Tewkesbury in Bloom

After months of preparation and hard work, the Heart of England judges Roger Bache and David Pritchard visited us this week for a two hour tour.  We were assessed on our horticultural achievements which make up 50% of the award as well as environmental and community participation (both 25%).  The results of our efforts will not be known until September when we have been invited to an awards ceremony at Warwick Castle. 



This year we were also followed by a camera crew who are making a BBC2 fly on the wall documentary about gardening groups entering the Britain in Bloom competition, and the cameras have focused on the progress of our project from May to July. 

There were a number of highlights on the tour for the judges to enjoy including a performance by the Town Band and a helicopter ride giving a bird's eye view of Tewkesbury Nature Reserve and the Ham. 



This year's tour went like clockwork from a timing perspective, to having the right people in the right place and for our displays to be at their very best.  We are all looking forward to hearing details of our award.

The town centre will shortly be transformed into a colourful display of flowers and medieval banners!  Between 4 and 11 June you will see the town full of volunteers working on re-planting the high street floral displays and erecting the medieval banners just in time for our summer visitors & tourists. 

Around 30 volunteers spent the morning filling the flowerbeds at Victoria Gardens with annual summer bedding plants, geraniums were added to barrels and the two new urns now take pride of place at the edge of the river.

Don't forget the Gardens are a public park and are open every day for everyone to enjoy.  The Open afternoon is on Sunday 2nd July when there will be music and tea on the lawns.

We'd like to give local painter and decorator, Mark Thompson of Thompson Decorators, a big shout out.  He spent the afternoon this week re-painting the gold lettering on the stunning arches leading to Victoria Gardens in his own time.  The lettering now stands out perfectly ready for the summer. 

We are pleased to announce that we have been chosen out of the hundreds of In Bloom groups across the country to feature in a BBC2 documentary series to be presented by Chris Bavin (Eat Well for Less).

We spent a very pleasant afternoon with Helen White (left) and Rosie Saunders (right) from the Electric Ray TV company showing them around the town and introducing them to our band of hardworking volunteers.  The following week we received the green light and now we are springing into action ready for the first day of filming on Monday 8 May.

The programme will feature the efforts of the volunteers who work at Victoria Gardens park. After the major flood in 2007 and on hearing the news of the Council's ever shrinking budget would mean the flower beds would be grassed over, a handful of volunteers decided to form Friends of Victoria Gardens and volunteer their services to bring back the park to its former glory.   We recommend you take a stroll through the beautifully tranquil park and don't forget to stop and say hello to those digging and weeding.  You may meet Rosemary, Dawn, Kitty, Colin, Marilyn or Martin.  The busiest time of the year for the volunteers is when the floods hit the park, which may mean the area is under water for a few days or even a few weeks at a time.  What is left behind after the flood water dries away is basically mud and the top soil essential for successful flowerbeds is washed away. 

We will keep you updated as filming progresses so please do visit our news paper for our regular updates.
   

We've just received a provisional judging date which is Tuesday 25 July when our Heart of England judges, Roger and Mark, will be visiting us to assess our 2017 efforts.



We've got a planning meeting on 30 March and will be revealing some of the fantastic projects we will be working on.  But we are always on the look out for an extra pair of hands with the practical stuff so if you'd like to volunteer please do get in touch. 

We are very pleased to hear that gardeners at Hanover Court have been rewarded for their hard work with a Level 3 award from the RHS judges.  

This year was the very first time residents have set up a gardening group and entered a competition!  This particular competition (Its Your Neighbourhood) is organised by the RHS and encourages the community to take responsibility for a particular local area and improve it. 

We are pleased to announce the volunteers have been awarded 'Gold' in the Heart of England In Bloom competition. Chair John Badham and Tewkesbury Town Council Deputy Mayor, Peggy Clatworthy travelled to Aldridge in Walsall today to pick up the award. 

This year we have had a record number of individual entries from local pubs and hotels and we are so pleased with the very high standards of entry.  Its really pleasing to see local businesses and organisations take pride in the town.

The awards are as follows:

The Anchor : Certificate of Achievement 
The Bell Hotel : Gold
The British Legion Club  : Bronze
The Royal Hop Pole : Silver
The White Bear : Silver Gilt 

Volunteers who care for Victoria Gardens held a very successful annual Open Day at the weekend.  Entertainment was supplied by the Gloucester Charter Band and members of the Heart & Soul Choir.  The weather stayed fine so visitors were able to take advantage with tea, cake and ice creams on the lawns!

The winner of the wall plaque competition was announced, being Janet Green, and she was given the opportunity to unveil her artwork which can now be admired by all. 

We invited the Brownies to help us to do some gardening in town last week. One group went to Victoria Gardens to tidy, sweep and water plants and a second group helped us to plant at the 1471 flower bed.  

Red and white dianthus flowers were planted new to the new rose bed to represent the Houses of York and Lancaster during the War of the Roses.  The girls enjoyed the impromptu history lesson too! 
 
After an hour of gardening in the heat, it was time for a well earned rest and ice lollies!