Sadly, because of the continuing government restrictions relating to Covid,

the Annual Open Show at Malmesbury has been cancelled. It was due to take place on July 31.

So let's celebrate garden club history in the town instead.

According to the Athelstan Museum in the town, the earliest club in Malmesbury seems to have been the Gardening Club.

Malmesbury Floral Club was among the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804.

It resurfaces in 1870 with annual Flower, vegetable and horse shows; such was the popularity that special trains were laid on.

The Malmesbury and District Gardening club says although it knows very little about the first Malmesbury Garden Club, it was one of the first societies to be affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society in the early 1860s.

It is very likely that most of the members were ladies and gentlemen who employed gardeners.

From the late 1800s there was the Malmesbury Flower, Vegetable and Horse Show.

The Society closed in 1930 and had to hold a rummage sale to clear its debts.

Flower Shows were also arranged in Malmesbury by the Congregational Church and the E. K. Cole factory at Cowbridge.

In 1955 the Malmesbury Garden and Allotment Society was formed by twenty seven gardeners who set the first subscription at 2 shillings and 6 pence (12p).

These members created the gardens by the Memorial Gates at lower High Street, and helped to organize those who needed allotments to feed their families.

One of the Club's aims, as noted in the little red membership book, was to provide seeds for unemployed gardeners.

At the beginning of 1967 the Club held its AGM and was apparently preparing for a busy year when it all fell apart.

Mr and Mrs Alf Poole kept the club running from their home until the present club was formed in January 1969.

The name was changed to the Malmesbury Garden Club in March of that year. The Club currently covers Malmesbury and the surrounding villages.