019.

Peter Quiney – Chairman

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The Chipstead Village Fair & Flower Show website front page.

A New Website

Hello Everyone! As the more observant amongst you may have noticed the website has received a small makeover in preparation for next year’s show. Some of the new features include a redesigned gallery where you can view photographs from previous shows (dating back to the 1950s), a news section where you can keep up with new developments, sub-sections detailing what attractions are on offer, and perhaps most importantly it is now possible to enter your application to exhibition classes online.

Applications for next year’s show will not open until early 2018 when the schedule has been finalised; until that time you can use the “Exhibiting” section to browse through last year’s categories and see what classes can be expected. The details for some classes will be amended from year to year and so it should be stressed that the current classes have the potential to change (in case anybody is eager to get started!). In the meantime, we hope the new website is easy to navigate and provides all the information you need.

For those that wish to receive updates on what is happening with regards to the show don’t hesitate to follow us on either Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

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Chipstead Fair and Flower Show Committee wins Reigate and Bandstead Mayor's Volunteer Team Award.

Chipstead Flower Show Committee Wins Reigate & Banstead Mayor’s Volunteer Team Award

The Chipstead Village Fair & Flower Show are delighted to announce that the volunteers on the Chipstead Flower Show Committee have been awarded the Reigate and Banstead Mayor’s Volunteer Group Award 2017. The award, given to residents of Reigate and Banstead Council who dedicate their time to helping others in the community, was collected by Peter Quiney, Pam Gilburt, Estelle Forsberg, Pat Oakley and Richard Powell on behalf of the entire committee.

Two of the committee members were also given special recognition. Estelle Forsberg was recognised for her 31 years organising the vegetable, fruit and flower entries and Pat Oakley for her 26 years working with local schools on the children’s categories.

The hard work of committee members past and present has ensured the show continues after 108 years; only war and a particularly wet summer in 2012 have prevented it. Their continued dedication solidifies the Chipstead Village Fair and Flower Show as a key event on the village calendar. We could not thank these volunteers enough and believe they are very deserving of this award.

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