The Currie Show is now the only Flower and Craft Show left in South West Edinburgh and it is the desire of the Show Committee to maintain the old traditions of Village life in what has now become a dormitory suburb of Greater Edinburgh. Formally constituted in 1878 the Show has had an almost unbroken run since that time apart from the two World Wars and a short break due to a financial problem at the beginning of the 20th Century. Recently obtained Archival Reports from the Scotsman Newspaper show that the first reported Show was in August 1849 and we have subsequent reports until the late 1890’s. These 19^th century Shows were largely supported by the owners of the “Big Houses” along the valley and whilst their gardeners grew and prepared the exhibits the owners got the “Brownie Points” from the reports we now hold there was some classes for the “Cottager” and from the names of prizewinners would appear to have been well supported. Currie Show is not the oldest Village Show in Scotland that distinction goes to Brechin that has been in existence since 1838 although there is still a possibility that a Show could well have been held in Currie in the years prior to the 1849 report in the Scotsman. Since the formal establishment of the Show it has been held at various locations in the district at times in the open air on the Minister's Glebe, in 1911 the Show moved indoors to the Old Village School and remained there until the outbreak of World War 1, after the War it then moved to the Gibson Craig Memorial Hall on the main road. In 1962 the Show relocated to the Currie Hill School where it was held until 2005. Curriehill School became surplus to the requirements of Edinburgh City Council and may be sold off for private development. So the Society had to find a new home, from 2006 onward and after much thought Balerno High School became the venue of choice. The great advantage of locating to Balerno High is that unlike Curriehill Primary the Show is now held on the School Concourse and is totally disabled friendly, everything is on one level. No records are available from before 1915 for which year we have some accounts that indicate that monies were held over for the duration of the war. It is of course very possible locked away in a trunk or similar that someone may have papers, photographs and other material from earlier times and if anyone should have anything at all the Society would like to hear from you.

However, we do have Show Schedules from between 1926 to 1938 and from 1957 to current day, The 1926 schedule shows two categories of exhibitor, namely Cottager and Amateur and this reflects the social divisions of the times. The definition of a Cottager was "one whose annual rent does not exceed £20 this category was for the Agricultural Labourers and Artisans and the Amateur Classes was for those in a higher strata of society. Happily this distinction was removed in1929 and everyone no matter of place in society competed on equal terms. These shows of the 1920’s and 30’s had some interesting items such as Powdered Butter and Hens Eggs. Children had handwriting which consisted of Stanzas from Robert Burns, Queen Wasps, Embroidery and Knitting, things today that our Children would laugh at but in those days taken very seriously. It was said that if an Agricultural Labourer or Mill Worker had, had a good show then he had an even better "Saturday Night". The Show then was a major event in the village, a Gala occasion with Family and friends meeting on Showday, having a good time, friendly competition, and music and dancing after the Show. Those far off days are a part of our Rural Heritage which is still as important today as it was then, probably more so as we must consider the past, the present, before we can consider the future. The Show plays an important part in the ethos of the Community and its future is not just in the hands of the Committee but in the hands of the whole community.

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