History of The North Warnborough and District Garden Club

We know that the North Warnborough and District Garden Club was founded by Mrs Gordon Geddes.  If there were any early historical records of the Club they have sadly all been lost.  Consequently, the following brief history is based on various notes and documents kindly supplied by Mrs Brenda Voneshen from her time as our Secretary in the mid to late 90s and by other members and former members of the Club.

Mrs Geddes came to North Warnborough in the 1920s and purchased ‘Orchards’ in The Street.  Mrs Geddes lived at Orchards for many years and being a keen gardener, she diverted water to create an extensive water garden feature.  Records indicate that her garden was opened to the public three or four times a year in the mid-30s.  Teas were served while the garden was open and the money was probably used to help boost the funds for the newly built North Warnborough Village Hall (see below).  We also understand that she used to enlist teenagers dressed as Lyons Nippy waitresses to help serve the teas.  Even today there are some residents in the village who remember both Mrs Geddes and her beautiful garden.  Orchards, which dates back to the 18th century, was for 20 years prior to the First World War home to the ‘Black Prince’, ‘Lord Roberts’ and ‘Ella’.  These were the names given to three of several traction engines and road machines which were owned and operated by Mr William Smith who was the proprietor of a local Steam Threshing Machine and Gravel Contractor.  In those days William Smith was one of the main employers in the area, employing some 38 to 40 men, including blacksmiths and carpenters.  Significantly, he also grew and marketed watercress from the land at the rear of the property which we assume later became the source of Mrs Geddes’ diverted water.

The Garden Club originally began with a group of ladies who gathered for regular meetings with Mrs Geddes at Orchards, all of whom shared her enthusiasm for horticulture.  At these informal meetings they may well have exchanged plants and seeds as well as sharing their knowledge.  These meetings used to end with afternoon tea.  Several of these ladies had titles and it is interesting to note that in the early days of the Club competitions, entries made by members who had gardeners were annotated to that affect!  Nevertheless, gardening was clearly an extremely popular interest in those days and the group grew in size.  It was this increase in membership that prompted Mrs Geddes with Miss Ida Chamberlain into raising funds for a meeting place to be built for the people in North Warnborough and principally for the use of the Garden Club.  Subsequently, as a result of generous public subscriptions the North Warnborough Village Hall was built, and it was formally opened by the Earl of Malmesbury in 1931.  As an aside, Hilda and Ida Chamberlain were sisters of our pre-war Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.  Hilda and Ida lived in the Bury in Odiham and they were continually active residents and generous benefactors to both villages.  For example, it was Hilda Chamberlain who gave Dunleys Hut to Odiham when she started up the branch of the Women’s Institute in 1919 and, at the same time, Ida Chamberlain founded the North Warnborough Women’s Institute for anyone who was interested in horticulture, including gardeners from Odiham and Hartley Wintney.

Mrs Rachel Lee, whose name is on the Club’s Competitions Cup, was a great friend of Mrs Geddes.  She lived in Cedar Tree House and was one of those early gardening enthusiasts who used to meet at Orchards.  She also belonged to the Women’s Institute, liked drama and had theatrical connections through her daughter who acted in radio plays.  Mrs Rachel Lee left the district in 1941.  It is not known whether the cup that bears her name was named in her honour or donated by her.  It was most probably the latter and as such it was a very generous gesture.  Mrs Geddes sadly died in reduced circumstances in the early 80s in Winchfield Hospital. 

Clearly there was a time when the Club was not as democratic as it is today.  Mr and Mrs Markham Deane came to live in North Warnborough at the Mill House in the late 30s (later to become part of the Blubeckers chain of restaurants but now called The Mill House again).  Mr and Mrs Deane brought with them Mr and Mrs Biddescombe, their chauffer and housekeeper, plus Mr and Mrs Benge, their gardener and cook.  Both of these couples did a great deal of the ‘donkey work’ for the Garden Club in those early days.  They served on the Committee, helped judge the competitions, and Mrs Benge served the teas at the Club meetings for many years. 

By all accounts, the Club meetings over the years have been run on similar lines to our current meetings with a plant sales table on a bring-and-buy basis.  The annual plant sale in May was first introduced in the mid-80s and it used to be followed by a flower arranging demonstration; however, in recent years members have preferred to listen to a guest speaker.  The proceeds from the monthly plant sales were for many years given to the Gardeners’ Benevolent Society, but now they are used to boost the Club’s funds which in turn help keep the members’ annual subscription at a modest level.  The early outings were slightly different.  They often took the form of a visit to a member’s garden and then on to somewhere else for afternoon tea.  In more recent times the outings have taken place in June with members and their friends going by coach to visit a garden or gardens of note, with perhaps a house to view, plants to purchase and a restaurant or café to call in for a light lunch.  This format has been highly successful because it caters for all tastes and the possibility of inclement weather. 

The Club has always recruited from a wide area geographically, but this tended to create unwanted cliques within the membership.  Consequently, to help avoid this, and at the suggestion of the then Chairman, a senior member and an ex-‘Nippy’ waitress at Orchards, Mrs Joan Benford, a Ploughman’s Lunch was held in November 1989 before that year’s Annual General Meeting.  This inclusive lunch proved to be such a success that it is now held as an annual event before the AGM.   Moreover, in addition to fostering a more cohesive membership, the AGM Lunch has also encouraged a larger attendance at the AGM!  For many years Mr and Mrs Ron Watts were invited as guests to these lunches because Ron Watts was the Club’s regular post-AGM speaker for over 20 years.  Sadly, Mrs Watts died in 2008 and Mr Watts in 2009.

As mentioned in the introduction to this history, there are no formal documents which record the date the Club was founded.   So, the members made a decision and celebrated 60 years as a Club in 1997.  This was based solely on the date on the Silver Rose Bowl which was donated by Mrs Rachel Lee.  The Rose Bowl is awarded to the member with the most points for the competitions throughout the year.  It was first awarded in 1937 and this is the only confirmed date from those early years of the Club’s existence.  Thus the 60th anniversary was recognised in 1997 but, as we have learned in the preceding paragraphs, the Club’s formation was almost certainly much earlier.  However, until an earlier date can be confirmed the current membership has decided to continue to use 1937 as the Club’s start date.

The Club’s Diamond anniversary was celebrated with an afternoon visit by coach to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens at Wisley, followed by afternoon tea in a room allocated for the use of our members.  Mrs Patricia Moore, a committee member, organised this special occasion and she also made and iced a commemorative cake which was cut by Mrs Ron Watts.  So, bringing this brief history of The North Warnborough and District Garden Club up to the present day and keeping the agreed date of 1937 in mind, some simple mathematics will reveal why the Club’s membership celebrated its 85th anniversary on the occasion of the 2022 AGM.