Local Agricultural Shows at Glen Roy Oval, Paradise

The Campbelltown Grand Patriotic Carnival was held on Saturday the 24th November 1917 to raise money for the South Australian Soldiers fund and The Australian Red Cross Society and was the forerunner to the Torrens Valley Agricultural Show.  The feature of this event was a procession of decorated motor cars from the Adelaide East End Market through the city streets to the Campbelltown Recreation Oval later known as Glen Roy Oval, Paradise. Also in the parade were a number of brass bands which included the Payneham Band, the Eastern Suburban Boys Band, the Eastern Star Band, the Norwood and Athelstone School Bands and a troop of lady riders.  Eight trollies decorated in the red, white and blue colours of the allies carried children from Norwood and Campbelltown Public Schools.  Another feature of the procession was a wagon containing Mary's Pet Lamb, shown in the top right photograph. The parade also featured the Queen Of Commerce which was a model steamship built on the body of a motor car. During the event patriotic buttons were sold and worn.

The 1st Torrens Valley agricultural show was held in 1920 and the subsequent shows were always held at the Glen Roy Oval, Paradise. In 1921 and thereafter special trams ran from the city to the showground in Paradise.  The object of the Torrens Valley Horticultural and Agricultural society was to show what was produced in the Torrens Valley.  This was done by the fruit and flower displays in the shows.  The shows featured dog competitions which were run under the rules of the SA Kennel Association as well as horses in action which were always extremely popular, one of the features of horses in action were the trotting competitions.

The 21st Torrens Valley show was opened by Premier Tom Playford in 1948. 4000 people attended this show and Premier Playford said that the Paradise district had a well-earned reputation for the quality and quantity of its products.   The 27th show had a total of 5000 people attending and featured the first night time events including cycling, horses in action and a sheep dog display.  These events were made possible after the Campbelltown progress association installed 1500 watt floodlights around the main arena.  A new grandstand was built in 1925, along with a trotting track. New competitions for dogs and cats, poultry and pigeons, flowers and fruit, art and cookery were introduced.  Lieutenant Governor George Murray was in attendance.

Researched and compiled by Karen Beniulis, a volunteer with the Campbelltown Library "Digital Diggers" group.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the information in this local history article, please contact the Local History officer on 8366 9357 or hthiselton@campbelltown.sa.gov.au

References

National Library of Australia, TROVE http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?l-publictag=Agricultral+Shows&q

Campbelltown Library Local History Room materials

Warburton, Elizabeth & Campbelltown (S.A.). Corporation 1986, From the river to the hills : Campbelltown, 150 years, Corporation of the City of Campbelltown, [Campbelltown, S. Aust.]