Market Drayton's green spaces a cause for celebration at biggest ever Bloom night
Firefighters, school kids and carers all got a chance to celebrate their gardening prowess at the presentation evening for Market Drayton Town Council's annual In Bloom competition.
The competition this year had the most entries ever, and about 80 people came to the presentation evening this week where the town's many beauties were the focus.
Town mayor Roger Smith and his wife Margaret returned as judges, as well as fellow councillor Mike Smith.
Councillor Smith said: "The competition itself was absolutely brilliant this year.
"We had an increased amount of entries this time and the quality of the entries as well was really, rally superb.
"Some of the gardens were, for want of a better word, stunning. Everyone put rather a lot of effort into it, it's just unbelievable.
"They came to get their rewards on the night and it was well-attended, we had over 80 people there.
"I would say everybody was enjoying themselves, we had a nice crowd. I real terms I think it's probably the best In Bloom evening we've ever had."
Earlier this summer the mayor did fear that the competition might have faltered with a low number of entries, but a last-minute surge meant it was actually the biggest ever.
"At the last minute they did increase, and it is the biggest number of entries we've had.
"The three judges were very, very busy for two days. Because of the quality of the entries it was very, very difficult when we sat down to do the final judging.
"It really gave us a headache to decide who was the best and so on and so far. Although it was hard work it was very worth it."
He said that children from several of the schools turned up to the awards night with staff and parents and that when it was announced the Longlands Community Primary School had won the Best School prize their faces "lit up".
The award for Market Drayton's fire station was particularly special for Councillor Smith, an ex-firefighter who joined the service in 1967 and retired in 2015. At the time he retired he was the longest currently-serving firefighter in the UK.
His sons Mark and Paul followed in his firefighting footsteps and it was Mark that accepted several awards for the town's fire station including Best Public Building and Best Hanging Basket.
Councillor Smith said: "What can I say? It was very pleasing to see that they did very well and they have had a lot of very pleasing comments I've seen on Facebook about it."
In a post to social media the firefighters of the stations said: "We would like to thank all those who voted for us in the three categories, and the councillors and staff of Market Drayton Town Council, for organising the competition and for putting on the awards evening.
"A big thank you to the station personnel and friends of the station, who helped in organising and maintaining our winning display."
Councillor Smith, who looks forward to judging the town's gardens every year, is already thinking about next year's competition.
He said: "I just hope that next year we can improve on it. Talking to everybody who was there on the night, they're going to try again next year and try even harder.
"I'm full of praise for the members of staff at the town hall, the council officers who did the bulk of the work to get prepared for the evening. It was a wonderful evening, everybody enjoyed it and it amazed me to be quite truthful."
