The first occasion our family exhibited in a horticultural show will always be remembered with amusement. We arrived in Malahide in plenty of time, to give ourselves the opportunity of ‘spying’ on other exhibitors and watching the veterans to see how things were done. We were competing in the fruit section and carefully arranged blackcurrants and gooseberries in attractive displays in their respective classes. The task completed, we ambled around, commenting on other entries and absorbing information for future forays into this new an interesting hobby. Before we left the hall, We took a last appraising look at our handiwork.

Horror struck as we gazed at the gooseberries. Every gooseberry exhibit, with the exception of our entry, was tastefully decorated with gooseberry leaves. What were we to do? We had blackcurrant leaves in abundance with us but no gooseberry. Quick as a flash, we re-arranged the gooseberries on blackcurrant foliage and left, feeling very pleased with ourselves. Not even a’ Highly Commended’graced our class card on our return to the show that afternoon.

Over the years, we have often recalled this incident and wondered what the judges said about the extraordinary fruit bushes growing in Sutton, capable of producing gooseberries with a blackcurrant leaf!!