Bumper crop!

ORGANISERS of this year's Soham Pumpkin fair say the event was one of the best in recent years.

There was an increased number of entries in all the outdoor competitions and an excellent display indoors. All this came with warm autumn sunshine and helped to produce a bumper day for the crowds.

The number of entries in the various categories was up on last year and the winning weights in the pumpkin and vegetable classes were up as well.

The heaviest pumpkin grown by a Soham resident (grown by Angela Clements) weighed in at 68.14kg.

Laura Bridge grew the heaviest pumpkin in the East Anglia competition, with a pumpkin weighing 76.46 kg. Sam Giddens took the Boyce Cup for non resident growers with a pumpkin weighing an impressive 79.07 kg.

In the sunflower classes, Amy and Rebecca Green dominated the classes for the largest sunflower head, while Callum Ford grew the tallest sunflower grown by a child and Kathy Murry won the adult category.

Competition in the other vegetable groups was hotly fought and although no records were broken the competition was keen.

At the centre of this year's fair was the D T Brown National Pumpkin Championship, the first National Pumpkin Championship to be held for 20 years.

The weather over the growing season had produced mixed results for pumpkin growers across the country so organisers were pleased to see a massive pumpkin grown by a grower in Bedfordshire.

Antony Primett's pumpkin weighed in at a massive 193 kg and he was awarded a beautifully engraved glass trophy and a cheque for £500 donated by DT Brown.

Mr Primett agreed to donate seeds from his winning pumpkin to the children of Soham for next year's competition, as well as donating part of his winnings to the charities being supported by the Soham Pumpkin Fair. Press spokesman Andy Hannaford said: "He was indeed a very gracious winner and we hope that he will return next year to attempt to retain his title as the national champion.

"The day passed off splendidly in the warm autumn sunshine. The crowd, which was up on last year, was treated to two splendid performances by The Soham Fenlander Majorettes, who opened and closed the show. Children from The Weatheralls School, Soham, wonderfully demonstrated their gymnastic skills and Zac the clown kept the audience, young and old, entertained in the small arena.

"For the more active, Ely Rugby Club showed off their ball handling skills and even Mr Pumpkin found himself involved in their display."

The committee do not have final figure for the fund-raising, but say they anticipate that it will be up on last year's total.

FULL RESULTS:

Pumpkin Classes

Group 1 Male. (Lawrence Cup) S.Cocksedge 33.58.

Adam Fletcher 29.94. Chris Rule 29.88.

Female. (Bavester Cup) Jeannette Biggadike 34.20. Barbara Liles 29.66. Kay Rule 29.18.

SVC. Harry Seal 58.70. Dani Fletcher 47.10. Andrew Cocksedge 41.16.

Weatheralls (3-5) Max Pitman 37.38. Charlotte Fordham-Palmby 35.48. Adam Biggadike 31.36.

Weatheralls (6-11) Angela Clements 68.14. Michael Biggadike 49.62. Jemma Biggadike 44.18.

St Andrew's (3-5). Fiona Darlow 48.74. Natasha Bamford 29.10. Ellie Hobbs 13.12.

St Andrew's (6-11). Nicky Rule 41.02. Owen Drew 37.40. Taylor Hedgecock 35.44.

Under-16s schools outside Soham. Victoria Beckett 38.76. Aimee Dack 24.20. Jordan Mitchell 3.40

Pre-Schools. Sophie Mattoli. 40.16. Ami Hedgecock 23.96. Cameron Fuller 21.64.

Scouts. Charlie Ford 29.9.

Heaviest Pumpkin Grown by a Soham Child.

(Grps 3-10) Murfitt Cup. Angela Clements 68.14. Heaviest Pumpkin Grown by a Soham Resident.

(£50 donated by Fenbelt Ltd) Angela Clements 68.14.

Non-Soham resident. (Boyce Cup) Sam Giddens 79.07.

Edumd Dickens 43.54. Holli Malton 28.02.

East Anglia

Williams East Anglian Cup. Laura Bridge 76.46. Reg Rogerson 74.70. Stephen Frost 35.60.

Sunflower (head classes)

Under 8s. Ellie-Rai Quinn Nicholls 420mm. Leila Dunbavin 411mm. Sean Chadwick 351mm.

8-16. Amy and Rebecca Green 455. Daryl Guy 411. Antonia Chivers 380.

Biggest Sunflower Head (child).

(Manning Trophy) Amy and Rebecca Green 455. Sunflower Head (adult)

Janet Nicholls 433. Denis Nicholls 405. D. Peacock 350. Biggest Sunflower Head (SB Cup)

Amy and Rebecca Green 455.

Tallest Sunflower

Under-8s.

Kiera and Connor Stanley 3.60m. Jake Barber 3.52. Billy Dunbavin 3.39.

Tallest Sunflower (8-16). Callum Fuller 3.70. Amy Green 3.40. Matthew Hewitt 3.38.

Tallest Sunflower (adults). Kathy Murry 4.05. Helen Brown 3.91. Janet Frost 3.53.

Tallest Sunflower (Scout) (Scout Shield) Charlie Ford 3.73.

Tallest Sunflower grown by a child.

(Knott Trophy) Callum Fuller 3.62m.

Tallest Sunflower Grown in Show

(Digital Cup) Kathy Murry 4.05.

Other Vegetable Competitions.

A Presentation of Five Fresh Vegetables. (Alfie Wells Cup) Neil Taylor.

Heaviest Marrow (child) (Marrow Trophy) Charlie Ford 11.74 kg. Hattie Ford 11.04 kg. Hattie Ford 9.74.

Heaviest Marrow (adult). Jeanette James 11.06.

Heaviest Mangel

Ami Hedgecock 7.82 kg. Jaya Merryweather 7.60. Jaya Merryweather 6.06 kg. Heaviest Tomato. Mr D. Newton 301g. S and M Ewitt 237g. Katherine Cawthorn 87g. Longest Runner Bean (child) Hattie Ford 395mm. Gemma Driver 393mm and Madison Gorham 393mm.

Longest Runner Bean (adult). Nigel Driver 390mm. Heaviest Onion (Eric See Cup) A. Burling 698. S. Frost 663g. S. Frost 609 g.

Heaviest Sugar Beet. (Albert Cox Cup) Stephen Frost 7.88kg. Mae Rix 6.86kg. Beth Jugg 6.52kg.

Decorated Sponge Cake (under 7)

Victoria Pritchard. (7-11) Katie Holloway. (12-16)

Charlotte Houghton. (Adult) Patrick Manley.

Best Poster. Christian Cocksedge.

Poetry (under 8s) Bethany Cawthorne. Jessica Rowe.

Poetry (under 12s) Samantha Williams. Jonathan Manley. Tzarina Payton-Cooper.

Largest Dahlia Head. N. Eshelby.

Arrangement Of Five Cut Flowers. Mrs A Peachey.

Floral Arrangement. Mollie Shaw.

Farm and Garden Produce Sculpture. Graham Rowley. Best Decorated Pumpkin. Roz Darlow.

Winner of the children's raffle: £10 cash donated by Reg Rogerson. Alex Lister.