A Short History of Kirkby Fleetham & District Floral & Horticultural Society (extract from a document prepared by Reverend K. McLeod, President of the Society in 2001)

On the death of Elizabeth Sophia Lawrence in 1845, she willed Kirkby Fleetham Hall to Edmund Waller and it was during his ownership the Kirkby Fleetham & District Floral & Horticultural Society Committee was formed.

The very first Show was held in August 1876 but the earliest newspaper report still in existence is from a copy of the Darlington & Stockton Times dated 16th August, 1879 which reads “on Tuesday, the 4th Annual Show of the Kirkby Fleetham Flower Society was held in a field kindly lent for the occasion by Mr. J. Fryer”. As well as recording the list of prizewinners it mentions magnificent blooms of cut roses” and “a good show of raspberries, currants and strawberries” whilst “plums, apples, pears and apricots were only meagre on account of the cold weather”.

So began in that latter half of the 19th Century the event that became affectionately known as “Fleetham Feast”.

There were years, of course, when the Feast could not be held, for example, during the two world wars, but even then, horticulture was not forgotten and the Parish Magazine for 1915 reminds parishioners that fresh vegetables are urgently needed to supply the British Fleet in the North Sea .

Apart from these sad years, when the Feast could not be held, its 100-plus Shows during the last century and a quarter, have been occasions of delight and joy in the village.