On Wednesday 24 February Sherborne In Bloom attended the Rotary Club of Sherborne Castles ‘Gardening Extravaganza’ event at the Digby Hall.

The guest speaker was Mark Lane, Gardens Manager of the Queen’s royal gardens.  A packed hall listened to his fascinating presentation of the gardens of Buckingham Palace, past and present. Afterwards he conducted a question and answer session about the garden and its plants.

This was followed by a Gardeners’ Question Time with a panel consisting of Charlotte Allen (Gardens & Parks Manager, Montacute House & Tintinhull Gardens), Mike Burks (Managing Director, The Gardens Group), Professor Geoffrey Dixon (Horticulturalist & Biologist) and Nick Williams-Ellis (Garden & Landscape Designer).

Sherborne In Bloom had a stall where Caz Rowland exhibited the Preece Cup which we won in 2009 and all our other awards,  and we also distributed literature about SIB 2010 and offered our jute shopping bags for sale.

As a token of our appreciation for his talk we presented Mark Lane with a Sherborne in Bloom shopping bag to give to HM The Queen. He said he would be delighted to pass it on to her!

The event was held in aid of Rotary’s fund to eradicate polio throughout the world. This was an excellent, well-attended event and we thank the Rotary Club for inviting us to take part.

Christmas Shopping Came To Sherborne Today!

Our Festive Shopping Event was held today to support the charity Clic Sargent which cares for children and young people with cancer.

Cheap Street was closed for traffic and we enjoyed steam engines offering rides, an old steam organ, the Two Castles Youth Band and a number of circus acts!

There was an official lighting-up event at 4.15pm on The Conduit with Olympic Gold Medallist Andrew Simpson MBE switching on the lights on the Christmas tree.  Sherborne Chamber Choir entertained us with carols and mince pies.

The Crystal Man presided over the festivities.  And a lot of shoppers of all ages went home tired, but happy.

Thanks, Crystal Man – come back next year!

At 11 o’clock on 11 November the people of Sherborne stood in silence to remember those who have died in conflicts past and present.

Around the war memorial there were all ages, stopping for a moment to view the poppies and remember what this day means for us all.

Poppies are November’s blooms, a symbol of sacrifice and remembrance.

This year we have enhanced the war memorial with some permanent planters which we hope will renew the town’s tribute to those who have died, not just on Remembrance Day, but all the year round.

We will remember them.

For the past couple of months members of the Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club have been roaming the town taking photos of gardens for Sherborne In Bloom. This week those photos go on display in the Cheap Street Church Hall:

There are over 250 superb photographs by some very talented photographers on display. Everyone is welcome to attend this exhibition and admission is free.

If your garden was photographed and you’d like a copy of the picture please come to the exhibition on Saturday 25 July and you can take the photograph away.

Thanks to all the members of Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club who worked so hard to make this exhibtion such a success!

Wednesday 15 July was Sherborne’s judgement day when the Southwest In Bloom judges visited the town. We escorted Barry Cruse and Kim Parrish, the two judges, on tour around the town.

We started off from the Council Chamber and then embarked on a route which took in (we hope!) the highlights of the town.

We ended up in the Butterfly House at Castle Gardens after visiting the Paddock Garden, Cheap Street, the Station, the Pageant Gardens, the Police Station, the Abbey, Sherborne Primary School, the ‘tip’ and the Castle (and a few more places in between).

Now we wait for September, to find out how we did.

A lot of people did a lot of work to make the day go well. We were lucky and it didn’t rain and Barry Cruse was in a fairly good mood because that day was his birthday

Thanks to everyone who helped. Now let’s look forward to the photo exhibition in the Cheap Street Church Hall, starting Tuesday 21 July. See you there!

The Almshouse of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist

In mediaeval times and later it was the custom, every Midsummer night, for a garland to be hung at the door by the Almsmen and watched until the next morning in memory of St John the Baptist.

Thanks to a bequest of the late Lady Margaret Thornton this custom has been restored and a garland of fresh flowers is hung in the courtyard of the almshouses on the 24 June, St John the Baptist Day.

(research by Brian Haigh)

In the weeks before Christmas Cheap Street Church holds a Christmas Tree Festival. Organizations from around the town are invited to exhibit their decorated trees and these are displayed around the church.

Sherborne In Bloom’s tree is a fine specimen, bursting with suspiciously unseasonal flowers but it’s also unusual in a couple of other respects.

Firstly, it was the only tree to be shown standing in a shopping bag(!) This is one of Sherborne In Bloom’s jute shopping bags and, as such, a good, seasonal reminder of our environmental credentials.

Secondly, it was the only tree to have a bee perched on top.

This little bee was clearly doing its best to represent all the many thousands (millions?) of pollenating insects to whom we owe our thanks for helping Sherborne to bloom.

Now, here’s a good idea for those last-minute Christmas presents.

Why not give your friends and family Sherborne In Bloom shopping bags? This would be an excellent gift for someone from Sherborne who’s coming back to visit you for Christmas. And here’s another idea – use a shopping bag as a Christmas stocking, or even (as shown here) as a container for your own tree!

Sherborne In Bloom shopping bags are available from the Town Council’s offices in the Manor House, Newland, for £3 each.

Well done to the 40+ other organizations who are showing their trees in Cheap Street Church. Come along and see them all for yourself!

Remembrance Day in Sherborne

On the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI the poppies commemorate still all those who suffer and die in conflict.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Sherborne’s Pack Monday Fair is always held on the first Monday after Michaelmas. The town is filled with a street market where all kinds of tatty junk useful merchandise is on display and crowds throng the streets to enjoy the bustling atmosphere.

There was lots for gardeners too. Here are some of the stalls anxious to purvey goods ready for next year’s Sherborne In Bloom!

The town itself may have changed since medieval times but peoples’ interest in a quick bargain and a day’s outing certainly hasn’t. Long may Pack Monday continue!

July 17 was the big day in the ‘Sherborne In Bloom’ calendar.

We were visited by the two judges from Southwest In Bloom who will assess our performance and deliver their judgement on our town!

It was also prize-giving for the local ‘Growing For Gold’ competition, where cups and certificates were awarded for the best in each category.

In the ‘Southwest In Bloom’ competition we compete against other small towns in the region and we are awarded marks based on floral displays, permanent landscaping, conservation and recycling, environmental quality and public awareness. On 17 July we gave the judges an escorted tour of the town where we, hopefully, demonstrated our abilities in these areas.

We also have to produce a portfolio which the judges take away that provides evidence of our town in bloom throughout the year.

The day was strenuous, demanding but ultimately rewarding for all concerned. Yes, it’s hard work to prepare for such an event and a little nerve-wracking to have your efforts assessed on the fly by professional judges who are trained to spot every little imperfection. But, at the same time, we were all inspired by the efforts of everyone who has made the town look so wonderful. This includes all the gardeners, volunteers, adopt-a-plotters and, especially, the prizewinners of ‘Growing For Gold’.

Here the prize-winners are shown in the grounds of Sherborne Castle where the prize-giving ceremony took place.

Results of the Southwest In Bloom competition will be announced at an awards ceremony on 18 September at Plymouth.

But whatever happens, judging day reminded us just how proud we can be of our community and our town. Thanks to everyone who made the day such a success!