The 2109 National Fruit Show was held at The Kent Event Centre on Wednesday 23rd October. This the 86th anniversary event.
The Marden Fruit Show Society (MFSS) is a Registered Charity run by a voluntary committee who represent many different facets of the fruit industry. The aim of the Society is to promote the better growing, grading and marketing of fruit.
The Society organises the National Fruit Show, which acts as a meeting place for the industry. The centrepiece of the show, held each October, is the largest competitive display of commercially grown top and soft fruit staged in the UK.
This Show marked the end of the The Right Hon. Michael Jack's 10 year tenure as Society President.
Michael has been an outstanding President involved in the strategy and deliverance of the society's progression over the decade from a historically revered institution and an excellent advertisement for British Apples & Pears, into a modern show fit for the 21st Century, as Chair Sarah Calcutt and the MFS committee added a more professional status to this unique institution.
Michael Jack was born in Folkstone Kent in 1946. At the University of Leicester, he received a BA in Economics, and a MPhil in Transport Economics. Michael was Sales Director at LO Jeffs Ltd (a fresh produce supply company and part of Northern Foods) from 1981 to 1987 giving him a useful knowledge of fresh produce, he introduced apple packing to the business during his time there.
Michael Jack served as the Member of Parliament for Fylde between 1987 and 2010 following a career in business.
William Hague appointed him a member of his Shadow Cabinet in 1997 as Shadow Agriculture Minister
Other posts held include Shadow Financial Secretary, Financial Secretary to H M Treasury and Minister of State Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
In January 2015, Michael was awarded a CBE for services to Tax Simplification in the Queens New Year's Honours.
We all wish Michael a healthy, happy and enjoyable retirement!
Show Fruit
The visual quality of exhibits was 'as always' excellent and separating the 'best' from the 'next best' a matter of minute measurements.
Below: left; Bardsley England once again 'dominated' the Bramley class scoring 98.25 out of 100 and right; JL Baxter won 'Best in Show' with this 'stunning' Russet entry scoring 99.25 out of 100
Below: David & Veronica Knight's Mariri Red Braeburn and right; Simon Mount's Cabaret
Below: left; JL Baxter's Comice pears and right; JL Baxter's Concorde
Below: JL Baxter's Piqa Boo pears and right; Mansfields Conference pears
Below: left; Loddington Farms Evelina and right; Lower Hope's Opal
Below: left; RG Apple Growers Rubens and right; the Largest apple competition always raises interest
Below: left; FP Matthews featured Sunburst among the many varieties on their stand and right; some of the more eclectic varieties available
Although the Apple and Pear entries dominate the show fruit, NFS also caters for soft fruit and nut classes
While the Show Fruit has been central to The Fruit Show since the first show in 1933, the trade stands are essential to the success of the show. Glossy new machinery is always an 'eye catcher' and everything needed to operate in the modern fruit industry is on display.
Tractors
The English Apple Man includes a few examples of the latest available machinery.
Below: left. Frumaco harvester on the Kirkland stand and right; Harvester on the NP Seymour stand
The EAM stopped for a while at the Kent Fruit Services stand to chat to my old friend Peter Kelly about a very impressive 3 row orchard sprayer: The Munckhoff Smart Agro sprayer has a wind detection system which allows the air vents blowing the spray to adjust, reducing air flow compensating for wind direction reducing drift to a minimum.
Below: Kent Fruit Services MD Peter Kelly with the Munckhoff Smart Agro orchard sprayer
Below: left; VariMAS illustration and middle; VariMAS wind detector and right; VariMAS air vents & nozzles
On the NP Seymour stand an equally impressive 3 row orchard sprayer: the KWH Multi Row Sprayer.
Below an extract from KWH Holland website.
The 3R2 side stream sprayer is the latest development in the field of multi-row spraying which can achieve more than 65% time savings.
The oppositely acting VLOS-air-support guarantees unsurpassed coverage of the crop and we achieve a drif reduction of 99,7%. In 2015 the University Of Wageningen in Holland is performing tests to measure possible spraying savings, which are in the range of 30% and more.
