2-982-414 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Leeds - the Horticultural Fete at Kirkstall Abbey, 1858. 'The place is admirably adapted for such a fete, the magnificent ruins of the old abbey giving an additional interest to one of the most beautiful landscapes to be found in the immediate neighbourhood, and it was not surprising, therefore...to see gathered in the grounds during the afternoon a most brilliant and fashionable assembly...the grounds...were thronged with ladies and gentlemen, enjoying the variety of the exhibition...[which] was spread over two commodious marquees - one being appropriated to the gardeners and seedsmen, and the other to the cottagers. The collection of plants and fruits in the former was superior to anything previously seen in the neighbourhood, and the cottagers' department reflected the highest credit on the working classes of the district...there were exhibitors from various parts of the country, and the show was, in consequence, unusually varied in its character. The plants and flowers were of rare and of great beauty, the fruit generally was admired for its richness of bloom and delicacy of flavour, and the vegetables were characterised by the usual points indicative of high cultivation'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.