Passionate produce tent organiser marks 25 years

THIS year of the Henley Farm and Country Show will mark 25 years since Donna Guile took over the running of the produce tent.

Mrs Guile, 61, an interior designer from Nettlebed, first entered the competition in 1999 along with her two daughters, Sophie and Hayley.

The Guiles, alongside friends Sheila Bollon and her daughters, Abigail and Laura, entered the art classes and baked goods, including a Victoria sponge and a ginger cake.

Mrs Guile recalled the group “running backwards and forwards” throughout the day to check how their entries were getting on, and they were pleased to take home a few prizes.

This included the Ancient Order of Foresters trophy for art, which was won by Hayley, who was then 13. A prize which she would go on to win three years in a row.

Mrs Guile said: “The girls both were incredibly arty and we always took part in the show because it was what we used to do. It was great fun.”

Following her first show, she was approached by former produce tent organiser Maureen Cleary, who planned to step down later that year, and offered her the role.

For the next 25 years, Mrs Guile dedicated herself to the task. Each year, soon after the show ends, she gets to work organising the show classes for the following year and rewriting the schedule. Then in May, Mrs Guile puts together the judging panel and recruits stewards to help run the tent.

The tent showcases entries ranging from large vegetables to arts and crafts, flowers, baked goods, as well as children’s classes, and Mrs Guile oversees the entry forms, enquiries, certificates and more.

“You can’t run the produce tent without a good team,” she said. “I’m there, but I would not be able to plan it without my team and a lot of them have supported me right from the off.”

Over the years, the show has added new categories in the tent, such as photography, which Mrs Guile said was very popular.

The tent also has experts on hand, which this year will include the Berkshire Bonsai Society, which is running a stand and the Berkshire Fuchsia Society, which will be answering any fuchsia-related questions.

Mrs Guile said that each year it was hard to know what to expect as people can enter the show up until a few days before.

This year, many entrants have had to contend with one of the hottest summers on record.

“Every year is different,” she said, “You always panic. This year has been quite panicked because of the weather.

“I am a little lenient with entries because, obviously, up until this week, we got quite bad weather. We don’t want an empty marquee.”

The entries are judged by a number of experts, and prize money is £5 for first place, £3 for second and £2 for third, with more for specified categories including photography and scarecrow categories.

While not a judge herself, over the years Mrs Guile has found herself on occasion stepping in to keep the peace. She said: “I had probably been doing the produce tent for about six years when I had a couple of gentlemen disputing who owned the runner bean that was the longest.

“I got called over to the referee and I said to them, ‘Why don’t you share the prize money?’

“And they wouldn’t do it. I was standing there and they were arguing, and I thought, ‘Now what do I do?’

“So in my wisdom — which probably wasn’t the right way to do it — I snapped both of their beans in half.

“That meant that they weren’t the longest, and it meant the person who was in third place came first.

“It was just from the spur of the moment. I just thought, ‘stop being so childish’. And, unfortunately, neither of them have ever entered again.

“It was an ‘oh dear’ moment, but once you’ve done it, you can’t turn the clock back.”

Mrs Guile said she had been touched by the support of the show following difficult periods in her life.

In July 2005 her eldest daughter Hayley, then 19, died in a car crash.

The following September, the show’s life president, Lord Alvingham, and his wife, Lady Alvingham, presented Mrs Guile with the Hayley Guile Memorial Trophy, to be awarded to the best exhibit in the art section in tribute to Hayley’s passion.

There are also memorial trophies in memory of her parents and her late husband Nigel, who worked as a police officer for Thames Valley Police.

Mrs Guile said: “The show just means so much to me, I’m very passionate about it. It’s a big family and we all love going and doing it. It’s emotional for me but I love it. We’ve got a great crew behind us and a great chairman and secretary, who have always been really supportive.”

Mrs Guile’s younger daughter Sophie is now aged 38 and this year her children, Albert, aged seven, and Amelia, aged five, will enter the show with their scarecrow and home-grown marrows.

They have grown the vegetables in Mrs Guile’s garden and have been given some top tips from prize vegetable winner and show regular, Tim Saint.

Mrs Guile said: “They’ve entered ever since they were able to do things. They have been watering the marrows all over the summer.”

She said she would like to thank all those who had entered over the years.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have a marquee,” she said. “They put all the hard work into keeping everything going and showing off what they can do.

“With that said, I’d like to try and encourage a few more children to take part.”

Mrs Guile said she wasn’t ready to give up running the tent just yet. She said: “I thought I would do it for five years and see how I went but I don’t know where the years have gone.

“It’ll be a very hard thing to give up. When I got to 25 years, I did think, maybe that’s enough. But at the moment I’m carrying on.”

Henley Farm & Country Show, which is in its 134th year, will take place from next Saturday and will be held at the Henley Showground, off Marlow Road near Hambleden.