Blackmoor Orchards, Liss, Hants, won the prize in the Cox class; JA &NJ Bardsley , Staplehurst, Kent was the winner of the Bramley class; Alan Firmin Ltd of Linton, Maidstone won the dessert class (excluding Cox), with Red Pippin and the pear class was won by W Gunyon & Sons, Barming, Maidstone.

Worldwide Fruit's Bysing Wood facility was runner up in both the Cox and pear classes.

This year's National Fruit Show will be the society's 60th show. It will once again be a two-day event on October 23-24 at the Kent County Showground, following careful consideration by the show committee of calls for a one-day event from some sectors of the trade. The show dinner will be held on October 23 at a venue new to the event: the prestigious Fairfax Hall at Leeds Castle. Up to 200 guests can be seated at the event which the society hopes will boost earnings.

Other changes include more space at the John Hendry Pavillion to stage the show, a smaller Marden pavillion and in-house visitor registration as a joint venture with a labelling company to provide badges for visitors.

This year the Bonanza Prize will be sponsored by specialist horticultural accountancy practice Chavereys, which is offering a trip for two in April 2003 to the Shannxi region of China to view fruit production and export facilities.

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