Volunteer gardeners harvest praise

THE organisers of this year's Sherborne in Bloom have praised volunteers who made the town look better than ever for the judging that took place on Tuesday.

Entry organiser Caroline Rowland is hoping to build on the town's success in last year's South West in Bloom competition, when it won a gold medal.

This qualified it for entry into the Britain in Bloom competition and judges took a tour of the town on Tuesday. The results will be announced in the autumn.

To strengthen the town's collective entry, organisers had arranged a Growing for Gold contest within the town, encouraging residents to make the best of their own gardens, allotments and floral displays.

The best growers were recognised at an award ceremony at Castle Gardens on Tuesday following the assessment tour.

Before the prize giving, Ms Rowland said the competition had attracted an overwhelming number of entries, meaning that on some days multiple teams of judges were out all day making their assessments.

She said they had looked at 80 front and back gardens, 143 allotments, 90 homes in the Quarr Lane Park and 120 businesses, pubs and restaurant.

She said: "We are indebted to Aurelie Ryser, our Douzelage student from Granville, who designed the wonderful judges scoring sheets and so much more. We were so appreciative of the commitment and dedication of our judges and photographers, Betty Deavin, Brian Haigh and Keith Lane, who weathered the scorching hot days so well.

"We also received tremendous support from our sponsor and head judge Louise Burks, of Castle Gardens, who hosted all the lunches and half-time refreshments for the judges and photographers.

"Our judges thought it a real treat to be served with the most delicious cream teas for elevenses."

The winners of the Town Council Cup for best overall use of allotments were Mrs Dennett and Mr Lake of plot 2B at the Westbridge Park allotment site.

In the business section, the winner of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce Shield for the best pub or restaurant floral display was Michael Rust of The Green.

A special achievement award was given to Paul Arthur and Andrew Maddock of Mid-West Office Supplies for its business garden.

Mandy James and the team at Sherborne Police Station got a gong for having the best town centre frontage and, in a new award category, The Margaret Balfour Beauty Centre in the Swan Yard won the prize for best shopfront.

In the Quarr Lane Park section, Mr and Mrs Cox won the award for most imaginative garden design.

In the Ecology Awards section, Mrs Miller, of Cheap Street, won the prize for having the "wickedest wildlife garden" and Kazz Philips, of Kings Crescent, was recognised for her use of recycled materials in gardening to win the Mayor's Cup.

The Captivating Containers section saw Barry Hoskins of St Aldhelm's Road win the Charterhouse Cup.

Winners of the Connels Shield awarded for most imaginative front garden were Frank and Helma Poole, of St Catherine's Crescent.

Barry Hoskins won the top award, taking the "best of the best" trophy in recognition of his outstanding gardening during the competition.