BISLEY FLOWER SHOW AND FETE
Bisley's annual Flower Show - the archetypal old English summer event, and among the largest of its type in the Cotswolds - was first held in 1863, and the tradition continues to this day.
The event takes place in the field next to the village hall (Cheltenham Road GL6 7AX if you're using satnav) alongside our excellent village summer fête, from 2-4pm on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday - the 2025 event will be on Saturday August 23 - and huge numbers of people come from miles around to enjoy the day.
Between the two events, there's (sometimes) a dog show, live (brass band) music, a beer tent, a Pimms bar, hot food, a second-hand book stall, and lots of other entertaining things going on.
There are more than five hundred exhibits, including flower arrangements, vegetables, baking, jams and chutneys, and items in fun categories aimed at children. Much of the produce is auctioned off at the end of the festival.
On either the Sunday or Monday evening, depending, the marquee is taken over for the grand annual Inter-village Quiz, where teams of Bisley brainboxes take on the dimwits and dullards of lower-ranked villages such as Oakridge, Eastcombe and the like, in a battle of who knows what the capital of Peru is, and in which year the decisive action of the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought (1863, as it happens - that's how long Bisley Flower Festival has been going).
Oddly, Bisley teams rarely win the Quiz - there are suspicions that the whole thing is fixed.
More detail can be found on the Flower Show website.
The event takes place in the field next to the village hall (Cheltenham Road GL6 7AX if you're using satnav) alongside our excellent village summer fête, from 2-4pm on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday - the 2025 event will be on Saturday August 23 - and huge numbers of people come from miles around to enjoy the day.
Between the two events, there's (sometimes) a dog show, live (brass band) music, a beer tent, a Pimms bar, hot food, a second-hand book stall, and lots of other entertaining things going on.
There are more than five hundred exhibits, including flower arrangements, vegetables, baking, jams and chutneys, and items in fun categories aimed at children. Much of the produce is auctioned off at the end of the festival.
On either the Sunday or Monday evening, depending, the marquee is taken over for the grand annual Inter-village Quiz, where teams of Bisley brainboxes take on the dimwits and dullards of lower-ranked villages such as Oakridge, Eastcombe and the like, in a battle of who knows what the capital of Peru is, and in which year the decisive action of the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought (1863, as it happens - that's how long Bisley Flower Festival has been going).
Oddly, Bisley teams rarely win the Quiz - there are suspicions that the whole thing is fixed.
More detail can be found on the Flower Show website.
2025 FLOWER SHOW AND FÊTE
WEEKEND ROUND UP
This year's slightly extended August Bank Holiday programme was a great success.
The Flower Show on Saturday was very busy, with entries up by around 20% on last year (which was itself a pretty good year).
It bears repeating that the amount of work done by a relatively small number of people to put on this event - without doubt one of the best of its type in the country - is amazing.
No sooner has this year's event ended than planning for next year will shortly begin; it will consist of regular meetings, thinly disguised as opportunities to drink wine and eat nibbles, leading to the day before the day itself, Friday, when the committee assembles with volunteers in the marquee from early on to begin putting the show on the road.
It is no exaggeration to say that they don't really switch off all day Friday, or all day Saturday.
Normally they are back on Sunday, too, working on the Inter-Village Quiz (led by Fiona Gill), but this year they had an interregnum day, with the quiz pushed back to Monday and the innovation of the Bisley Music Festival on Bank Holiday Sunday. Many of them - Sam Collins, Nicki Brand, Lou Painter, Allan Sapsted, Baiju McCubbins, and apologies if I have forgotten anyone - also pitched in on the Sunday, too.
So: four days of actual unpaid work to get this weekend up and running. If you'd like to get involved I know they're always looking for more hands to make lighter work; you just need to be happy to give up a day or two to put in a bit of graft, and to like wine.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from revealing who won the Family Cup, but it will come as little-to-no surprise to anyone that Rob Stevens swept the board with his veg and John Stephen once again took home the fruit spirit bacon. The men's chocolate cake judging was clearly fixed*, with a win for Allan Sapsted and, in an absolute travesty, last year's winner was not even placed.
The judges at least saw sense when choosing the best floribunda rose.
