Gardeners hit by major floods have battled against all the odds to make sure their historic show is staged on Saturday.

The green-fingered residents in Mirfield were celebrating their 100th anniversary when they were hit by floods, fire and vandalism.

Mr David Thompson, a member of Mirfield Allotments & Gardens Society, said it was so bad that in spring they questioned whether they should run Saturday’s big show, which will be the 101st.

“But once you don’t do something the danger is that it won’t happen again, so we felt we had to go ahead,” he said.

Flooding in Mirfield. Allotments at Lowlands

“Now it’s fingers crossed for Saturday that we get some good flowers, vegetables and fruits coming through the door. Our members have really rallied and one or two have done very well at other shows, particularly with their dahlias and gladioli.”

Normally the show, held at St Paul’s Church in Mirfield, gets about 400 to 500 entries split between members and open classes. The open section attracts gardeners from further afield such as Wakefield and Normanton.

Volunteers and allotment holders at the flooded Lowlands Allotment site at Mirfield clear up after the flood waters subsided.

Mr Thompson said the members were from three Mirfield allotments – Lowlands, The Nab and Bankfield – which have about 200 plots altogether. Lowlands was hit by the floods twice – on Boxing Day and also a few weeks before. The Nab was the victim of a big shed fire, and Bankfield was plagued by vandals.

“It was such an irony that in our centenary year we were hit by these setbacks. The floods are only supposed to happen once every 100 years, but we had two in quick succession. The plots were under six or seven feet of water. The only major flood previously was in 1946, although there have been smaller ones in the past five years,” he said.

“Much of the damage last year was caused when the water flowed back into the river because it went with such force that it took everything else with it. There were greenhouses, sheds and plant pots floating around.

“Some of our members are saying the fruit is not as bountiful this year, and that is probably linked to the flooding. The raspberries, for instance, have not been as good and some fruits have not come at all.

“We had a meeting about the possible consequences of what happened, and discovered that the soil would be deprived of nitrogen so members have worked hard to compensate for that to get good crops.”

Mr Thompson said they had spent a few hundred pounds on skips during the clean-up after the floods, but it wasn’t the monetary cost that was important.

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“It was more the time and effort people had to put in to get things back to how they were, and the impact on the land. We don’t really know the full consequences of that,” he said.

A few allotments have been vacated because of the devastation and some gardeners have moved plots. But Mr Thompson said they were hoping to attract new members to the society.

He is running a ‘swap shop’ at the show where people can bring a plant and swap it for another. But he said he wants to enter a Gala melon. He has been trying to grow one for four years because they are notoriously difficult, and this year he has succeeded at his Lowlands allotment.

“The only trouble is there isn’t a class for melons, so I might have to look at the rule book! I am so proud of it I am going to show it anyway,” he said.

The show opens for exhibitors from 8am, judging is at 11.30am and the public are welcome from 2.30pm. Trophies will be presented at 4pm.