South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | July | 22
From the Gazette, first published Friday 22nd Jul 2005.
THORNBURY was decked out in its floral best this week when the town was visited by two judges from the South West Britain in Bloom competition.
Monday's tour of inspection by judges Don Waterhouse and Terry Porter will decide whether the town regains its number one spot in the region's floral rankings.
And although this year it is up against formidable competition from famously floral resorts such as St Ives and Sidmouth, the judges were adament that Thornbury was "up there with the best of them".
"There are lots of towns in Thornbury's group but the only ones that both of us visit together are the ones we know are in with a real chance of winning," said Mr Waterhouse, who was judging the town for the third time. On his last visit, in 2003, he rated the town so highly that it went on to win the Cup.
Last year, under a different judge Thornbury slumped to third place. But lessons were learnt, especially the importance of involving young people in the scheme.
This year, green-fingered youngsters from Gillingstool Primary School proudly conducted the judges on a tour of their school allotment, already yielding crops for healthier school dinners.
Thornbury in bloom chairman Judith Payne said: "The judges also went to the Sheiling School where the children are also very active gardeners and once again they were very impressed. It's quite encouraging because this year 'grow your own' is a major theme of the competition."
Other stop-off points during the tour were the award-winning Siblands Sensory Garden and the wildflower meadow at the town cemetery in Kington Lane.
"We showed them, everything we thought they ought to see," said Mrs Payne. "Thornbury has never looked better and they seemed favourably impressed. But they are always very non-committal and it's difficult to know exactly how they will mark us."
Bloom judge Terry Porter said: "It's not just the floral displays that we're interested in. Clearly they are very important but we also have to work to a long list of other criteria inblcuding environmental schemes and recycling. One of the most important factors we are looking for is community involvement."
© Newsquest Media Group 2008