The fête was also very good - Sue Bradley does an astonishing job organising this event every year, assisted by a team of volunteers. (Sue writes: I’m going to be sending letters to everybody who contributed time and energy (that’s all the people I know about of course – I think it’s probably 100 or more), and my fear is that if I name individuals publicly, I’ll forget somebody. But we’re really grateful to everybody who contributed in some way, whether in terms of time and skills, donations, buying raffle tickets, lending equipment or coming along and adding to the fantastic atmosphere. The generosity shown by so many people is really inspiring and encouraging. Bisley Flower Show and Fête represents the best of community life in Bisley. It’s a happy day and one loved by many, whether they live in the village, live nearby, or come from afar to catch up with friends and former neighbours. Bisley Fête belongs to the entire village, and all ideas are welcome for future events.)
2025 saw the return of the dog show, organised by Sophie from Skyvana K9 Grooming and judged by Hayley from Chalford Paw Patrol. Speaking for myself, I missed this when it went into abeyance, so it was a very welcome addition.
The Flower Queen, Allana Chivers, the King, Jack Mitchell, and their attendant, Isa Reynolds, were welcomed into the ring and crowned by Susan Vesey, Bisley BATS panto supremo, lo, these many years.
The bric-à-brac and arty stuff positively flew off the stalls, and rivers of Pimm's were drunk, ably served by Tim and Jane Fleming and various assistants.
I did see one small potential flashpoint, when a chap from Oakridge accidentally visited the book stall and became confused by a dot-to-dot, but a couple of volunteers kindly took him to one side and patiently explained the basic premise, and after half an hour or so the poor fellow seemed happy enough. (To the woman from Oakridge who emailed last year in high dudgeon: THIS IS A JOKE.)
Sunday saw the first Bisley Music Festival (or the second, if you count Bis-Up), and I think most people would agree it was a great success, helped by excellent weather.
The purpose of the event, organised by members of the Bisley Community Group, was - apart from having a good time and bringing the village together - to raise money towards the Bonfire Night bash later this year.
(The idea is to fund all or most of the fireworks do so that it is on a stable footing going forward, and there is money in the kitty to fund both future bonfire nights and, where possible, other stuff.)
Again, it was only remotely made possible by people giving their time and often money, and by the kind permission of the Flower Show, whose marquee was used, and the Feoffees and the Bellamy family who permitted the use of the field (and in the latter case provided so many straw bales for people to sit on).
These include, in no particular order (and sincere apologies if I've forgotten anyone):
Nigel Rogers' son-in-law Adam, who printed all of the posters and signs free of charge;
Russ Ridler Dutton and Jules Painter, who collected the stage on Friday and took it back on Tuesday (and who both did lots more beside);
everyone who assembled the stage, which wasn't easy, and who are all mentioned elsewhere here;
Jason Parker, who sorted out the band line up (which was excellent);
Mike Waite, who did the sound engineering (ditto - and Mike also provided the sound for the fête and the quiz) and Simon, who roadied for him;
Jess Kearney, Loukie and Lourens Brand, Phil Bradley, Shane Watson, Jago, Lou, and Jules Painter, who slaved over a hot barbecue much of the day cooking burgers and sausages, and Pete Jeffries and OJ, who supplied them at cost;
Ness Ridler Dutton, who provided brilliant Asian street food;
Sam, Lou, Cat Parker and Baiju, who took the ticket money from the huge number of walk-ups;
Alice and Kate, who sold tickets at The Bear and the Farm Shop (Alice also supplied ice, napkins, cheese slices, and the odd bin bag, and handed over freezer space for burgers);
Eleanor Collins' boyfriend Colton Martinez and Lizzie Morris made themselves available for first aid if needed (Colton recently left the US military, and confidently informed the organisers that he was quite able to deal with anything from shrapnel injuries to a ‘sucking chest wound', should one occur);
Cat Parker was qualified to deal with lost children, had we had any (we didn't);
Dean and Jenny Johnson and Sue Bradley helped all day between them with car-parking (in Sue's case, as I say, the day after organising and running the fête!);
Darren Evans and Joe Badman kindly checked wristbands at the doors and provided a bit of security (though none was needed);
David Morgan helped with advice on running the event (David Buy also gave some great advice on risk assessments more generally);
Isabella and Eleanor Collins, Sam, Nicki Brand, Di Chapman, Will Purkiss, Colton, Baiju, Rebecca Herbert and Tim Thirlby helped to run the bar;
and many people stayed behind to begin the clear-up before the party decamped to The Bear for the after party.
