“The Show That Never Was”
This was the theme of this year’s Shrewsbury Flower Show, which celebrated the 1914 SFS that was meticulously planned but did not happen due to the war effort. It is the only time in 127 years of the Shrewsbury Flower Show that it has not gone ahead.
Fancy dress and acts pertained to what was on the bill for 27th Show in 1914. High Wire acts, Military displays, Horse challenges, and demonstrations.
Hordes of people flocked in and took the sun drenched show in all its glory.
The Weatherman had got it all wrong!
It’s always a pleasure to meet up with wonderful performers. And although I don’t get away from the main arena (12 hours days), I did have time to catch up with some new and old colleagues and acquaintances, some who had new acts, some with tried and tested routines.
On Saturday The Red Arrows did a fly by – I was scheduled for 14:09, and in fact, they were on the very second of 14:09:01. Precise Military precision.
Acts in the Arena were:
South African Field Gun Challenge Display
Whitchurch Dog Display
Bernie Bennett High Wire Act
Dingle Fingle
The job of compering was fun and challenging.
Making my job easier was Captain Andrew Rhodes, who between us, kept the whole day running smoothly.
It was a breath of fresh air to jump into clown mode and present the Clown Town Crime Watch. Big bombs and horse jumps to drive around. (I should mention here the arena party were putting up the jumps as I did my routine.) Brave people who incidentally got very wet as they unexpectedly came into the line of fire of the 30 galloons of water I was chasing Slippery Sid with.
The evening’s finale show was as spectacular as ever:
On the main stage Friday:
The Opera Boys – A terrifically entertaining act, honed to perfection by these sophisticated Tenors.
On the main stage Saturday:
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Bag Rock at its best. Scientists have proved this type of music causes excitement, and they were right, the band made the park come alive!
You could see the crowd at the back of the hill bouncing with the music.
(and yes I did call them The Red Hot Chilli ‘Peppers’ once!)
The Marching Massed Bands Finale were made up of:
The Royal Anglian Regiment
The Royal Corps of Signals (Northern) Band
The Band of the Mercian Regiment
The Band of the Yorkshire Volunteers
The Bugle Platoon of the Light Infantry Bugles Association
The choirs were:
The Shrewsbury Male Voice Choir and The RAF Shawbury Military Wives Choir.
Kimbolton provided the Fireworks, as is customary.
All in all a great gig! Although happy, I was very tired from filling the two roles of clowning and compering – all good showbiz stammer practice.
See more photos below!
A final word for the Exiting Arena Chairman, Richard Whittingham –
Great to have worked alongside you for the last 3 years. It’s been educational, exciting, and fun. All the very best to you and your family for the future.
Thanks also to Shropshire Horticultural Society for having us back. Hope we can do it all again next year in 2015!
