After a series of wet and windy years little changed on Saturday for the 2019 Grade Ruan Autumn Show, with another damp day.

Despite this there was a celebration of the season inside Ruan Minor Village Hall, when Angela Agutter Thomas, a former landlady who remains well known in west Cornwall for her involvement in dramatic and operatic arts, opened the 72nd annual show.

In her opening speech she commended everyone for their efforts, especially the children’s work and the crafts, saying such events made villages great. She finished her address with an excerpt from Keats’s poem Autumn.

Mrs Agutter Thomas went on to present the trophies, first of which was for the best exhibit in the show, which she described as the most perfect set of carrots that she had seen. These were grown by Clarence Thomas, who also won several other trophies including most points in show.

The other major trophy winner was Mailli Carter, who had most points in show by a parishioner and an under 16 year old, as well as most points in the cookery section.

Unfortunately the recent poor weather took its toll on the flower section and many of the vegetable classes, but 118 people still managed to enter the show with everything from fodder beet, leeks and parsnip taking the whole width of the four-foot table, cakes splits and jams, model tractors, photos and floral arrangements.

Altogether there were more than 850 exhibits for the public to view whilst they enjoyed tea and cake.

Trophy winners - Best exhibit, Clarence Thomas; Most points in show, Clarence Thomas; Parishioner with most points, Mailli Carter; Most points up to 16 years, Mailli Carter; Most points flowers and vegetables, Clarence Thomas; Best exhibit fuchsia and roses David Endean; Most points flowers, Clarence Thomas; Most points fruit,Doug Stevens; Best Collection of Herbs, Mary Roberts; Most points vegetables by parishioner, Mary Roberts; Most points flowers by parishioner, Mary Roberts; Best exhibit class 30, Prue Towner; Most points floral art classes, Di Peters; Most Points preserves, Mandy Neufeld; Most points cookery Mailli Carter; Most points cookery by parishioner Mailli Carter; Best exhibit cookery Sandra Bosustow; Best exhibit cookery under 18, Shannon Ockwell; Most points farm produce, Stephen Bosustow; Most points handicraft, Janet Stedman; Most points handicraft by parishioner, Andrew Fletcher; Best exhibit needlework/knitting and crochet, Janet Sedman; Most points under 18 photography, Freddy Trewin; Best exhibit under 18 Photography, Elowen Oates; Most points photography by parishioner, Andrew Fletcher; Most points Grade Ruan School pupil, Tamlyn Carter; Best exhibit in school section, Sophie Jane; Best exhibit in each school year: R Ocean Wood, 1 Paige Mucklow, 2 Clover Oates, 3 Hope Hingley, 4 Hazel Strickland/ Joe Tonks, 5 Ceira Conway, 6 Sophie Jane; Most points Grade Ruan parish child: Boy - Tamlyn Carter, Girl - Mailli Carter. Best in section winners - Flowers, Josiah Eddy; Floral Art, Prue Towner; Vegetables, Clarence Thomas; Fruit, Doug Stevens; Preserves, Mary Roberts; Cookery, Sandra Bosustow; Farm Produce, Libby Goddard; Needlework, Janet Stedman; Knitting and Crochet, Janet Stedman; Arts and Crafts , Rozenwyn Lane; Photography, Bob Allen; Children: 12 to 16 - Bella Jane, 8 to 11 - Mailli Carter, up to 7 - Elowen Oates.