Melplash Memories
We will all miss getting together at Melplash this year- tell us what you love the most about it!
We’re working with the Melplash Show team to share photographs and objects from our collections to create a virtual exhibition.
We’d love you to do the same.
You can share your favourite memories, anecdotes, memorabilia, photos or videos…. anything at all. We want to see your fluffy sheep, handsome cows, massive tractors…..just post on our Facebook page, Twitter @bridportmuseum or Instagram @bridport_museum using the hashtag #MelplashMemories.
If you’re not a social media fan- just email director@bridportmuseum.co.uk and we can share it for you.
The Origins of the Melplash Agricultural Society
Agricultural societies were started in the mid 1700s to improve the standard of agriculture and livestock breeding as well as to educate farmers and farm labourers.
There is evidence of a West Dorset Agricultural Society in 1840. Whether the name was changed in 1847, or another, separate society started is not clear.
It all began on 20 October 1846, on the day of the consecration of Melplash Church, with a wager of £5 that one ploughman could plough better and quicker than another. The context might have been held at a later date, or the following year when others were keen to take part. So the Melplash Agricultural Society was founded in 1847.
By the mid 1850s, seventeen ploughmen took part in a contest at Bingham’s Farm, Melplash: either with horses or oxen. A grand dinner followed for the Society Members, with endless speeches and toasts, as well as many references to the advantage of the forthcoming railway line.
Other competitions were introduced as time went on: best grain, roots (mangolds, turnips, sweeds), best flax and thatched hay ricks. The shepherds were rewarded in competitions for rearing the most lambs: the prize being 2 guineas and a linen coat. Farm workers won a prize for raising the most legitimate children without Parish Relief, and for long service under the same master or on the same farm. Women aged 70 and 80 won the female long service awards.
In due course the village of Melplash had been outgrown, and the competitions alternated between Beaminster and Bridport. Land at the top of Furzey Lane (just outside Beaminster on the Bridport Road) and Vearse Farm, as well as later in a field where Groves’ Nurseries now stand, were used. September was favoured by this point, and the ploughing match was a separate contest. The day of the week for the ‘meeting’ as it was called, varied, but was often held of Wednesday in Beaminster, and Thursday in Bridport- the respective early closing days.
An agricultural show had developed by the latter part of the 19th Century, and classes for hunters were introduced. Gradually cattle, sheep and pigs were included. The ploughing match was suspended for some years. By the 1907 the show took a modest form of what we know today. A grandstand was erected in a field opposite the Crown Inn and there were trotting races together with all the livestock classes and heavy horse turnouts. Some of the horses arrived by train and were walked to the showfield.
Each year some of the competitions were held separately such as the grain and roots, poultry, honey, rabbits and pigeons. Morey’s Yard in Bridport and Beaminster Public Hall were venues. The 1908 show was held in Beaminster in September. The main ring attraction was Beaminster Town Band. In those days no show was complete without a band, often the Dorset Regiment Band.
There were no shows held during the two World Wars, or in 1924 and 1926 owing to foot and mouth outbreaks. The 1930 show wasn’t held due to financial reasons. Agriculture was going through a depression. Milk was being poured down the farm drains.
Between the Wars further classes were added bringing in the WIs, Pony Clubs and in particular the Young Farmers’ Clubs. Butter and cheese making as well as dressed poultry for the farmers’ wives and there was an emphasis on cleanliness in the milking sheds and dairy. The County Council held special instruction classes and inspections were made. A horticulture section was expanded and classes were for amateur and professional gardeners. The Best Garden competition was started. Medals were sought after and awarded in the horticulture sections. Handicrafts and floral art featured too.
Mr Henry Palmer, the Bridport Brewer, held the office of President of the Society through the Second World War years. The Show was revived in 1946 on the football field (now Groves’ Nurseries). There were reduced numbers in the livestock classes, a few agricultural and allied trade stands were on display, and there was some parking around the main ring at 5/- (5 shillings), later increased to 10/6d. Few of the general public owned a car in those days!
In 1947 new regulations regarding tuberculosis came in, and the show moved to Mr and Mrs Reg Wallbridge’s land in West Bay Road where is remains to this day. There was a clean, fast supply of fresh water there. Mr. Donald Morey, a local auctioneer, lent the adjacent land to the South, which the Society bought at a later date. Those two fields formed the showground site for a number of years.