Years of Success!
2019
Cups, trophies and awards have been coming our way since 2019, the first year we entered South West in Bloom. And it's all thanks to our wonderful volunteers.
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Crewkerne wins Gold for Best in Class SWTA Cup
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Vic Verrier Trophy for best Newcomer
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Sutton Seeds Cup for best Nature Reserve - Bincombe
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RHS It's Your Neighbourhood - Two top Outstanding Awards
2020
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RHS Certificate for Continuing to Excel and
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Recognition for inspiring others during Covid
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RHS Certificates for all our It's Your Neighbourhood Groups
2021
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Crewkerne wins Gold in the Champion of Champions Category
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Serco Cup Trophy for Best Community Initiative - Severalls Memorial Gardens
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Best Community Champion Award - John Davies
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RHS It's Your Neighbourhood - three top Outstanding Awards
2022
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Crewkerne wins Gold in the SWTA Cup
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Runner up in RHS It's Your Neighbourhood Gordon Ford Trophy - Severalls Memorial Gardens
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RHS It's Your Neighbourhood - four top Outstanding Awards
2017 - An idea is planted
Crewkerne in Bloom began in October 2017 as an initiative of The Inner Wheel Club of Crewkerne who wanted to give something to their commuity.
2018 - Rapid Growth and Activity
Before long, the group became 'stand-alone,' forming its own small committee in January 2018.
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In March 2018, we were awarded an SSDC Market Towns Initiative Grant through the Town Council, enabling us to buy hanging baskets, troughs and plants.
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Ten hanging baskets were planted and supplied to businesses in the town. Four had reservoirs which we kept topped up.
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The Men's Shed (now The Shed) joined in, making wooden planters which we filled and maintained.
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The overgrown flower bed at the entrance to West Street car park needed attention so we tidied it and planted Summer bedding amongst self-seeded poppies and the pretty daisy-like calendula.
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Watering was simplified by the generous donation of a 100-litre watering trolley in memory of the founders of Wydale Plastics Limited. Operated by volunteers twice weekly, it helped to keep everything looking healthy throughout the very dry Summer.
2019 - we entered South West in Bloom
for the first time
Spring flowering bulbs excelled in planters and green spaces and the principal areas we worked on were the beds at Church Street, West Street, South Street and Rose Lane.
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Concentrating on herbaceous perennials, we filled planters and flower beds around the town centre and shopping precincts all of which we maintained.
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We planted, supplied - and kept watered - over 60 hanging baskets to businesses in the town and adorned recycled bicycles, barrows and bins for extra splashes of colour.
A business window competition and residents' garden competition were very popular.
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Encouraged by so many positive comments, we entered the RHS competition South West in Bloom winning Gold for Best in Class and other prestigious awards.
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South West in Bloom is one of 18 regional competitions that makes up Britain in Bloom, the biggest horticultural campaign in Europe.
2020 - Hibernation
The beginning of 2020 saw us eager to start work again but as the Covid 19 pandemic took hold, our enthusiasm was curbed by restrictions.
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Nevertheless, working within these limitations, we kept the town looking loved, if in a more modest way and made good progress in rewilding an area at St Bartholomew's Churchyard where we also positioned painted blue wilding hearts.
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Our recycled cycles were repainted and their baskets filled with cheerful blooms.
We entered a scarecrow in the Crewkerne District Rotary Club's fun festival, planted 250 pots of hyacinths for fundraising, participated in the annual Christmas Tree Festival at St Bartholomew's Church and created our own limited edition Christmas Card.
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We were very happy to finish the year with a welcome clutch of RHS awards and successes for the limited work we could undertake.
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It's Your Neighbourhood Friends of Crewkerne Station also won awards in the Blackmore Vale Line Community Partnership competition and were short-listed for the Network Rail Community Rail Awards.
2021 - Back in Action
All the areas we look after were treated to a Spring Clean and we were delighted that the previous Autumn's planting of wild daffodil ad Purple4Polio crocus bulbs had rewarded us with a beautiful show.
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We increased the number of areas we look after and starting supporting work at the Cemetery grounds on the edge of town.
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Meanwhile, we kept a watchful eye on St Bartholomew's Church Cemetery, allowing nature to flourish by monitoring and managing. This followed a joint initiative between the Diocese of Bath and Wells and the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
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Hanging baskets and gaily decorated bikes, barrows and bins were positioned in the town, we ran a garden competition for residents and held a business shop window competition with the theme Colourful Crewkerne.
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Little pockets of beauty began appearing as residents quietly got on with tidying and developing their local areas.
We entered South West in Bloom and were delighted to win Gold again. The judges praised our environmental commitments, high standard of floral displays and sustainable planting, and admired the huge impact made by the flower towers and floral bikes located around the town.
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There were also Best Community Champion Award and a trophy for Best Community Initiative for Crewkerne.
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At our annual get together to plant hyacinth bulbs, we filled 250 pots ready for fund raising at Christmas when the town was decorated with 300 colourful sets of bells that we made from recycled flower pots.
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The Tastes and Flavours of Christmas was the theme for the Christmas Tree Festival at St Bartholomew's Church, so we plundered our gardens and larders to make a recipe for decorating our tree.
2022 - Celebrations
A colourful display for visitors and passers-by was mounted on the LIC to show what we had been up to.
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We joined in the Queen and Community Exhibition at Crewkerne Museum and celebrated the Queen's Jubilee. The town was full of flags and special displays and always up for a creative opportunity. The Orchards Nursing Home performed wonders with their red, white and blue garden decorations.
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A commemorative plum tree was planted at Severalls Memorial Gardens where a splendid fete was held earlier in the year.
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At the Jubilee Party in the Park, we invited children to fill a pot with compost and plant a few marigold seeds which they could take home. The seeds were supplied by the RHS Community Wellbeing project.
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We held our usual garden competition for residents and Go Wild in Crewkerne was the theme for this year's hotly contested business and shop window competitions.
A new project was the creation of a Potager and an area of herb-filled hanging baskets where everyone can help themselves.
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The Speedwell and St Bartholomew's School joined our thriving It's Your Neighbourhood Group.
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We entered Britain in Bloom South West in 2022. Horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation were judging criteria and we were rewarded with Gold in the SWTA Cup.
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Severalls Memorial Gardens were runner-up in the RHS Gordon Ford Trophy from a field of 350 entries and all of our It's Your Neighbourhood (IYN) groups were successful.
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A presentation evening was held in October at Bilby's for all our garden competition and IYN winners.
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For our customary annual fundraiser, we planted pots of hyacinth bulbs in the Autumn which we sold at the Saturday Christmas Market outside the Town Hall.
2023 - More Volunteers join in
Thanks to our new volunteers coming forward, we can upgrade our new fruit and vegetable bed - or Potager as we like to call it - and take on new areas.
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The popular and very sociable 10.00 am Tuesday work parties continue, while we are encouraging reduced groups of 3 or 4 volunteers to get together whenever they can manage. This should make quick makeovers of small areas easy to organise. It's also a great opportunity for neighbours to beautify their locality and forge friendships.
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Thanks to our small army of watering warriors. We hope you won't have to contend with another drought this Summer!
