Tony Cross (15 Jul 1935 - 28 Oct 2015)

Tony Cross

15 July 1935 – 28 October 2015

In loving memory of the late Tony Cross who passed away peacefully on 28 October 2015, aged 80. His wife Pam, children Sue and Ian and step daughter Sarah were with him.

Tony was a friendly and hardworking man, always ready and willing to help others with problems – particularly on the showground when he would still be setting up his stand at midnight as a result of helping all the other exhibitors.
Tony was born on 15 July 1935 in Harrow. He was the second son of Tom and Lily, brother to Ron and Ruth. The family moved to Grantham and later Honnington and Tony attended school in Grantham. He was very active in Scouts and joined Boots, based in Nottingham, in an agricultural research role. He served his 2 year national service as a Medical Attendant with the RAF stationed at Wittering before returning to Boots.

It was at Boots that he met his first wife Sandra and they had two children Susan and Ian living in West Bridgeford, Wilford and then Gotham. Whilst at Boots, Tony began Wilford Bulb Company with a few bulbs on Sleaford market and his early success led him to leave Boots and make Wilford Bulb Company his full time occupation. Whilst always a nurseryman and growing seeds, bulbs, plants and trees in the early years with his friend Bernard, it would be fair to say that Tony and Sandra pioneered the approach to selling horticultural products including specialist bulbs, seeds and plants, gardening supplies and Lilies for over 50 years beginning with ploughing matches, markets and steam rallies through to numerous horticulture, agricultural and county shows, exhibitions, the National Garden Festivals at Liverpool and Stoke and at their shop in East Leake. Tony exhibited at all of the major shows including Chelsea, Hampton Court, Harrogate, Tatton Park, Malvern, Badminton and the Royal and the month long Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition in London. Sue was just 6 months old when she began her show life and Ian followed in this excellent schooling.

It is at these shows and exhibitions that Tony excelled, gained success and gained an enviable reputation firstly in seeds, bulbs and gardening supplies, then expanding to include pet requisites with Sue and latterly specialising in Lilies. Display work bought many awards including best in show, gold and silver gilt medals. The exhibition and show circuit also bought many friends from near and far, of whom some can’t be with us today, including Holland where he developed strong and close family friendships. Tony felt particularly privileged and proud when he was accepted to display in the floral marquees due to originally being a gardening sundries man. He loved the camaraderie of the show grounds and loved show life, even when he had three shows all happening at the same time and miles apart.

So what stories do we remember of Tony. Well there are far too many to tell but here are a few:
• His extensive travels meant he could visit anywhere in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Belgium or France without the aid of a map.
• A particular traffic jam risked him missing the ferry to Holland; he simply flagged down a police patrol car, explained his situation and was then escorted through the traffic jam to the ferry.
• His daily show takings were stored in brown paper bags prior to banking and sometimes would go missing until later being found in a forgotten safe place.
• He would always run his vans low on fuel and often arrive at a petrol station running on vapours. But on one occasion when his luck had run out, he flagged down a fuel transporter which did no more than give him some fuel.
• At Christmas time Tony would import root balled Christmas trees for both wholesale and retail sale. More than twenty thousand trees were imported one year.
• At one point he owned 6 caravans for accommodation during shows.
• Family holidays in the Lake District, Holland and Denmark.
• Expressing thanks and appreciation to Lord and Lady Cavendish on behalf of all exhibitors but initially referring to them as Lord and Lady Salisbury and doing this in two successive years.
• He was vice chairman of the Horticultural Exhibitors Association.
• Tony was one for arranging meals out and getting people together after a show day. Many will recall a wet and muddy showground and sliding around in the back of a van on returning from a good meal.
• He expanded into tourism later in life creating ‘Cross Cultivated Tours’ and taking friends in a mini bus on a number of occasions to Holland.

Tony was very proud to become a granddad – firstly to Emma and then Adam, followed later by Amy, Megan and Jacob and step granddad to Alfie, Zack, Joe, Jessica, Samantha and Hannah. He put his storytelling to good use in making up Jackanory stories. He was very proud of Sue and Ian and all they achieved.

It was on the show circuit that he met his wife Pam. They were married in January 2001 and Tony surprised her by taking her to a hotel for their wedding night – and further surprised her by inviting 6 friends to join them in their suite for champagne! They worked on the shows together, making new friends and enjoying the social lifestyle and rewards of their labours including a holiday to New Zealand.

Tony was forced to start to slow down when his health began to deteriorate. He had a hip replacement which post operation continued to cause problems and would lead to a full hip reconstruction. He developed Shingles and head pain continued thereafter for the rest of his life. Tony and Pam announced their retirement in 2008 although they continued ‘part time’ with some smaller shows. They also continued to enjoy visits to shows; in fact only three months ago he visited Southport Flower show and was hoping to attend Derby Chrysanthemum show had he not been in hospital. He thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with his family and the Kegworth Steam Society, continuing his interest in steam from those early steam rallies but also presenting his deep knowledge on flowers and plants.
In his retirement Tony and Pam took holidays, occasionally with their neighbour Joyce, they were also regular visitors to choral and brass concerts including the Carlton Male Voice choir, RAF bands and one of Tony’s favourites, whose music we walked in to today, Andre Rieu.

Tony was a friend to and loved by so many. Yes we mourn his passing but we also wish to remember our happy memories and celebrate his life as he would have wanted us to. Rest in peace Tony.