It wasn't cheap to put on, but Tim Hurst and Dan think they have turned a reasonable profit, probably around £1,500. The full accounting will be up on the BONFIRE NIGHT tab in a few days' time.
We were very lucky with the weather, as the short video below shows.
Which brings us to the annual Inter-Village Quiz. In recent years this has tended to be a battle for second place, as France Lynch's Lynch Mob have taken the honours, but this year it was a team of our own - the Bisley Banging Headaches - whose name will be engraved on the trophy for eternity - or until we get a new trophy, whichever is the sooner.
It is entirely coincidental** that two members of the Banging Headaches were the quizmaster's wife and one of his daughters.
Until next year...!
*Not really
**Really
The Flower Show on Saturday was very busy, with entries up by around 20% on last year (which was itself a pretty good year).
It bears repeating that the amount of work done by a relatively small number of people to put on this event - without doubt one of the best of its type in the country - is amazing.
No sooner has this year's event ended than planning for next year will shortly begin; it will consist of regular meetings, thinly disguised as opportunities to drink wine and eat nibbles, leading to the day before the day itself, Friday, when the committee assembles with volunteers in the marquee from early on to begin putting the show on the road.
It is no exaggeration to say that they don't really switch off all day Friday, or all day Saturday.
Normally they are back on Sunday, too, working on the Inter-Village Quiz (led by Fiona Gill), but this year they had an interregnum day, with the quiz pushed back to Monday and the innovation of the Bisley Music Festival on Bank Holiday Sunday. Many of them - Sam Collins, Nicki Brand, Lou Painter, Allan Sapsted, Baiju McCubbins, and apologies if I have forgotten anyone - also pitched in on the Sunday, too.
So: four days of actual unpaid work to get this weekend up and running. If you'd like to get involved I know they're always looking for more hands to make lighter work; you just need to be happy to give up a day or two to put in a bit of graft, and to like wine.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from revealing who won the Family Cup, but it will come as little-to-no surprise to anyone that Rob Stevens swept the board with his veg and John Stephen once again took home the fruit spirit bacon. The men's chocolate cake judging was clearly fixed*, with a win for Allan Sapsted and, in an absolute travesty, last year's winner was not even placed.
The judges at least saw sense when choosing the best floribunda rose.
The fête was also very good - Sue Bradley does an astonishing job organising this event every year, assisted by a team of volunteers. (Sue writes: I’m going to be sending letters to everybody who contributed time and energy (that’s all the people I know about of course – I think it’s probably 100 or more), and my fear is that if I name individuals publicly, I’ll forget somebody. But we’re really grateful to everybody who contributed in some way, whether in terms of time and skills, donations, buying raffle tickets, lending equipment or coming along and adding to the fantastic atmosphere. The generosity shown by so many people is really inspiring and encouraging. Bisley Flower Show and Fête represents the best of community life in Bisley. It’s a happy day and one loved by many, whether they live in the village, live nearby, or come from afar to catch up with friends and former neighbours. Bisley Fête belongs to the entire village, and all ideas are welcome for future events.)
2025 saw the return of the dog show, organised by Sophie from Skyvana K9 Grooming and judged by Hayley from Chalford Paw Patrol. Speaking for myself, I missed this when it went into abeyance, so it was a very welcome addition.
The Flower Queen, Allana Chivers, the King, Jack Mitchell, and their attendant, Isa Reynolds, were welcomed into the ring and crowned by Susan Vesey, Bisley BATS panto supremo, lo, these many years.
The bric-à-brac and arty stuff positively flew off the stalls, and rivers of Pimm's were drunk, ably served by Tim and Jane Fleming and various assistants.
I did see one small potential flashpoint, when a chap from Oakridge accidentally visited the book stall and became confused by a dot-to-dot, but a couple of volunteers kindly took him to one side and patiently explained the basic premise, and after half an hour or so the poor fellow seemed happy enough. (To the woman from Oakridge who emailed last year in high dudgeon: THIS IS A JOKE.)
Sunday saw the first Bisley Music Festival (or the second, if you count Bis-Up), and I think most people would agree it was a great success, helped by excellent weather.
The purpose of the event, organised by members of the Bisley Community Group, was - apart from having a good time and bringing the village together - to raise money towards the Bonfire Night bash later this year.
(The idea is to fund all or most of the fireworks do so that it is on a stable footing going forward, and there is money in the kitty to fund both future bonfire nights and, where possible, other stuff.)
