Village and Agricultural Shows

The Official Opening by Sir John Forrest of the Mundaring Agricultural Show at the original Recreation Ground Pavilion 1907

As mentioned in our previous post on gardening in the Perth Hills, interest in vegetable growing was very strong in the early years of settlement in Mundaring Shire and some of the villages held their own show on their recreation grounds, often followed by a Ball in the evening in the local Hall.

George Blampy with his dog Prince outside Octagonal Hall (c1930s), which was built in 1897 and often used for local displays for shows

Image 1 Certificate from the Mundaring District Agricultural Society Annual Show 1941 - note "for Patriotic Funds" which indicates War time Fundraising; Image 2 Certificate from Parkerville Show 1948; Image 3 Another Certificate from the Parkerville Show 1948; And yet another certificate from the Parkerville Show 1948. Seems Mrs Ray Wells was very good at growing veggies!

The longest running Agricultural Show in the Shire was in Swan View which began in 1948 and continued until quite recently. We are sure many of our followers would have happy memories of attending the show at Brown Park, and we would welcome any information regarding the early history of the Show.

Article from the Swan Express, dated 21 July 1949