Mexborough and Swinton Times August 26, 1938

Invalid’s “Hat-Trick”

Wombwell Gardens Competition

A man who is so incapacitated by sickness that he has not been beyond the street end for four years has won, for the third time in succession, the “Quest” Cup offered by the Wombwell U.D.C. in connection with the annual competition for the best kept gardens. The hero of this triumph over physical handicap is Mr. George Myers (60), of 22, Goodyear Crescent. Mr. Myers suffers from acute rheumatism and has to walk with a stick.

His son William helps him with the heavy digging, but apart from that he alone tends the garden which, apart from his budgerigars, of which he has a very fine pen, is his sole hobby. Infirmity has kept Mr. Myers at home ever since he finished work in the mine seventeen years ago and for eight years he has never seen the centre of Wombwell, though he lives only a. quarter of a mile away. But his garden has opened out a new “world” to him. Occupying three sides of his house, his garden is his daily delight and the round of work keeps him going winter and summer.

Mrs. Myers also takes a great pride in the garden, but never touches anything heavier than the watercan. She has plenty of work of her own in the house.

Mr. Myers has won the “Quest” Cup in the “combination without greenhouse” section of the competition. Prior to the cup being offered he won five first prizes in the “kitchen garden” section. He has had only three tries for the “Quest” Cup and has achieved a “hat trick.”

Mr. Myers makes no pretentions to scientific knowledge of gardening. People who visit his plot to look round and admire it often look wise and refer to his blooms by names which to him are “Chinese.” “As a matter of fact,” he told a “Times” reporter, “I am not supposed to be a gardener at all. There are not more than two or three flowers that I know the name of.” But if the skill of a gardener is to be judged by the quality of his produce judged by the quality of his produce Mr.  Myers is certainly an expert. Of such flowers as dahlias, antirrhinums and asters he has some of the finest to be seen in the district and his vegetable crops have been equally prolific. He cut a red cabbage with a centre as big as a football and proudly handed it to the visitor as a souvenir. “I have had beet nearly as big as that,” he said.

“There is not a plant in this garden that I have not put in with my own hands,” he said. “A few I have bought and others have been given to me by generous friends.” As an “all round” garden Mr. Myers’s entry was certainly one to arouse the admiration of the judges, Messrs. S. Missing and T. Milner. Not a weed can be found and the privet hedge is a picture of neatness. With the “Quest” Cup he has won three replicas which he treasures very much,

Mr. Myers was employed as a miner at Houghton Main Colliery for forty years. He had a trying experience seven years ago when his house was gutted by fire in the middle of the night and the family rushed out in their night clothes to see their home go up in flames. He has three sons and daughters with one son at home.

In their remarks the judges commented on the abnormal season, but said that in spite of the difficulties the produce was up to standard. The results were:

Combination without greenhouse: 1 (and “Quest” Cup), Mr. G. Myers, 22, Goodyear Crescent; 2, Mr. R. Camplejohn, 30, Goodyear Crescent.

Combination with greenhouse: 1, Mr. N. Lincoln, 87, Roebuck Street; 2, Mr. A. Ellis, 7, Collindridge Road.

Front garden with greenhouse: 1, Mr. F. Handley, 28, Goodyear Crescent; 2, Mr. W. Cooper, 49, Roebuck Street.

Kitchen garden: 1, Mr. H. Pickard. 10, Thompson Road; 2, Mr. S. Stables, 89, Roebuck Street.

Hemingfield and Jump: Kitchen garden: 1, Mr. A. Bassindale, 1, Quest Avenue.

Front garden: Mr. H. Whittaker, 14, Quest Avenue.

Combination group: Mr. A. Sanderson, 8, Quest Avenue.

Copeland Road and Blythe Street district: Kitchen garden: 1, Mr. J. Crawford 30, Copeland Road.

Combination ground: 1, Mr. D. Ibbotson, 6, Copeland Road.

Front garden: 1, Mr. C. Cooper, 107, Blythe Street; 2, Mr. R. Symcox, 7, Copeland Road.

It will be observed that in respect of their gardens the tenants of Goodyear Crescent, Wombwell, have again excelled. The street is certainly one of the cleanest and neatest in Wombwell.