In Bloom winners announced at Lincolnshire church event

Green fingered and community minded volunteers gathered in a Lincolnshire church today to find out the results of their East Midlands in Bloom efforts.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.

This year’s event was hosted by the Boston Stump and organised by Boston Borough Council and the Boston in Bloom teams.

East Midlands in Bloom chairman Jeff Bates, who along with his wife and Committee secretary Irene steps down this year, said the venue was ‘fabulous’.

“This is the best venue we have had in the last 13 years I have spent as chairman,” he said.

Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.

“We have been to historic buildings but this is Cathedral-esque and grander. The team here have been superb.”

Chairman of Boston in Bloom, which took home a gold in the Large Towns category this year, Alison Fairman said: “We’re delighted with this year’s event and our result.

“The volunteers have worked so hard and this is a real vindication of all they have done.

“It’s been a fantastic day and working with The Stump and Transported just brings it all together.”

Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.

This year’s results were as follows:

SCHOOL GARDEN AWARD: Best Fruit and Vegetable garden, Spalding St John the Baptist Church of England Primary; Best Ornamental garden, Desford Community Primary School, in Leicestershire; Best Wildlife garden, Holy trinity Catholic Academy in Newark; Overall Winner, Blidworth Oaks Primary School, in Nottingham.

SMALL VILLAGE: Elmton (silver gilt), Little Cawthorpe Parish Council (silver), Ranby (silver), St Crispin Village (silver gilt) and Tattershall Thorpe (silver gilt). Overall winner was Elmton.

VILLAGES: Eastoft Gardening Club (silver), Friends of Dallington Village (silver) Harbrough in Bloom (silver gilt), Lark Gill Village (silver gilt), Middleton by Wirksworth (silver) and Wessington Parish Council (silver). Overall winner was Middleton by Wirksworth.

Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.

LARGE VILLAGES: Barrow on Humber (silver gilt), Burgh-le-Marsh (silver), Laceby in Bloom (silver) and Market Bosworth (gold). Overall winner was Market Bosworth.

SMALL TOWNS: Alford (bronze), Bakewell (silver gilt) Blidworth (silver gilt), Breaston in Bloom (silver), Brigg (certificate of achievement), Darley Dale (gold), Desford in Bloom (gold), Draycott in Bloom (gold), Holbeach (gold), Long Sutton (silver gilt), Quorn (gold), Uppingham (gold), Waddington (bronze) and Winterton in Bloom (silver). Overall winner was Draycott in Bloom.

TOWNS: Bourne (silver), Desborough (bronze), Earl Shilton (silver), Immingham (gold) and Oakham (silver gilt). Overall winner was Immingham.

LARGE TOWNS: Belper (gold), Boston (gold), Gainsborough (silver), Ilkeston (gold), Long Eaton (gold), Market Harborough (gold), Melton Mowbray (silver gilt), Newark (gold), North Hykeham (silver), Spalding (gold) and Syston (silver). Overall winner was Belper.

Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.
Some of the Lincolnshire In Bloom winners.

SPECIAL AWARDS: Frank Constable Award for the best residential garden – Jonathan and Amanda Brookes, of Market Harborough; EMiB Award for Horticultural Excellence within Parks – The Memorial Gardens in Quorn; EMiB award for best Wildflower and Conservation Area – Straw’s Bridge Nature Reserve Ilkeston; EMiB Award for the least littered environment – Desborough; EMiB Award for the best new permanent landscape – Lands End Way border, in Oakham; the EMiB best hotel/pub garden or display – The White Lon Inn, Whissendine; the EMiB best retail/commercial premises – Wheatsheaf Courtyard, Market Bosworth; EMiB Committee awards – Harry and Pat Cook, of Loughborough and Clive Hebden, of Ranby; Most Improved Entrant – Ranby.

IT’S YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD: Flinders Founders of Donington (Level 5 Outstanding), Oasis Gardens of Kilton Estate, Workstop (Level 5 Outstanding), Sutton-on-Sea Gardening Group (Level 4 Thriving).

URBAN COMMUNITY: Old Clee in Bloom (silver), Littleover in Bloom (silver), Evington in Bloom, Leicester (silver gilt). Evington was also overall winner.

COASTAL RESORTS: Mablethorpe (silver gilt), Cleethorpes (gold). Overall winner was Cleethorpes.

BID: Mansfield BID (silver gilt).

SMALL CITIES: Grimsby (silver gilt), Chesterfield (gold), Loughborough (gold), Oadby and Wigston (gold). Loughborough (gold). Overall winner was Loughborough.

CITIES: Mansfield (silver gilt), Northampton (gold). Northampton also took overall winner.