It was a case of six of the best in bloom awards for a Northumberland town.
Alnwick’s haul came in this year’s Northumbria in Bloom awards in what is the 58th year of the competition. It won the Towns section with judges saying: “Alnwick is welcoming with beautiful spring and summer bedding schemes. The huge commitment of many volunteers and businesses plus the community spirit to make Alnwick town even more beautiful are much to be commended.”
With 170 flowering Japanese cherry trees, Alnwick also won the best Entry in Spring category, while the Alnwick Garden took the prize for Best Tourist or Visitor Attraction. The John Bull pub in the town won best pub with judges saying: “This is a most amazing and unusual pub courtyard with recycling ideas on every surface.”
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The Cookie Jar in Alnwick was joint best hotel/guest house. The former Convent of Mercy and has been renovated into 11 rooms and suites, with bistro. Judges praised its “magnificent garden” and added: “The overall impression of tranquility befits a property that was once a nunnery”.
The best private garden award went to a property in Swansfield Park Road in Alnwick.
Six awards also went to Durham City and surrounds. It won the Small City award, while the Best Town Centre Retail Area / BIDs prize went to Durham Business Improvement District. The Urban Community winner was Belmont. Judges said: “Belmont was once a mining community but is now an urban area close to Durham city. Despite this, considerable efforts are being made to improve and soften the environment. The Scrambles Nature Reserve on the edge of Belmont is a wonderful resource for the residents and wildlife.“
Ken Neat, chairman of the Friends of Belmont Scrambles, was one of the winners in the Community Champions category. Another was Mark Turner, head teacher at Durham Gilesgate Primary School, who after winning National Lottery funding in 2013, led the school, parents and the wider community to transform waste land into what judges called a “a beautiful and now well established allotment”
Gilesgate Primary also won the best school award. Each year more land has been added to create a thriving plot which provides the school kitchen with produce and also doubles as an outdoor classroom for lessons from science to maths to history.
Last weekend the school held its Big Soup day when children, parents and volunteers harvest crops and prepare the allotment for winter before being served soup made from the vegetables. Judges said: “Gilesgate is a delight. The beds are full of a spectacular display of dahlias and other perennials, herbs, fruit and vegetables. Once the children have helped to lift the crop and put the trimmings on the compost heap the produce goes to the school kitchen. The pond is fed by a water catchment scheme and it is full of life.”
Mr Turner said: “ It has been an amazing journey to see parents, children and helpers from the community work together to make an outdoor space that is so special.”
Mr Turner, one of the Bloom competition’s Community Champion winners, also leads the school in planting schemes across the wider community, such as the much admired Gilesgate carpet bed at the gateway to Durham city. Judges called him “an inspiration to generations of children.”
Stanley in County Durham earned four awards. It won the Large Towns section, while Stanley Park care home took the prize for Best Residential/Convalescent Home, Hospice or Day Centre. The award for Best Small Commercial Premises was won by the Just For Women Centre in Stanley, with Debra Rogan of the Just For Women Project earning a community champion award.
The award for Joint Best Hotel / Guest House was taken by the South Causey Inn.
The Best Overall prize in the competition went to Washington Village. Judges said it was a “fantastic example of Northumbria in Bloom at its best. The whole village works together seamlessly and has achieved stunning results.”
It also won the Villages section, and Liberty Green in Washington was the winner in the Best Residential Community category.
Peter Rodger, chairman of Northumbria in Bloom, said: “The last two and a half years have been the most challenging and disruptive since Northumbria in Bloom was established in 1964. However, although entries have had to contend with Covid restrictions like everyone else, it has been really pleasing to see all the fantastic work that they and their communities have still managed to do despite all the difficulties. “
The region has bloomed in 2022 and our entries’ efforts will have cheered up everyone and helped them through these most difficult times.”
Other awards:
Most Improved Entry and City Centre: Darlington;
Large Villages: Holywell; Small Towns: Sedgefield;
Coastal resort and best park: Seaham;
Best Business and Out of Town Retail Park: Newcastle Business Park;
Best Religious Establishment: Hexham Cemetery;
Best Large Commercial Premises: Ord House Country Park, Northumberland;
Best Conservation: Wydon Water, Hexham;
Best Bus/Metro/Railway Station: Alnmouth;
Best Grounds of a Hospital, University or Public Building: Ceddesfeld Hall, Sedgefield;
Best Sports Ground: Hexham Golf Club;
Best Allotments: Greenscape Community Garden, Seaham;
Best New Entry and Small Village: Cowpen Bewley.
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