The royal train drew up to Sherborne station right on time, just as the drizzle of rain stopped.

The Queen and Duke got off the train to greet the reception party. Here the major of Sherborne, Cllr Marjorie Snowden, is presented to Her Majesty.

As the Queen emerged from the station she was greeted by a peal of the Abbey bells and an enthusiastic crowd who had come to welcome her.

And the Duke smiled and joked with the flag-wavers as they shouted their greetings:

The royal party visited Sherborne Abbey where they met schoolchildren in a tent having a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and they also visited a food fair in the Abbey grounds. Then they dropped into the Digby Memorial Hall to join a 1950s-style coffee morning in celebration of the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

Sherborne is honoured to have the Queen visit our town – the only stop in Dorset in the Diamond Jubilee tour.

All too soon the visit was over and the Queen and Duke waved goodbye as their car took them back to the station:

Thank you for visiting Sherborne, Your Majesty – please come again soon!

The event was opened by Mayor Jane Smith:

Everyone was invited to bring a picnic – even the Royal family was there:

The Town Band played:

There was a champagne bar…

… and a barbecue…

…and, of course, a children’s Fancy Dress:

The weather stayed fine and everyone had a fun afternoon. Thanks to everyone who helped make the afternoon such a success!

[click on any image to see it full size]

Wreaths were laid at the war memorial outside the Abbey.

People of all ages stopped to pay their respects to those who paid the ultimate price.

The Field of Remembrance contained crosses commemorating those who have died in the wars of the previous and present century.

And these crosses were placed in honour of the young soldiers who lived in our area and died in the conflict in Afghanistan.

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)

The origins of the Fair go way back, some say for over a thousand years to the days when the Abbey building was completed. But the modern event probably started as the Victorian hiring fair when everyone came into the town from around the county to seek work, hire labourers and trade in the market.

Whatever, the event is a chaotic 24 hours with fireworks, a funfair and an all-day market in the centre of town. The roads and streets around the Abbey are thronged with stalls selling absolutely everything and the town comes to a complete standstill.

People come from miles around to shop, eat, drink and be merry. It’s fun!

Please support our Quiz Night in aid of Sherborne in Bloom!

Venue: Senior Lunch Club, Digby Road, Sherborne.

7 pm for 7.30 pm start

£8 per head to include Fish (or sausage, or chicken…)
& Chip supper
Teams of six – or join a team on the night

IN AID OF SHERBORNE IN BLOOM

Please click on this poster to see full details:

If you would like to take part please download, print out and fill in this poster and take it into the Manor House, Newland.  Or phone Caroline or Nigel or Sally at the Sherborne Area Partnership on 01935 816961.

The Neighbourhood Awards were given to the following locations where volunteer groups had contributed to enhancing the environment of their neighbourhoods:

Quarr Lane Park

Acreman StreeCar Park

Fosters Furlong

Long Street Planter

Culverhayes Planter

Sherborne Police Station

Well done to all these groups for making a difference in the town. The Police Station award was actually graded as ‘Outstanding’ – well done to the girls and boys in blue!

Litter is a continuing concern for our residents and a growing expense for the Council. Unless we do something about it, the problem of litter will soon get out of control and become very costly to deal with. The Council is taking the lead on tackling litter by launching this ‘SHERBORNE STOP THE LITTER CAMPAIGN’ but we all need to start to take responsibility for our rubbish.

The Council wants to convey a sense of shared responsibility with the public in keeping Sherborne clean. To this end we are looking for support from the general public, traders and community groups to be part of an anti-litter campaign.

An open meeting has been called at the Digby Hall, Hound Street (next to the Library) on Wednesday 8 September from 2:00pm – 4:00pm. Come and learn more about this initiat and how you can help. Bring your volunteer spirit along.

For more information please contact Cllr Peter Rhodes 01935 812807 or Caroline Rowland on 01935 816961.

We hope this campaign will discourage people from dropping litter to keep Sherborne an attractive place for residents and visitors. Reducing litter will not only have a positive effect on the environment but it will also reduce the amount of taxpayers’ money we have to spend each year on dealing with it.

Little did we know what a mammoth task we had set ourselves! Organising the whole judging competition took weeks and would culminate in a whole week of judging visits. On some days there was more than one team of judges going out to judge — all day!

During the judging week our judges looked at more than 80 front and back gardens, 143 allotments, 90 homes in the Quarr Lane Park and 120 businesses, pubs and restaurants. Those who entered the competition told us how pleased they were to show the judges around.

Awards were presented to the winners at a presentation ceremony at the Butterfly House, Castle Gardens on judging day, Tuesday 13 July.

Jean Gillingham receives judging award from Mrs Wingfield-Digby with Mayor Jane Smith looking on

For a complete list of the prizewinners in Growing for a Gold, click here.

Caroline Rowland, organiser of Sherborne in Bloom, would like to thank the following people. We are indebted to Aurelie Ryser, our Douzelage student from Granville who designed the wonderful judges scoring sheets and so much more. We were so appreciative of the commitment and dedication of our judges and photographers, Betty Deavin, Brian Haigh and Keith Lane, who weathered so well the scorching hot days.

We also received tremendous support from our sponsor and head judge Louise Burks of Castle Gardens who hosted all the lunches and half-time refreshments for the judges and photographers. Our judges thought it a real treat to be served with the most delicious cream teas for elevenses!

Grateful thanks to all of our judges: Louise Burks, Brian King, Tim Stiles, Janet Vincent, Jean Gillingham, Mary MaClean, Katherine Vickery, Christine Stones, Malcolm Mills, Steve Fry, Mary Brodie, Elaine Spencer-White, Paul Newman, Cordelia MacFarlane and Sally Westlotorn. Thanks also to Gillian Langham of Sherborne Town Council for showing our judges around the allotment sites.

Thank you to all Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club members for their efforts throughout the year especially Gillian Gunner who also runs our fantastic website.

And finally a huge thanks to Paul Newman, Ady, Simon, Alex and Colin from the Town Council for keeping our town looking so good all year round.

Our judges were Kim Parish and Martin Abrahams and we treated them to a tour of the town designed to show them why Sherborne deserves another gold!

In contrast to the previous few days the weather was cloudy, windy  and rainy but that didn’t stop us getting around .

The tour started at Sherborne Station and proceeded through Pageant Gardens, up Digby Road and into the Abbey.

After visiting Cheap Street and a few locations in between the judging party stopped at the Quarr Local Nature Reserve which is blooming at this time of year.

After a busy two and a half hours ending at the Old and New Castles Kim and Martin were then taken to a reception at the Butterfly House at Castle Gardens where they met all the Growing for a Gold winners and were treated to a delicious cream tea!

Thanks to all the hard-working gardeners of Sherborne who make the town look so beautiful, not just on judging day but all the year round.

Thanks also to Louise and Mike Burks of Gardens Group, our main sponsors of Sherborne in Bloom, for their tremendous support and their hospitality on the day.

Venue
Butterfly House, Castle Gardens, New Road

Opening Times
9:00am – 5:00pm Mon-Fri 12-16 July and Sun 18 July

On Display
Photos taken by Sherborne Bradford Abbas Camera Club
Gardens in ‘Growing for a Gold’ competition

Admission Free

Plenty of parking – come along and see more fabulous photos like this: