This summer sees a celebration of all things floral in Bath, as the city has entered three categories in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition, in this significant 60th anniversary of the competition.
Britain in Bloom
Britain in Bloom inspires community groups in towns, cities and villages to make positive changes to their local environment through horticultural, environmental and community action, all of which are already strong in Bath, so we were delighted to be part of the efforts to show off Bath’s beauty. We are keeping our green fingers crossed for gold awards in the regional, national and BID categories which we will find out the results for in October.
Planting, cleaning and painting
A whirlwind of activity has taken place to make Bath sparkle even more than usual and we are grateful to the armies of volunteers who assembled on several occasions to help prepare. Hampton by Hilton, Doubletree Hilton, Abbey Hotel, McDonald’s, Apex Hotel, Inigo Business Centre, and the dedicated team from Bath in Bloom all spent a collective several hundred hours litter picking, weeding, planting and painting the city to perfection, and one blooming brilliant day saw a crowd of 31 enthusiastic helpers including volunteers from Transform, DKA architects and and Stride Treglown planting the beautiful urns along Parade Gardens with flowers.
Bath BID in Bloom Judging
This supportive wave of collaboration and community contribution culminated in three separate days of RHS judging in Bath. For our Bath BID in Bloom judging day, we worked with sponsors, partners and B&NES Council to prepare a route to show off the flowers, environmental responsibility and community involvement in the centre of Bath.
Our Two RHS judges Jon Wheatley and Graham Bell were warmly welcomed by Allison and Nick at the BID, and then set off on the tour with our operations manager Roland and BID director Ellie Leiper.
After visiting the ancient Plane Tree and the Crystal Palace flowers in Abbey Green, the group headed down Stall Street to Whittard of Chelsea – one of our major sponsors – where Devon provided a delicious floral reception with some freshly brewed English Rose tea.
On the way south through the city there was time to admire the splendid hanging baskets sponsored by SRA Architects on Southgate Street. Roland explained the underground water recycling system and Lisa Bates at the Southgate Centre guided the judges through the floral arches and hanging gardens, past the apple tree planters and Mr Doodle’s fantastic black and white phone box full of flowers.
The Bath in Bloom volunteers Steve and Barry welcomed the judges to the impressive Manvers Street Planters full of purple and yellow perennials, and then it was time to visit the 26 floral urns along Grande Parade that were planted by volunteers, organised by Claire from Buro Happold, and sponsored by local businesses.
A tour of the colourful floral Parade Gardens beds was led by Matt Soan of B&NES Parks, who manages the magnificent gardens as well as a total of 300 hanging baskets across Bath.
At Walcott Street Anna Carling introduced the unique painted planters organised by Rosalind Ward, the Wild Walcot Garden and the busy beehives at the end of Beehive Court. The BID Rangers were there to explain about the cleansing, fixing and painting they do to keep the city looking smart, then Andrew Davies welcomed the party to Milsom Place to see the meticulously planted courtyard, and a walk through Union Passage was a chance to see the BID planters filled with hydrangeas and upcycled ferns.
Paul Mortimer from Grist pointed out their sponsored hanging baskets on Stall Street and explained about the coordination and collaboration of over 250 business with the brilliant joint waste contract in Bath.
Ellie welcomed everyone to The Grapes with an explanation of the cute little parklet outside and a welcome coffee and discussion upstairs, where Steve Brook explained the productive partnership between the BID and Bath in Bloom; Wendy Maden outlined the regeneration and city greening projects of B&NES Council; and Allison Herbert explained the unique position of Bath BID as the catalyst for a range of projects, collaborations and networks of Bath BID which keep the city Welcoming, Connected, Smart and Successful.
Winding through the beautiful flowers of Kingsmead Square, the judges were welcomed on to the roof garden of the Apex Hotel by Jon Smith-Lane to visit their 2000 resident bees, and taste some delicious cocktails made from Apex roof garden honey.
At Chapel Court Caroline Bee from St John’s Foundation talked about the charity’s 850 years of service to the city, then the BID’s Alison Stubbs summarised 2000 years of healing mineral water history of Bath in the time it took to walk along Bath Street.
Mandy and Ian from Hawksmoor provided a cheerful floral welcome at their sponsored baskets by the colonnades before the judges paid a quick visit to the benches outside Bath Abbey where 24 small paintings of animals are hidden, and the final hosts of the tour, Liz Rees and her brilliant children, showed the judges their Wylde Creatures of Bath booklet and all 24 animals that they have found in the corresponding 24 shops around Bath.
After a few group photos and many thanks, the judges said goodbye, with arms full of goodies picked up along the tour – fudge from San Francisco Fudge Factory, Hawksmoor mugs, Bath Safe Bus keyrings, St John’s pens and a tin of Whittard English Rose tea – and plenty of praise for the great work, impressive community and beautiful flowers in Bath.
National Britain in Bloom judging
Following our BID in Bloom entry, the national Britain in Bloom judges arrived in August to assess the whole city. The judges met the Bath BID rangers, and our CEO Allison Herbert gave a presentation about Bath BID, outlining the support form our many sponsors, and the day concluded with a picnic in Parade Gardens, with an address from the Mayor and some words of thanks from the Bath in Bloom chair Steve Brook.
Awards Ceremonies in October
We now have to wait until October to discover the results for all three entries. The Regional awards are taking place in Bath Pavilion on October 8th and the national results will be presented on October 21st in Manchester. Whatever the result, we have so much to be proud of in Bath and the city continues to look blooming amazing!
