In August 1960, Mr C.W. Wise took over as Show Manager. In May 1961, a letter arrived announcing the newly formed Thornton Cleveleys Flower Arrangement club, and the Secretary was Mrs Dorothy Kent. The committee were asked to store the tables for the show; they had to say how many they could store. The Ladies Committee raised £25 at a Coffee Morning.
In 1961, there were two shows; a Spring Show in April and Summer Show in August.
In March 1962, the committee allocated £30 to buy a type writer, the actual cost turned out to be £27-15s-9d. It was decided that members had to live within 6 miles of Thornton. Membership was 2/- adults and 1/- pensioners.
The Anniversary Show was on the 18th of August and the Spring Show was on May 19th. Classes included 3 jars of honey and 4 hens eggs of any colour.
1963 brought a very cold winter with snow on the ground from January to March. Mr T E Mills was elected chairman at the December AGM. Mr Ernest Lord was made Honory Life President and Mr Fred Porter was asked to do a scroll.
The 1964 show was in two venues. At the April committee meeting held in the Wignall Church (now Thornton Methodists Church) we see the first mention of Mr G R Powney as Assistant Show Manager. This was the last show for the Honey classes. There were discussions in December about moving the show to Millfield School on Church Road (now a housing estate) for the 1965 show, it would cost £1-1s-0d per hour to hire. By November, Mr G R Powney had been elected Show Manager and Mr Wise had resigned.
The 1965 show was moved to the Thornton Cleveleys Secondary Modern School for the August 28th, Flowers Arts & Crafts Show.
Mr J L Turner elected chairman at the December 1966 AGM and in February 1967, the new bigger wooden trade hut opened but as yet, it had no electrics. It was notable that Burnside Nurseries of St George’s Lane, Cleveleys had moved to New Lane.
In September of 1968, it was recorded that six duffel coats were supplied for the men working in the trade hut. A new show class number 200 was introduced for ‘Men Only miscellaneous’.
In 1969, Mrs Dales Diary finished on the radio. Brian Trubshaw first flew the British Concorde 002 and membership subs were 4/- and 2/6 (4 shillings and 2 shillings and six pennies). Special classes for Cacti were included in the programme for the 1970 show.
A trip to Chelsea Flower Show cost £1-10s or 30/-. The Show prizes were presented by Violet Carson with her sister Nellie Kelly, Council Leader Cllr & Mrs Crosdale. Apparently, we forgot to order the button holes and sprays – whoops! The show tables came from Stanley Park, Blackpool.
Thornton Cleveleys Horticultural Society 