Sweet success for Shropshire towns as In Bloom winners announced

Towns and villages across the county are today celebrating a clean sweep of gold awards in the regional Britain in Bloom finals.

Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Ludlow all took home the top accolade at the Heart of England in Bloom awards after the towns impressed judges in a string of visits over the summer.

But for one town and one village there was extra cause to celebrate. Newport and Norton in Hales not only received gold awards but took home the overall titles in the town and village categories respectively.

They were deemed to be of such high calibre in the gardening stakes that they have now been put forward for next year’s Britain in Bloom contest.

It is not the first time Norton’s flower power has won national recognition – it was named Champion of Champions in Britain in Bloom 2015.

Nigel Passmore, from Norton in Hales in Bloom, said: “We are all absolutely thrilled. We have won the overall village award a few times, and we were Champion of Champions three years ago. We then had a break for a couple of years and re-entered this year, so it is fantastic that we have come up trumps again.

"There has been a huge amount of work that goes into maintaining the village to this standard. It’s not just making the village look beautiful, it is also the community involvement, all the social events that have been organised by the group to involve the whole village, and sustainability and environmental impact.”

“It is a challenge to keep the village looking attractive throughout the year, in terms of preparing the floral displays but also keeping them going.”

This year’s weather meant even more time and effort was needed to ensure the village was back in the competition with a bang.

He added: “The heatwave did provide a challenge. Luckily we recycle a lot of water but we did have to do a huge amount of watering. But we have got a very dedicated committee and a number of regular helpers who go to weekly work parties and also do the watering.

"It is wonderful that everyone’s hard work has been recognised.”

Daphne Rogers and Karen Claxton, from Newport in Bloom, said they were more than ready for the step up to the national contest next year.

“We couldn’t do it without all our volunteers and supporters from the town,” said Daphne. “It is a case of early planning – we are already deciding on our colour scheme for next year, before we have taken this year’s baskets down.”

Karen added: “The judges look at so much more than just the flowers, they are far more interested in community involvement. We try and get as many people involved as we can.”

Shropshire’s two entries in this year’s Britain in Bloom – Shrewsbury and Oswestry – can breathe a sigh of relief after claiming their regional golds, with the results of the national contest to be announced next month.

Councillor Keith Roberts, chairman of the Shrewsbury in Bloom committee, said: “This is a fantastic result for Shrewsbury and is a great reflection of the work from everyone involved with the Bloom campaign.

“The town council’s horticultural team has had an exceptional summer to deal with, and the floral displays around the town have been superb thanks to the hard work they have undertaken to make sure that everything looks amazing.”

Helen Ball, town clerk, added: “We have so many people who work incredibly hard to prepare for the Bloom campaign and I would like to thank everyone who is involved.

“We see a great team effort from both Shrewsbury Town Council and our partners at Shropshire Council, as well as our businesses who sponsor the traffic islands and the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District for their involvement in organising the purchase of hundreds of hanging baskets this year and, of course, our residents.”

“The Bloom campaign engenders a civic pride in our town and embodies a Team Shrewsbury approach. We encourage our local communities to get involved and I think we have been able to demonstrate that to the judges this year.”

Peter Cherrington, from Oswestry in Bloom, also praised the efforts of the committee who, he said, go above and beyond. “We are very, very proud of this achievement,” he said. “We have won gold for the last 12 or 13 years now. It is a big year for us, with us being entered in Britain in Bloom too. It is an incentive for us to keep working hard.”

“We are one of the smallest towns in the ‘large town’ category and have a small committee, so it is very difficult for us, particularly with the weather we have had.

“We have to beg, steal and borrow but local businesses are always happy to support us.”

The judges marked each town and village on its floral features, environmental responsibility and community involvement.

In Ludlow Viv Parry said the committee was delighted to scoop a gold accolade for the 14th time.

She said: “We are really, really chuffed to be awarded gold once again.

“With the weather being the way it was, so hot and dry, it made things even more difficult this year. We had to do twice as much watering.”

“But we have got such a lot of people in the town who are willing to join in and help that we managed it.

“I want to thank the people of Ludlow for doing so much for us.”