Sherborne’s Gryphon School Wins Clem Preece Memorial Cup!

At last week’s South West In Bloom awards presentation, one of the prizes that Sherborne came back with was this splendiforous cup which was awarded to the Gryphon School for their contribution to Sherborne In Bloom.  Towns previously awarded this cup include Camborne, Midsomer Norton, Weston-Super-Mare, Seaton, Chulmleigh and Exmouth. Sherborne’s name can now be engraved alongside this worthy company.

So what did the school do to gain such prestigious recognition? Well, here are a few candid snaps of the youth of Sherborne getting stuck in:

The kids planted numerous adopt-a-plots around the town, including Bristol Road, Coldharbour, Digby Road, Kitt Hill, Sherborne Station, Sherborne Police Station and more. And they also painted a mural in Newland South car park and posters for Sherborne Station.

The judges were clearly impressed by all this child labour.

Well done, school! Top marks!

At the ‘South West In Bloom’ presentation event in Plymouth yesterday, Sherborne came away with another gold award for our Sherborne In Bloom project!

We also won the Clem Preece Memorial Cup which was awarded to Gryphon School ‘for outstanding school effort supporting Britain In Bloom criteria’.

And we won the Michael McGahey Trophy ‘for exceptional community effort’.

We were also awarded a certificate in the Neighbourhood Awards category for the planting scheme at Fosters Furlong.

Pictured here (l to r) are Sally Westlotorn, Louise Burks, Caz Rowland and Valerie Todd who attended the event, holding the awards that Sherborne won.

Thanks and congratulations to all the hard-working gardeners of Sherborne and especially to the pupils and teachers of Gryphon School whose contribution received such deserved recognition! Thanks also to the Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club who photographed the entire project.

Now, let’s get started on 2009

Autumn means harvest time to Sherborne’s allotment holders. Fruit, flowers and vegetables are among the crops grown at Westbridge Park, where 72 plots are under cultivation.

Growing our own food is now an important priority with food prices rising and the environmental impacts of industrial food production becoming apparent.

These photographs were taken last week by Norman Crabb who is engaged in a longer-term photography project at the site. More photos from Norman later!

Click on an image to see it close up.

September’s here and the hanging baskets in Cheap Street are still going strong!

August was one of the wettest since records began. And as well as the rain we had winds, day after day, until we thought it would never end

At least the hanging baskets didn’t seem to mind. If the weather had been really hot for days on end they would have needed constant watering and they would have certainly suffered from drought.

‘Tis an ill wind…