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We got Gold - again!

balcony

By balcony

21 comments


We got Gold – again!

For the 2nd year in a row Huntingdon has won the Gold Medal for Best Large Town in the Anglia in Bloom Competition.

All the photos on this blog come from our Town Council magazine which I scanned into the computer then “chopped up” to get the individual photos.

As the text in the photos is hard to read I have copied it into the body of this blog so that everyone can read it.

“Moor” is a shortened form for Oxmoor, which is a big overflow estate from London built in the 60s. I lived about 10 years on this estate during different periods.

Moor in Bloom

In the 2009 Anglia in Bloom & Britain in Bloom competitions, Moor in Bloom won the Anglia in Bloom “Best Urban Community” award with Silver & were awarded a Bronze in Britain in Bloom.

The Moor in Bloom committee & volunteers worked hard over the winter, spring & early summer to brighten up the estate & encouraged residents & schools to get involved with growing flowers & fresh vegetables in an attempt to better last years results. Lots of hours working with volunteers from the community & Huntingdonshire District Council’s Countryside Services team saw parts of the estate & a local school start to “bloom” & with judges from both Anglia & Britain in Bloom visiting in July & August, more than were crossed!

Both judging days were blessed with fine weather & the judges appeared impressed with our efforts & made some very useful comments as to what could be done in the future.

We then had what seemed like a long wait for the results to be announced at the award ceremonies. Dressed in our best clothes, members of the “in Bloom” team, volunteer representatives & pupils from Spring Common School went to Sudbury in mid September to hear the outcome of the Anglia in Bloom judging. Our results were as follows:

- Winners of the “Best Urban Community” award with Silver Gilt
- Winners of the “Best Garden for Special Needs” award – Spring Common School

Nominations for:

- “Best Public Open Space” – Coneygear Park
- “Best Young Peoples Project 12 to 18 years” – Spring Common School
- “Best Grow Your Own Project” – School Allotment Sallowbush Road
- “Best Sustainable/Drought Garden” Maple Drive

The end of September saw several of the “in Bloom” team attend the Britain in Bloom awards in Birmingham where we were awarded Silver! All the results were better than last year & are a credit to all those involved with Moor in Bloom over the last year & their hard work.

If any residents, schools or businesses would like to get involved with “in Bloom 2011” please call Brian Gardener on 07795 237727 for information.

Mr Brian Gardener

Allotments & Sunflower Competition

This is the allotment site where Gerry has 1 & 1/2 allotments & where I help him. He likes to grow a lot of Sunflowers but the winner was a self-sown plant from last year that I let grow. It was on the very edge of the Tomato plot & so received more water & fertilizer than any of the others. I just took off some of the flower buds as they were developing but eventually it grew higher than I could reach & ended up producing a dozen flowers 8ft above the ground! A week later there were several more, from those that Gerry sowed this year, that beat it hands down!

The winning Sunflower is the one I use in my avatar which Gerry took a couple of days later.

Huntingdon in Bloom

Huntingdon has been named as the overall winner of the Anglia in Bloom Competition.

The town’s entry was awarded the gold Standard, the prize for best large town & the top Anglia in Bloom trophy after being judged to be the best overall entry from 6 competing counties.

Congratulations to the Huntingdon in Bloom team & everyone involved! Read the judges report to see what they thought.

Huntingdon’s entry, along with 5 other Anglia in Bloom category winners, will now go forward to be judged at the national Britain in Bloom finals in Birmingham on September 29th 2011.

Judges Report 2010

Huntingdon is a very welcoming town with a very involved community. The many lovely parks & green spaces are all beautifully maintained & are well used by the public. A good example being Hinchingbrooke Park with its many facilities to meet public needs, particularly interesting was the Eco friendly education centre.

The Judges thought the bedding schemes throughout the town were an absolute joy with their colours & designs enhancing the many historic facets of Huntingdon, particularly those in & around the Bridge Hotel & river area.

The Hinchingbrooke School & Hospital schemes are particularly innovative & will hopefully continue to improve & flourish in the future.

Cromwell Park School had some excellent areas for the children to learn & observe wild life.

Lastly but not least, was the Railway Station, the floral decorations, baskets & troughs matched the train operators’ colours & the whole effect of colour & cleanliness must make this a joy for local commuters, an effort which is to be commended.

This was an excellent entry from Huntingdon in Bloom.

Areas of Achievement

1. A welcoming town beautifully enhanced by colourful planting schemes.
2. Excellent conservation work, at the River Ouse meadows.
3. Town allotments & the local cemetery are all well managed.
4. Huntingdon Methodist church – well done Mrs Hooker!

I hope that next year I will be able produce a similar blog but where “Moor in Bloom” takes the Gold for “Best Urban Community” award!

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Comments

 

Beautiful display's and planting congratulations, and I love it when they get the children in the schools involved especially if they teach them to grow veg or fruit I believe this should be in every school as a lesson, well done to your communtity.