Below: left; KWH Multi row sprayer on the NP Seymour stand and right; Advertising the NFS Dinner Prizes
Below: the KWH Holland VariMAS sprayer in action in an orchard
Prizegiving takes place at lunchtime on the second day (Thursday) with attendees enjoying a reception with 'Sparkling English Wine' supplied by Biddenden Vineyard
Winning show classes depends on two critical elements: growing top class fruit and preparing the show entries. It is no coincidence that serial winners are growers with a long history of entering the show classes, understand the minute margins between a very good entry and a winning one. Hence Annette Bardsley continues the success of the Bardsley family that goes back many years to the era when her mother-in-law Betty set the standards.
Below: JL Baxter won many trophies with entries prepared by Lavinia Ivan here with Clive Baxter and the 'legendary' Annette Bardsley who once again swept the board with her Bramley entries
Below: left; Clockhouse Farm win the NFS tastiest apple with Jazz and right; Simon Bray wins the Taste of Kent (ToK) tastiest apple, again with Jazz
The National Fruit Show champions apples & pears, soft fruit, nuts, apple juices, et al.
The English Apple Man thanks Marden Fruit Show secretaries Catherine Joules & Norma Thompsett for providing a full list of prize winners.
National Fruit Show 2019 - Fruit Competition Results
Class Place Exhibitor
Class 1 : Bramley 90 - 100mm 1 Bardsley England
Class 1 : Bramley 90 - 100mm 2 Clive & Richard Edmed
Class 1 : Bramley 90 - 100mm 3 Elverton Farm Ltd
Class 2 : Bramley 80 - 90mm 1 Bardsley England
Class 2 : Bramley 80 - 90mm 2 Clive & Richard Edmed
Class 2 : Bramley 80 - 90mm 3 Elverton Farm Ltd
Class 3 : AOV Culinary Apples 1 Mallions
Class 3 : AOV Culinary Apples 2
Class 4 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 1 Agrii Ltd
Class 4 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 2 Bardsley England
Class 4 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 3 RD Applegrowers
Class 5 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 1 Mallions
Class 5 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 2 Mallions
Class 5 : Cox's Orange Pippin or any Sport 3 F W Mansfield
Class 6 : Rubens 1 RD Applegrowers
Class 6 : Rubens 2 RD Applegrowers
Class 6 : Rubens 3 Nicholls Fruit Growers
Class 6: Rubens R
Class 7 : Jazz 1 F W Mansfield & Son
Class 7 : Jazz 2 Howard Chapman Ltd
Class 7 : Jazz 3 J L Baxter & Son
Class 7: Jazz R
Class 7 : Jazz R
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold 1 Miller & Bradley Ltd
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold 2 RD Applegrowers
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold 3= Mallions
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold 3= Agrii Ltd
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold R
Class 8 : Gala or any Sport of Jonagold R
Class 9 : Russets 1 J L Baxter & Son
Class 9 : Russets: 2 Bardsley England
Class 9 : Russets 3 Mallions
Class 10 : Cameo 1 Clive & Richard Edmed
Class 10 : Cameo 2 Elverton Farms Ltd
Class 10 : Cameo 3 Elverton Farms Ltd
Class 10: Cameo R
Class 11 : Braeburn 1 DJ & VL Knight
Class 11 : Braeburn 2 Agrii Ltd
Class 11 : Braeburn 3 Bardsley England
Class 12 : AOV Dessert Apple 1 Loddington Farm Ltd
Class 12 : AOV Dessert Apple 2 Mallions
Class 12 : AOV Dessert Apple 3= Loddington Farm Ltd
Class 12: AOV Dessert Apple 3= S S Mount
Class 12: AOV Dessert Apple R
Class 13 : Comice 1 J L Baxter & Son
Class 13 : Comice 2 Clive & Richaard Edmed
Class 13 : Comice 3 B Piper Partnership
Class 14 : Conference 1 F W Mansfield & Son
