Village blooming with flowers, scarecrows and gnomes

Villagers’ imaginations ran wild as they amazed the judges for the regional Britain In Bloom (BIB) competition with scarecrows and gnomes amid the blooms.

Bere Alston In Bloom was a riot of colour and humour as the competition judges toured the village to admire the effort and creativity which had gone into the entertaining show of crocheted flowers, Football World Cup themed displays and unusual scarecrows.

Among the scarecrow interpretations were the England goalie Jordan Pickford in full saving flight across a garden gate, a weary traveller lounging on a roadside bench, a bowler at the bowls club and a couple up a ladder rescuing a black cat from a tree.

Liz McQueen, of Bere Alston in Bloom, (BIB) said: “We were delighted to entertain two judges from the Royal Horticultural Society to show the efforts our community has made for the annual National Britain in Bloom Competition.

“This involves a written and photographic portfolio of our previous and latest projects, our biodiversity efforts including Slow Worm habitats, the location of garden ponds in the village, Hedgehog numbers and their highways, and the success of the various nesting boxes put up in the last few years especially the increase in number of Swifts using the boxes, how we conserve water and finally our use of locally sourced compost, which is of course peat-free.”

The judges then toured the village looking at the attractive planting of annual and perennial plants that the team and members of the village community has done.

Many individuals have troughs, containers and window boxes outside their properties especially along Fore Street. Larger containers are situated along The Down, these are made fom off-cuts of sewage pipes, painted a soft lilac. Individuals can adopt one and plant it themselves or ask a team member to plant it up for them, these were really looking colourful for the judges

The large grass path along The Down is kept neat and tidy by Bob Hamilton who lives on The Down . The rest of the grass areas at the top of Fore Street. and Quarry Corner at the entrance to the village are cared for by Peter Henderson, who has only lived in the village a few years.

Bere Alston railway station was another place the judges visited. This has been planted up on one side by the Scouts and Guides with wild flower seeds and .perennial plants and on the other platform by the Bere Alston in Bloom team, having fund raised monies by plant sales and a grant from GWR. This enabled the Bere in Bloom group to plant some special cedar planters which are now full of colour and make the station really bright , attractive and welcoming to visitors and local commuters.

The Remembrance Garden and the war memorial were also on the judges route, and they remarked how lovely, calm and peaceful it looked. The hanging baskets around the Parish Hall also impressed the judges as did the ‘Youth to Youth’ hut with their raised planter

The whole village really made an effort the weed the walls and pavements outside their houses and the judges commented on this.

The scarecrows and gnomes were part of the village’s overall BIB entry, with the latter results to be announced later this year. But they were also the subject of Bere Alston’s separate scarecrow and gnome competition.

The winning scarecrow and gnome entry was ‘rescuing the cat up the tree’ (Maynards Park), second was the ‘posh lady’ (Fore Street) while third was the lady on the bench (Whitehall Drive). Special mention also goes to the bowler (bowling club), ‘on the wagon’ (The Down), ‘scarecrows’ wedding’ (Pounds Park Road) and ‘waiting for the bus’ (Johnson Close). The best gnome was ‘watching the butterflies’ (Broad Park Road).

Liz said: “The judge was most impressed with the effort made in the scarecrow and gnome competition and thoroughly enjoyed the drive around all the entries. Thank you from Bere Alston in Bloom to all who took part.”