It was a visit to Tatton with a difference. For several visits I have been a competitor, a member of a team for the National Vegetable Society, displaying vegetables to the general public, but this year the Society had refrained from having an entry. The pandemic has done damage to voluntary societies, for during the period of lockdown some members gave up,got out of the habit of coming or died, and not all have been replaced. My branch is down to small numbers and two of those, myself included, are disabled. But we take a positive view. Tatton is back, and that is cause to rejoice.
The second change, for me, was that I used a wheel chair. I don't usually use one, but as my medical condition involves a loss of balance.I am reluctant to walk among crowds, which can be quite dense at times. A wheel chair was the safest option. It was strange not to be going under my own power, but needs must, and I had the support of my ever-loyal wife, Maureen to push the chair. We were not on grass, as the show uses metal walkways and in the tents and marquees the grass is dry.
The other problem was the rain, for at times it was torrential, so the aim was to do your lingering inside the tents. I was well wrapped up with waterproof protection, and on our return home I was only slightly wet, but rain does not prevent enjoyment, it was at worst a minor inconvenience. You get wetter in the shower, so live with it. After all it was in North West England, what else can we expect?
The show was smaller this year than it previously was, but the essential character remains. It has the distinctive atmosphere of a horticultural and cultural event, and I think it is a genteel cultural institution descended from the traditional English country fair.
Comments
Vegetables are sold off at the show's end if not needed for subsequent events.
The first paragraph to your second subheading, The marquees, includes vegetable references to carrots and leeks.
Would those edibles be only for show or would there be a purchase possibility by admiring attendees?
We may go back to participating and the branch chairwoman has promised me that they will find me a suitable role, despite my illness. She also is disabled, more so than I am, so we tend to support each other. My main role has been communicating with the general public who visit the stalls.
But yes, being a spectator allowed me to see more of the show than I would as a competitor.
The Tatton show looks very colourful with the pictures you have displayed. Chrysanthemum comes in various cultivars and they are all amazing. In India we have button chrysanthemum which look like buttons as they are smaller in size. Gladiolus comes in many colours and they are popular as cut flowers. Bright, vibrant flowers when put into vase in a floral arrangement look impressive. Hope it must be equally exciting to be a spectator instead of a participant.
I once tasted somehing that I did not know was moonshine [potin.] Nevera gain. I don't think that they would be allowed genuine moonshine, and the vendors were simply selling strong whiskey.
I'm getting quite a really entertaining laugh over your wife preferring to stay away from the Irish moonshine stall. That's probably what my reaction would be what with the frightening stories here of moonshinees dying from moonshine and of moonshiners getting punished.
I did not include wines, as it was an oversight. There was not any wine or mead available, and Maureen was not keen on the stall that was selling Irish moonshine, so we did not visit it.
Wine is difficult to obtain at the show as to sell it you need to go through the process of proving to the magistrates that you are a fit and proper person to sell it or any other alcoholic drink.
Non alcoholic wines do not suffer the same constraints.
Your next-to-last subheading, The Marquees, adds wine to the edible list even as it is the "hardest to obtain."
Your last subheading, Edibles, conjures what is drunken, not eaten. It implies that you and your wife included no drinkables among your eatables, correct?
Why is wine so difficult to "obtain"? Would what's available be grape-based or non-grape-based?
We use a variety of breads, white and Brown sliced, French bread at times.
Your mentioning a toasted sandwich leaves me wondering about how bread looks in you and your family's household.
My imagination produces either sliced bread - ugh -- Unitedstatesian style or French and Italian style bread. Would that be correct or something in-between or something else?