Cottenham - The Final Show

After 25 years of existence, the Cottenham show has had its last annual day. Always held in early October at the pretty village of Cottenham, not far from Cambridge, it has always been a precursor to the hugely attended and annually awaited NEC Exhibition in Birmingham. Yet there is still a place for these smaller Regional Exhibitions as many do not wish to travel the distances required to reach the NEC, and others are unwilling to battle the crowds. It is a shame, therefore, to see one of the most popular of local events fade away.

There were a good number of people who turned up for the day and the sun shone through the high windows allowing a glimpse of the autumn brightness outside, as it threw patterns across the inside walls throughout the show.

The wonderful Eddie Spence MBE always helps draw the crowds with his morning demonstrations and people travel from all over the region to watch his work.

The displays and work on show were fantastic as if an extra special effort had been made by all for this last show and the end of day prize giving was more emotional than usual.

We certainly hope that many Regional Exhibitions will effect the necessary changes required to enable them to remain a viable proposition, they will never be able to compete with the much larger shows but should be able to maintain a place as a Local event with a bit of advertising and thoughtful marketing....

Taart en Trends - Apeldoorn

There were smiling faces everywhere at this show...

Holland is always a trip we look forward to immensely every time we have to go. It's always worth the travelling, the preparation, the early starts and the late nights. We meet our English friends, our Dutch friends and Frankie's many, many European fans who approach us with smiles, kisses and hugs - I love it! Each trip sees our Facebook and Twitter followers increased and our lives enriched.

Marielle Vroome's wonderful work...

This show is very well attended - although the late night Friday (11am - 9pm) can be a little onerous.We have so many Dutch friends now all of whom make us feel so welcome and so at home and it's great when they come up to the stand all smiles and Dutch greetings.

There was so much fantastic work on show, and I'm always so surprised that these wonderful pieces are made out of cake, icing and sugar. If you ever get the chance to go grab it with both hands - I promise you won't regret it.

West Wickham Workshop

On yet another beautiful Saturday morning, with a hint of autumn in the air but with the late season sun pushing away the mist and the heavy dew, Franc and I drove the 40 minutes to West Wickham, just outside Bromley. The sparkling sunbeams made even the M25 look acceptable as we made our way up the hill to junction 4 and turned off towards Bromley.

Today was workshop day and the ladies were all going to make some models from Frankie’s book Sensational Sugar Animals. We settled in and the students spent a very pleasant day modelling wonderful animals from the book; a tabby cat – based on our own gorgeous Riamh –  and a woolly sheep.

We had a delicious lunch with the sunshine still gracing us with its had finished their pieces and carefully packed them away for the journey home. We trust everyone had a great time – there was certainly plenty of laughter in the workroom during the day.