Class 14 : Conference 2 Agrii Ltd
Class 14 : Conference 3 Agrii Ltd
Class 15 : Concorde 1 J L Baxter & Son
Class 15 : Concorde 2 B Piper Partnership
Class 15 : Concorde 3 Clive & Richard Edmed
Class 16 : AOV Pear 1 J L Baxter & Son
Class 16 : AOV Pear 2 Agrii Ltd
Class 18 : Dessert Apples (Novice) 1 Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
Class 18 : Dessert Apples (Novice) 2 Lower Hope Fruit Ltd
Class 18 : Dessert Apples (Novice) 3
Class 19 : Pears (Novice) 1 B Piper Partnership
Class 19 : Pears (Novice) 2 Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
Class 19 : Pears (Novice) 3 Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
Class 20 : Dessert Apples, Exhibitor U 40 1 Katie Langridge
Class 20 : Dessert Apples, Exhibitor U 40 2 Kelly Shears
Class 20 : Dessert Apples, Exhibitor U 40 3 Katie Langridge
Class 20 : Dessert Apples, Exhibitor U 40 R
Class 21: Bramley Exhibitor U 40 1 Katie Langridge
Class 21: Bramley Exhibitor U 40 2 Elverton Farms Ltd
Class 21: Bramley Exhibitor U 40 3
Soft Fruit Classes
Class 31 : Strawberries Everbearers 1 Clockhouse Farm
Class 31 : Strawberries Everbearers 2 The New Forest Fruit Co.Ltd
Class 31 : Strawberries Everbearers 3 The New Forest Fruit Co. Ltd
Class 32 : Raspberries 1 Windmill Hill Fruit Co
Class 32 : Raspberries 2 W B Chambers
Class 32 : Raspberries 3 W B Chambers
Class 33 : Blackberries 1 Clockhouse Farm Ltd
Class 33 : Blackberries 2 Windmill Hill Fruit Co
Class 33 : Blackberries 3
Nut Classes
Class 50: Kentish Cobnuts 1 Meg Game
Class 50: Kentish Cobnuts 2 Gillian Jones
Class 50: Kentish Cobnuts 3 Elverton Farms Ltd
Class 51 : AOV Cobnuts 1 J I B Cannon
Class 51 : AOV Cobnuts 2 J I B Cannon
Class 51 : AOV Cobnuts 3 J I B Cannon
Class 55 : Walnuts 1 James Witchell
Class 55 : Walnuts 2 S W L Brice
Class 55 : Walnuts 3 S W L Brice
Heaviest and Biggest Classes
5 Heaviest Apples 1 Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
2 Clive & Richard Edmed
3 Ben May
Single Heaviest Apple Clive & Richard Edmed
5 Heaviest Pears 1 Leckford Estate
2 Elverton Farms Ltd 3 L Stevens & Sons
Single Heaviest Pear Leckford Estate
Tastiest Apple Competition
Tastiest Apple 1 Clockhouse Farm
Tastiest Apple 2 Chandler & Dunn
Tastiest Apple 3 Simon Bray
Apple Juice Classes
Class 40 : Blended Apple Juice 1 Four Elms Fruit Farm
Class 40 : Blended Apple Juice 2 Hill Farm Juice
Class 40 : Blended Apple Juice 3 Starkeys Fruit
Class 41: Single Variety Apple Juice 1 Four Elms Fruit Farm
Class 41: Single Variety Apple Juice 2 Owletts Fruit Farm
Class 41: Single Variety Apple Juice 3 Biddenden Vineyards
Class 42: Blended Juices two or more 1 Sandringham Apple Juice
types of fruit
Class 42: Blended Juices two or more 2 Four Elms Fruit Farm
types of fruit
Class 42: Blended Juices two or more 3 Owletts Fruit Farm
types of fruit
Graham Amos Trophy for Best in Show Sandringham Apple Juice
Four Jays Group Trophy Four Elms Fruit Farm
A & P Hill (Fruit) Ltd Four Elms Fruit Farm
The Crown Trophy Sandringham Apple Juice
Best Trade Stand AGRICARE
Best Machinery Stand KIRKLAND
Best Small Trade Stand GARDENERS BEEHIVE
NFU South East Prize
For Best Fruit Exhibit in show J L BAXTER & SON
Bonanza Prize AGRII LTD
There is so much more one can report on the NFS but for now we will leave it at that! 
Click on The National Fruit Show for more information.
Another website worth visiting, especially if you reside in Kent is the Taste of Kent Awards
That is all for this week, next week The English Apple Man will report on The NextGen Fruit Group event at WB Chambers & Hugh Lowe Farms
Take care
The English Apple Man