Broadbottom Village Show 2022 – Committee’s Review 

After four years without a show, we had an excellent turn out for our 2022 Autumn Show. The quality and effort displayed by this year’s entries were again of a very high standard. 

We continued with the innovation, introduced in 2017, of an award for the ‘Best in Show – Most Outstanding Exhibit’. The idea was to recognise an entry that goes above and beyond, and this year’s winner did just that. (No one was given the award in 2018, as there wasn’t one single exhibit that stood out sufficiently from all the others.) From 2023, the award will be named The John Grue Award, in memory of a dedicated member of our local community, who we sadly lost last year. Read a tribute to John and his role in the community.

The winner of the award was decided collectively by the judges who judged the other entries. This is always quite difficult to judge, when comparing different categories, so effort and detail, as well as the aesthetics and presentation, are taken into consideration. 

The award went to Malcolm Knight for his relief sculpture exhibit, that he created using a 9th century Italian method called Sgraffito. The following is a brief description of the method used: 

The base is a wooden frame with wire mesh onto which a coat of sand and cement is laid as a background. Onto this there are three coats of different coloured plasters made from cement and pigment, one on top of the other. The red layer has yellow inserts created with stencils. 

The top had to be dry enough and be firm to the touch, but soft enough to cut through to the relevant layer below, to create the design before the top layer completely dried.

There were 144 entries overall, 116 adults and only 28 children’s entries. This might be because we don’t currently have any scout or guide groups in the village, but we do have a group of cubs coming through. 

The most popular adult classes were in ‘photography’, followed by ‘flowers and vegetables’, ‘kitchen crafts’, then ‘knitted and crocheted items’; everything was of a very high standard. 

The most popular children’s classes were ‘drawings/paintings’ followed by ‘children’s baking’, then ‘plants and nature’. There were no entries in the children’s photography classes. 

There were only three entries for giant vegetables, but this could have been down to timing of the event and this summer’s weather. 

As always, there were quite a number of excellent jams and chutneys, which are always difficult to choose from, and some impressive cakes and breads in the baking section. 

We will have to have a think about the number and types of different categories for future shows and we would welcome your input.  

Please contact us by email at hello@broadbottomvillage.co.uk or drop a note in at the community centre for the attention of the committee. 

We would like to thank the local businesses, who contributed so many excellent raffle prizes, and thank you also to all those who volunteered to do the judging. 

The Hive 

Lymefield Garden Centre 

Stop the Clock Design 

Tigellae 

Village Greens 

Paulo Ferreira 

Maxine Pigram 

Once again, it was a tremendous community effort, and a really enjoyable day for all who took part.