Again, it was only remotely made possible by people giving their time and often money, and by the kind permission of the Flower Show, whose marquee was used, and the Feoffees and the Bellamy family who permitted the use of the field (and in the latter case provided so many straw bales for people to sit on).
These include, in no particular order (and sincere apologies if I've forgotten anyone):
Nigel Rogers' son-in-law Adam, who printed all of the posters and signs free of charge;
Russ Ridler Dutton and Jules Painter, who collected the stage on Friday and took it back on Tuesday (and who both did lots more beside);
everyone who assembled the stage, which wasn't easy, and who are all mentioned elsewhere here;
Jason Parker, who sorted out the band line up (which was excellent);
Mike Waite, who did the sound engineering (ditto - and Mike also provided the sound for the fête and the quiz) and Simon, who roadied for him;
Jess Kearney, Loukie and Lourens Brand, Phil Bradley, Shane Watson, Jago, Lou, and Jules Painter, who slaved over a hot barbecue much of the day cooking burgers and sausages, and Pete Jeffries and OJ, who supplied them at cost;
Ness Ridler Dutton, who provided brilliant Asian street food;
Sam, Lou, Cat Parker and Baiju, who took the ticket money from the huge number of walk-ups;
Alice and Kate, who sold tickets at The Bear and the Farm Shop (Alice also supplied ice, napkins, cheese slices, and the odd bin bag, and handed over freezer space for burgers);
Eleanor Collins' boyfriend Colton Martinez and Lizzie Morris made themselves available for first aid if needed (Colton recently left the US military, and confidently informed the organisers that he was quite able to deal with anything from shrapnel injuries to a ‘sucking chest wound', should one occur);
Cat Parker was qualified to deal with lost children, had we had any (we didn't);
Dean and Jenny Johnson and Sue Bradley helped all day between them with car-parking (in Sue's case, as I say, the day after organising and running the fête!);
Darren Evans and Joe Badman kindly checked wristbands at the doors and provided a bit of security (though none was needed);
David Morgan helped with advice on running the event (David Buy also gave some great advice on risk assessments more generally);
Isabella and Eleanor Collins, Sam, Nicki Brand, Di Chapman, Will Purkiss, Colton, Baiju, Rebecca Herbert and Tim Thirlby helped to run the bar;
and many people stayed behind to begin the clear-up before the party decamped to The Bear for the after party.
It wasn't cheap to put on, but Tim Hurst and Dan think they have turned a reasonable profit, probably around £1,500. The full accounting will be up on the BONFIRE NIGHT tab in a few days' time.
We were very lucky with the weather, as the short video below shows.
Which brings us to the annual Inter-Village Quiz. In recent years this has tended to be a battle for second place, as France Lynch's Lynch Mob have taken the honours, but this year it was a team of our own - the Bisley Banging Headaches - whose name will be engraved on the trophy for eternity - or until we get a new trophy, whichever is the sooner.
It is entirely coincidental** that two members of the Banging Headaches were the quizmaster's wife and one of his daughters.
Until next year...!
*Not really
**Really
FLOWER SHOW PHOTOS
MUSIC FESTIVAL PHOTOS
MUSIC FESTIVAL VIDEOS
2024 FLOWER SHOW ROUND-UP
The 2024 Bisley Flower Show and Fête went very well, considering the weather - which was forecast to be awful but was actually scorching at times, apart from one interlude of about 30 minutes:
Entries (see below for some examples) were up on previous years.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from saying who won the men's chocolate cake, the single stem rose, the savoury tart, and (even more unexpectedly) the photographic competition.
No-one will be surprised to hear that Rob won the veg prize.
The Pimms tent pretty much sold out of Pimms, the BBQ sold out of sausages and burgers, the blank-eyed Oakridge hordes snapped up all the colouring books and dot-to-dots on the book stall, and the raffle was fantastic (details of winning tickets below).
Sunday evening's quiz also went well, if it was slightly chaotic at times - the bar sold out of beer, lager, and cider, and only four bottles of wine went unsold.
Again somewhat unsurprisingly the Lynch Mob came away victorious, beating two Bisley teams on the podium. Wells Angels came third, and Flower Power (comprising Flower Show committee members Sam and Lou, Lou's husband Julian and daughter Grace, and Debbie) were second.
Flower Power were only six points behind, and given that they were one team member short, and Grace is only 14 in a quiz largely aimed at the superannuated, this constitutes a moral victory for Bisley.
