B.M.O.S. Early Days

Based upon the recollections of (the late) Gordon Lowndes and Geoffrey Hands

A breakaway group from the Central Orchid Society formed the Society. The main members at that time were: - Major E.R.S. Fiddian, Mrs. M.B. Foulds, Mrs. C. Horton, Mr. C.L. Pilditch, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Mr. & Mrs. Adams. The major forces of the BMOS in the early days were Mesdames Fiddian and Foulds. The Cattleya emblem of the BMOS is attributed to Mrs. Foulds who was a Cattleya grower herself.

The first few Annual Shows were held in Birmingham's Matthew Boulton College with the monthly meetings at the Norfolk Hotel on Hagley Road. For a number of years following the Committee consisted of; - Major E.R.S. Fiddian, Mr. J. Sollitt (Chairman), Mr. G. Hands (Secretary), Mr. H. Hill (Treasurer), Mrs. M.B. Foulds (Social Secretary) and Mr. G. Lowndes (Show Secretary). It was during this time that the Shows were moved to the Great Hall of (now) Aston University. These Shows were of three day duration, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the judging taking place on the Friday around mid-day, cups dispatched to engravers on Friday afternoon to be returned for the presentations on Saturday afternoon. Clearing away took place on the Sunday. The Shows in those days were opened by celebrities of the time such as Reginald Bosnquet (TV Newsreader), Mr. Pashley (Garden Columnist on the Birmingham Post) and Mr. Price (TV Gardener). Usually the Mayor at the time was invited to the opening of the Show.

In order to get media coverage of the Shows in those early days extraordinary measures were taken such as flying in Orchid Flowers by Singapore Airlines (there was not the flower business then as there is now), Cymbidium Flower spikes bought from the trade and made up into bouquets for sale by the ladies of the Society and having Stonehurst Orchids stage the first public demonstration of micro cloning propagation.

Exhibitors at our Shows included Birmingham Parks (Stanley Pittman, Birmingham Parks Director was our Vive Chairman), Liverpool Parks and Lord Sieff of Marks & Spencer (Lord Sieff was our President then). We also used to have up to eight trade stands in the Great Hall, comprising of Burnham Nurseries, Armstrong & Brown, Dorset Orchids (later to become Keith Andrews Orchids, Royden Orchids, Jeals Orchids, Mansell & Hatcher, Stonhurst Orchids, Sandy Orchids, David Sanders Orchids, Neville Orchids, Charlesworth Orchids and Wyld Court Orchids.

The monthly Meetings at the Norfolk Hotel were held on a Saturday but after the membership reached 400 plus weekday meetings were also held to accommodate those who worked on Saturdays. The main speakers at this time were from the trade, e.g. Mr. Humphries from Armstrong & Brown and Mr. Symonds, who travelled from his London Nurseries with two suitcases full of bare root orchid imports (no CITIES in those days). Trips were organised then as now but in those days to such places as Liverpool Parks, Mansell & Hatcher and Wyld Court Orchids; two day trips with an overnight stay in Brighton to visit 2 or 3 nurseries, usually Charlesworth, McBeans, Stuart Low, Black & Flory, Armstrong & Brown, David Sanders Orchids and / or Jeals Orchids. Later on it was also arranged to visit Marcel Lecoufle and Eric Young of Jersey. Eric Young once flew in from Jersey to give a talk and then flew straight back again on the same day!

In the late 60's when the membership was at its greatest and there were not so many local societies it was commonly acknowledged that the BMOS was approaching the size of the Orchid Society of Great Britain and our shows were more impressive.

In the mid sixties there was a rift that generated an Extraordinary General Meeting resulting in half the Committee resigning many of whom went away and formed the Solihull Society. It was later in the sixties or perhaps early seventies that the monthly meetings moved to the Medical Centre in order to accommodate the growing number of cars attending Meetings. During these days there was a lot of animosity between Societies and one would never “show” at another’s. Perhaps the formation of the BOC helped to dispel this, as now it is common practice to put on displays at each other’s Shows. By the mid seventies the membership had risen to around 600, which was when Mr. Hands resigned in order to get the BOC off the ground. Mr Hands had been on BMOS’s Committee as member, Secretary and President for 12 or 13 years.