In July 1893 the Stowupland Highlanders quoits team played Creeting St. Peter in the grounds of Stowupland Hall., Stowupland won. Since then the game of Quoits was a regular event at the annual Stowupland Flower Show and Fete.

The featured image is from the 1930s fete and the teams were competing for the Soames Trophy. In the background. is Nathan Robinson who founded the Stowupland Social Quoits Club in 1904. As well as being captain of the Quoits team he was active in several other village organisations, being Chairman of Parish Council, as well as a school manager, an Oddfellow and active in the Builders trade union etc. He died in 1958. The gentleman with the dog collar is the Rev Chapman.

The Flower Show and Fete had started in the 1880’s as a ‘Cottager’s Show’. In 1887 Mr H.F. Harwood gave permission for it to be held in the grounds of his home, Stowupland Hall, and he opened up the hall gardens and orchards for the villagers to enjoy.  It was usually held on a Tuesday in late July or early August and local employers gave their workers a 1/2 day off to enjoy the show. Although we don’t have a date for the 1887 show it may have been a few weeks after Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee (20th June, 1887).

In 1965 the fete and flower show were moved along the road to the Village Hall.

However by the 1980s the flower show and fete’s popularity had waned. Despite efforts to maintain an interest in holding a village event that combined festivities with a competitive produce fete Stowupland’s annual flower show and fete ceased.