The featured photograph comes from a local farming family album – recording a driving competition dating from pre-Great War.
The event looks well attended with crowds lined along the arena display area and tou can see one white marquee with a large advert for A. Spalding – Refreshment tent and else where on that year was a large display by Suttons of Reading – Suttons Seeds were founded in Reading in 1806 by John Sutton (1777-1863).
Originally trading as corn merchants they were known as the ‘House of Sutton’.
In 1832 John Sutton was joined in the business by his sons, Martin and Alfred.
And by 1837 the business moved to Reading's Market Place, where the buisness expanded into the flower and vegetable seed trade.
They acquired nursery grounds in Queens Road along with a greenhouse and by 1838 began selling greenhouse plants, many of the bulbs coming from local nurseries, but some from Holland.
The company took advantage of the opening of the Great Western Railway through Reading.
The railway was responsible both for bringing in large consignments of seeds and bulbs, and for carrying outgoing mail orders to all parts of the country. Suttons received royal patronage in 1858, when Queen Victoria requested Sutton to supply seeds to the royal household and have held a Royal Warrant ever since, and are currently suppliers to Queen Elizabeth.
The company relocated from Reading to Torquay in the county of Devon 1976 and in 1998 moved again to brand new premises in the nearby town of Paignton.
HISTORY FEED BACK:
Brett Goodyear e-mailed, as the Hon Treasurer of the Old Palmerian Association. “I was very interested in ‘Down Memory Lane’ of August 29th, 2008, since it mentioned Ken Ward. I was with Ken at Arthur Street School in the 1950s. We used to take turns being ‘top of the class’. However, he is a year younger than me, and being somewhat cleverer, it is not surprising that he became a ‘Professor’ at a Northern Ireland University.
Also, I remember seeing him and his family on TV one year, winning ‘Ask the Family’ a quiz chaired by Robert Robinson. Ken was a year behind me at Palmers' Boys - perhaps I could take this opportunity to urge him to become a member of the ‘Old Palmerians’ Association’.”
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