Flower show success down the decades

And whatever year you choose, come sunshine or rain Shrewsbury Flower Show always serves up a host of memories.

It has drawn massive crowds since the earliest days of the event. Long will the Edwardians have reminisced about the rides in tethered balloons back in those times, offering magnificent aerial views of the town for those prepared to pay.

Famously one balloon broke free and eventually landed up on the Staffordshire border. For this unexpected adventure the passengers got a discount.

Despite all the planning that goes into the show the one thing that is always going to be an uncontrollable variable is the weather, which at one point almost killed off the show forever.

The 1970 Shrewsbury Flower Show was the most disastrous in its long history. It was hit by two inches of rain, its worst weather for 50 years, which plunged it into a financial crisis.

It survived because Percy Thrower, the TV gardener with a long association with the show, and one or two others, stuck their necks out financially to prop it up. To their relief, there was no repetition of 1970's downpour the following year, and the show recovered.

For those taking their eyes away from the top class floral exhibits, there is the programme of entertainment which has wowed the crowds over the years both at ground level and in the skies.

Were you there in 1987 when Concorde overflew the centenary show? Then there has been a long tradition of trapeze acts and acrobats, which were especially popular among the 1920s and 1930s crowds.

Music, arena displays, and demonstrations, are all part of the jigsaw which has seen the flower show billed as a great family event with something for everyone. Long may it grow!