It was Ernest Awmack who had the signature emblem designed: three gardeners leaning on their spades.
It was planned that there should be meetings and lectures held over the winter months at the Mechanics Institute (now the Civic Centre) in Otley (the charge for the room was 7/6 per evening). A subscription of 2/6 was suggested for each member, although it was not known whether this would cover all the expenses. By January 1948 there were 85 paid-up members and by March 1949 this number had risen to 109 (the current membership is 258).
The first weekend trip in July 1988 was organised as part of the 40th Anniversary Celebrations by Mr Alan Wilson, the secretary at the time (Alan first joined the committee in 1979). The trip was run in conjunction with J.A.R. Services Garden Delight Tours and was to Kew and Wisley. The weekend proved popular and the following years members visited Norfolk, and then the Cotswolds. In 1992 the new position of Outings Secretary was created. In 2004 the weekend trip was extended to 5 days in order to go further afield and take advantage of mid-week prices. The first of these was to Cornwall visiting the Eden Project and the Gardens of Helligan. In the same year the group’s first trip abroad was to Keukenhuff in Holland. With the added complications of organising these longer trips and trips abroad, in 2006 a specially formed travel company, West Riding Travel, run by the current Chairman, Adrian Thomas, took over the organisation of some of the trips. Further visits abroad were made to France and to Ireland in 2005 and 2006. In 2009 a group of members visited Highgrove, the home of HRH Prince Charles.
Two pruning classes were held during the first winter months and in March 1949 the first sale of members’ “superfluous plants” took place. This plant sale has taken place every year and is still a popular event today -- see our current syllabus.
In 1950 Wharfedale Gardeners was one of the first groups to become affiliated to the Northern Horticultural Society.
MR ERNEST AWMACK
Mr Awmack was a glass merchant in Leeds who lived in Hill Crescent in Burley-in-Wharfedale. As secretary he planned the first syllabus. The secretary was responsible for organising the programme and speakers and planning the trips: these duties went with the secretary’s job for many years. Sadly in March 1951 Mr Awmack, who had been secretary since the inception of the group, died suddenly. In order to perpetuate his name Mrs Awmack was made a Vice-President and Life Member and on October 26th 1951 the 1st Ernest Awmack Memorial Lecture took place.
In 1952 the 2nd Memorial Lecture was given by Mr W.M. Campbell, Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The Memorial Lectures continued for 40 years and the last one in 1990 was delivered by Mrs Peggy Nicholls, Editor of the Journal of the Northern Horticultural Society
LECTURES
The first syllabus looked the same as the syllabus today and the first lecture was “The preparation of bulbs” by Mr H. Wood from Otley in September 1947. Each meeting had its own chairman.
Over the years there has been a diverse and interesting programme of lectures from September until spring. Some of the more well-known speakers have ranged from Mr Fred Loads (from Gardeners’ Question Time) in 1953 and Mr Geoffrey Smith (then Head Gardener at Harlow Car) in 1957 to Roy Lancaster, Chris Beardshaw, Matthew Wilson (from the R.H.S.) and John Cushnie (again from Gardeners’ Question Time) more recently. See our current Syllabus
TRIPS
In the first year, and organised by Mr Awmack, two summer evening visits took place. One was a visit to Mr Wilson of Whittaker and Wilson, Riverside Nurseries at Linton in July 1947. A private bus was hired and about 45 members attended. The second visit was to Mr John Mitchell’s nursery in Askwith. Twenty members walked there from Otley! In 1951 a separate summer programme was printed. One trip took place in the evening and one started at lunchtime and finished with high tea. This format was kept for many years, until they went further afield and took the whole day.
GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME!
In March 1949 the group were invited by the BBC to be on the “How does your garden grow?” series in “Gardeners’ question time”. They wanted the recording to be at Burley or Ilkley to sound more romantic than Otley but the committee insisted that Otley was the only suitable place. In subsequent years the group organised their own “Gardeners’ Question Time” with their own panel of experts.
MR HANS WRIGHT
Hans Wright was a German who fled to Otley just before the War after speaking out against the Nazis and Hitler. He fought for Britain and later trained as a solicitor, joining the practice of Atkinson, Dacre and Slack. One of the original members of Wharfedale Gardeners, his first duty was to audit the accounts in 1948. He became chairman in 1949, then secretary until 1960; he was vice-president followed by president until 1984, when he became vice-president again. He, with his wife Dorothy, remained members of Wharfedale Gardeners until his death in 2004.
MR RONNIE BISS
One of the early members was Ronnie Biss, Editor of the Wharfedale for 30 years. He and his wife joined Gardeners in 1966 and are both honorary life members today. Ronnie served on the committee as both chairman and president and made sure the group had plenty of coverage in the Wharfedale.
LADIES!
Apart from Mrs Awmack on the very first committee, both the committee and general membership were predominantly men for many years – very different from today’s membership. Indeed in 1967 a special ladies’ evening was arranged on “The preparation and cooking of vegetables” with Mrs Dorothy Wright in the chair. These ladies’ evenings carried on until 1972. In 1974 the first lady secretary was appointed: Miss Pat Jessop was secretary until 1986, when she became vice-president. She is now an honorary life member.
CELEBRATIONS
1957 saw the 10th year birthday with a dinner held at the Wharfedale Café in Otley and in 1968/69 the 21st birthday was celebrated with a dinner at the Mechanics Institute. The Silver Jubilee committee proudly produced a lovely silver syllabus for 1972/73 and celebrated with a dinner at the Civic Centre. The Golden Jubilee was commemorated in 1997/98 with a Celebration Lecture by Roy Lancaster in September and the creation of a garden at the Sunnylee Almshouses in Riverdale Road, Otley. In 2006/07, under the auspices of Chairman, Alan Wilson, the 60th Anniversary was celebrated with a celebrity lecture by the Duchess of Northumberland, followed up with a visit to Alnwick Castle.
The 5-day trip was to Great Dixter and the gardens of Kent and a special trip in vintage coaches and costumes was made to Maspin House.
Another feature of this anniversary was a day to visit members’ gardens, an opportunity which was such a success that it was repeated in 2008.
During the Second World War the County Councils, in their statutory duty of organising the “Dig for Victory” campaign, established War Agricultural Committees locally and Mr Holmes Whiteley from Pool-in-Wharfedale was the chief organiser for the No 7 Sub-Committee in Wharfedale. At the end of the War the “Dig for Victory” gardeners of Wharfedale would not accept redundancy and at a meeting on the 10th March 1947 they formed themselves into the “Wharfedale Gardeners Discussion Group” for the purpose of “promoting and extending interest in gardening”. The first set of officers were Mr Holmes Whiteley (President), Mr Ernest Awmack from Burley-in-Wharfedale (Secretary), Mr H. Wood from Otley (Chairman), Mr Frank Vaughan from Burley (Treasurer) and a committee of four, Mr George Smith and Mr A. Spalding from Otley, Mrs M.C. Awmack from Burley and Mr H. Jones from Denton. It was decided that the committee should comprise of two professional, two allotment and three private gardeners.
Mr Vaughan moved away shortly after this and Mr J.W. Evans became treasurer for 20 years. Mr Holmes Whitely was President until 1966.