But moral victories win no engraved shields.
Next year!
All in all, a good weekend was had by all, and lots of cash was raised for church funds and to pay for the marquee - which, as you surely know by now, costs some £3500 per year.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from saying who won the men's chocolate cake, the single stem rose, the savoury tart, and (even more unexpectedly) the photographic competition.
No-one will be surprised to hear that Rob won the veg prize.
The Pimms tent pretty much sold out of Pimms, the BBQ sold out of sausages and burgers, the blank-eyed Oakridge hordes snapped up all the colouring books and dot-to-dots on the book stall, and the raffle was fantastic (details of winning tickets below).
Sunday evening's quiz also went well, if it was slightly chaotic at times - the bar sold out of beer, lager, and cider, and only four bottles of wine went unsold.
Again somewhat unsurprisingly the Lynch Mob came away victorious, beating two Bisley teams on the podium. Wells Angels came third, and Flower Power (comprising Flower Show committee members Sam and Lou, Lou's husband Julian and daughter Grace, and Debbie) were second.
Flower Power were only six points behind, and given that they were one team member short, and Grace is only 14 in a quiz largely aimed at the superannuated, this constitutes a moral victory for Bisley.
But moral victories win no engraved shields.
Next year!
All in all, a good weekend was had by all, and lots of cash was raised for church funds and to pay for the marquee - which, as you surely know by now, costs some £3500 per year.
2023 FLOWER SHOW ROUND-UP
The flower show and fête were - once again - a great success.
Numbers were perhaps slightly down on last year, but last year was blazingly sunny and this year... wasn't.
Rob Stevens cleaned up on the vegetable section - as ever - and the overall family prize was won by the Stephens of Nash End.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from announcing the winner of the Rose Bowl.
The annual inter-village quiz on the Sunday was won by the Lynch Mob, from the Kings Head in France Lynch, with last year's winners, Bisley's Wells Angels, coming second.
Start boning up now for next year, Bisley quizzers - we can't be done over in our own back yard like this!
Thanks to Louise, Arlene, Ollie, Caroline, Allan, Nicky, Baiju, Fiona, April, Helen, and Sam, and everyone else who worked throughout the year but especially on the weekend to make the flower show happen.
Thanks to Sue Bradley and all her team on the fête side of things for their equally selfless commitment, too.
More detail on money raised and so on to come.
The raffle alone has raised just over £1,300 to be split equally between the Flower Show and All Saints Church. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and the individuals and organisations who provided prizes.
Commiserations if you did not win a prize and for those who are interested, here are the winning numbers:
Until the next update, here's a selection of photos from the day - roll on 2024!
Numbers were perhaps slightly down on last year, but last year was blazingly sunny and this year... wasn't.
Rob Stevens cleaned up on the vegetable section - as ever - and the overall family prize was won by the Stephens of Nash End.
Modesty forbids the webmaster from announcing the winner of the Rose Bowl.
The annual inter-village quiz on the Sunday was won by the Lynch Mob, from the Kings Head in France Lynch, with last year's winners, Bisley's Wells Angels, coming second.
Start boning up now for next year, Bisley quizzers - we can't be done over in our own back yard like this!
Thanks to Louise, Arlene, Ollie, Caroline, Allan, Nicky, Baiju, Fiona, April, Helen, and Sam, and everyone else who worked throughout the year but especially on the weekend to make the flower show happen.
Thanks to Sue Bradley and all her team on the fête side of things for their equally selfless commitment, too.
More detail on money raised and so on to come.
The raffle alone has raised just over £1,300 to be split equally between the Flower Show and All Saints Church. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and the individuals and organisations who provided prizes.
Commiserations if you did not win a prize and for those who are interested, here are the winning numbers:
Until the next update, here's a selection of photos from the day - roll on 2024!
2022 GALLERY
NOTE TO VILLAGERS:
The Flower Show marquee costs more than £2,000 each year - if you're able to sponsor a table or help in any other way at the 2023 show, please contact Ollie Miles on 01452 770788.
The Flower Show marquee costs more than £2,000 each year - if you're able to sponsor a table or help in any other way at the 2023 show, please contact Ollie Miles on 01452 770788.
FORMER BISLEY FLOWER QUEENS
Sue Bradley has put together this gallery of former Queens - if you have photos of those she is missing please call her on 01452 770337 or email [email protected]