12 Dec, 2010

 

Wonder-ific news :o)))))

12 Dec, 2010

 

Thanks! :-))

I quite agree with you 6d, it's good to get the kids involved in growing fruit & veg. Many don't know they have to be grown & don't just come from the supermarket!

12 Dec, 2010

 

Thank you Balcony, I have 9 grandchildren and each one I have had planting or weeding in one way or another in my garden lol, I try to enstall in them what has to be achieved in order for them to appreciated what comes on the table, not to take for granted, but soon as they grow older it then becomes a chore to them, so now I m on the last one she is 5 two years ago she planted strawberries, each year she rushes to water them, then pick them to eat lol and she love s it so far.

12 Dec, 2010

 

well done huntingdon! its certainly a pretty town, i call in there sometimes on my way to bury st edmonds.

12 Dec, 2010

 

Congratulations and a very well done.

12 Dec, 2010

 

Well done Huntington..

12 Dec, 2010

 

I understand 6d, as I tried to do the same with my kids but although they helped a little bit while we lived here in the UK they lost all interest when we moved back to Spain in spite of my continuing interest in growing plants on our balconies.

My daughter came back to the UK a few months after we came back. Now she has a house of her own & a daughter & now the "seed" I planted 30 years earlier has begun to grow & she grows a lot of flowers in her garden & tried to grow some vegetables a couple of years ago. She gave up when the slugs & snails ate the plants & the birds ate them & one of her little dogs killed them & brought them into the house!

She & her partner still grow flowers & my daughter sowed some tomato seeds this year. As I had bad results from mine she gave me 6 of her plants for my 60th birthday in May. I planted them on the allotment & they made great plants & gave a lot of fruit!

Now I try to encourage our granddaughter! Like yours she loves to pick the strawberries & tomatoes I grow on the balcony! :-D LOL!

Thank you Pip, Drc726, Clarice & Sticky for your comments. The District Council does a great job looking after the parks & gardens & green places around town. :-)) They look after the flowerbed in front of our block of flats & cut the patch of grass regularly in front of our balcony. My wife & I sometimes refer to it as our "lawn"! :-D LOL!

12 Dec, 2010

 

Well done Huntingdon!! :-)

12 Dec, 2010

 

Congratulations, and good luck for next year . It must be great to get involved in something like this.

12 Dec, 2010

 

Very, very well done!!

12 Dec, 2010

 

Thanks, guys, on behalf of Huntingdon!

Hywel, this blog is the closest I get to help/become involved!

12 Dec, 2010

 

hi Balcony,congratulations to you & your winning sunflower also to Huntingdon well done .glad the tomato plants grew well too,interesting blog & great pics it is good to know what is going on in other places..well it IS your lawn isnt it ? you just have a gardener to do it for you lol :o)

12 Dec, 2010

 

Thank you Balcony I hope some of my grand children do the same, as I do know two of my grand daughters, love my garden and both say when they get old they too want a garden like mine lol. So may be the seed is still there, not through the planting with one but with the other little one, she always wants to plant.

12 Dec, 2010

 

Congrats! :-D

12 Dec, 2010

 

Well done Huntingdon! Other Councils and towns please note!

13 Dec, 2010

 

On behalf of Huntingdon in Bloom, thank you all for your comments. :-)) It means a lot of work for the District Council & I hope the cuts in council funding, due to be announced by the government today, won't lead to a reduction in the high standards of care of the town by the council.

The competition is not just about plants but also the standards of cleanliness in the town & the upkeep of public places + the care given to education, etc. There is very little graffiti to be found around town & little litter. Generally there is very little fly-tipping, which can make places look very untidy.

Generally speaking, Huntingdon is a pleasant place to live in & pretty safe as well. Unfortunately it's not perfect & there are always a few blemishes but I'm quite happy to live in this town.

13 Dec, 2010

 

That's the whole point - if the Council and residents show they care about their environment then graffitti and other nasties are kept down. I hope Huntingdon goes from strength to strength and retains its Gold standard!

14 Dec, 2010

 

Obviously H'don doesn't want to lose these very hard won awards so the council will want to do its best to keep them as well as add more in coming years. I just hope the council budget cuts won't affect them too much.

15 Dec, 2010

 

Hi Balcony
Thank you for the comment you left me on my blog .
How lovely your little grandaughter is having a baby brother,all the very best to the new "mum" ,hope all goes well for her .
I know your town as we have friends in Huntingdon who we ,met in Malta ,we are only in Peterborough so know your part of the world .
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Healthy New Year .

19 Dec, 2010

 

Thank you for your Christmas wishes Jean & we wish you & your husband an equally happy & healthy New Year 2011.

I had no idea you lived so close! P'boro is just a short train journey North from us. We been there a couple of times.

Our daughter went for some tests as preparation for the operation next Wednesday. It seems she is OK, but as she has had a bad cough for more than a week the doctor prescribed her an antibiotic so it should be almost cured for the op.

We will be having our granddaughter with us for a couple of days at least. She normally spends most of Sunday with us but this week because of the weather they have stayed at home.

19 Dec, 2010

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