TAVISTOCK is bursting with pride after securing a gold in the BID category at this year’s South West in Bloom.

The transformation of the town centre’s green spaces by Tavistock BID (Business Improvement District) and the green-fingered souls at Tavistock Community Gardening won a gold.

Meanwhile, the town’s horticultural efforts have also been honoured by the Sargent Cup, the award for medium-sized towns, receiving a silver gilt, one down from a gold, in the Royal Horticultural awards.

As Tavistock mayor Cllr Paul Ward congratulated everyone who took part in what was very much a community effort, with planters made by the Tavistock Men in Sheds and many volunteers creating and tending green spaces everywhere from the library to the green burial ground, Make a Difference mental health charity and Celle Gardens.

He was speaking as everyone who took part in Tavistock’s entry for the Royal Horticultural Society contest gathered at the Butchers’ Hall on Friday afternoon to celebrate the results, announced across the country the day before.

Judging for the Sargent Cup took place several weeks later than that for the BID, during the heatwave, which affected the results somewhat, although Ali Sedgwick from Tavistock Community Gardening, the driving force behind Tavistock in Bloom, said they had only missed gold by ‘a whisker’.

She said: ‘It was the same town, the same displays and the same community. What was different was the heat. The judges melted in 30 degree heat and after six hours under the relentless heat, we were awarded a silver gilt. It is fair to say that it was very close to a gold, so we’ll take that. These are excellent results.’

She thanked all the community groups who took part, who each received their own grade from the judges for their displays.

‘We are absolutely delighted because this year we have made friends with different members of the community,’ she sasid. ‘It really is a collaboration with different community groups.’

A focal point of many of the town centre displays were the ‘edible planters’ filled with lettuce and herbs, with all the planters being created by Tavistock’s Men In Sheds, who have also been making bird boxes for the town’s green spaces.

‘We go to them and say “can we have a planter?’ and it is not only made but also delivered,’ said Ali. ‘We like to give them projects –it keeps them out of the biscuit tin!’

Janna Sanders, manager for Tavistock BID, said that the gold in the BID category of the awards was ‘amazing’ – but it was very much a community effort from all the gardeners involved.

‘I wasn’t expecting it at all. The conditions for judging were very difficult and we weren’t expecting the results we got. It is amazing but it wouldn’t have been possible without you all. Although it is a BID entry it is the same town, the same plants and the same community, and certainly without this lady [Ali Sedgwick from Tavistock Community Gardening, it couldn’t have happened.’

Mayor Paul Ward said: ‘I was fortunate enough to join the judging in for two days in July, the second one in which the temperatures hit 33 degrees and we were seriously worried that the judges might melt.

‘Unfortunately the heat damaged some of the more tender plants so they were looking frazzled as a result. I very much enjoyed meeting you and seeing what the town has to offer. Tavistock punches above its weight for a small town and what you do is another example of the town punching above its weight. It is extraordinary what happens here.’