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Private Notes
In episode one, Chris Bavin travels to Usk in Monmouthshire which is known as the Welsh Town of Flowers. The community there has been competing in Britain In Bloom for 36 years and regularly win Gold. But every year they have to come up with fresh ideas to retain their crown. This time the community is planning three key projects: first, they plan to fill the entire Town Square with a colourful new planting scheme. Secondly, the Gardening Gang at the local Primary School will be hoping to impress the judges with their vegetable garden. Lastly, the Bloomers plan to convert a drab concrete corner into a new bee-friendly garden, but it’s a massive project and the whole community will need to lend a hand.
Chris Bavin meets the Bloomers from Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire, who have been competing in Bloom for ten years but have never won the top prize. With three ambitious new projects planned this year, they hope to not only win their first ever gold award, but also to put their forgotten seaside town back on the map and encourage tourists to visit. Their unconventional grand plan involves building a row of large, colourful pieces at the entrance to the town, including a three-metre-high helter-skelter and a dalek! The local centre for adults with learning disabilities is creating a show-stopping garden to impress the judges, and finally the Bloomers ask the whole community to join in and brighten up the promenade. These Bloomers take pride in doing things differently in Mablethorpe - but they only have seven weeks to get everything ready for judging.
Chris Bavin heads to Shrewsbury in Shropshire where the Bloomers have been taking part in the annual floral competition for 37 years. Backed by the council, this gold-winning team have a big budget and plant a staggering 300,000 flowers every year in their town. The jewel in their crown is The Dingle, a sunken garden in the middle of the town park made famous by Britain's first celebrity gardener, Percy Thrower. Every year the team is under pressure to create a show-stopping garden here to wow the judges. But Bloom isn't only about the big projects. Chris also helps the residents of a sheltered housing scheme on the edge of town plant up their own sustainable garden. Shrewsbury's Bloomers are desperate to retain their gold crown, but every year it gets harder to impress the discerning judges.
Chris Bavin heads to the heart of the Black Country to meet a multicultural group of Bloomers in Wednesfield, the West Midlands. This is only their second time competing in Britain in Bloom. Last year they won a silver award but this year they are pulling out all the stops to get their first ever gold. Headed up by the communities from the Sikh temple and the local church, this group have few funds so they are relying on the wider community to donate all the plants they will need. They want to impress the judges with three key projects: to fill the grounds of the temple and church with flowers, and to transform a neglected space in the community centre into a colourful garden for toddlers. But without a plan or planting scheme, gold will be hard to achieve.
Chris Bavin is in the historic Lancashire village of Croston to meet a group of Bloomers who are determined to win gold despite the village still suffering the after effects of a devastating flood. With only six weeks until judging day they have come up an ambitious grand plan to impress the judges but rallying a community that has been through a difficult time is a huge ask. Their key projects this year include an ambitious challenge to transform an overgrown school garden, a village makeover which will involve the whole community and a show-stopping garden in a local pub. The local economy depends on visitors and the Bloomers hope a gold will help draw people to the village, so there is a lot at stake.
Chris Bavin helps the volunteers of Lytham in Lanchashire with their entry for Britain in Bloom. They aim to decorate a staggering 50% of their seaside town with flowers and impress the judges with their key Bloom projects. First, they aim to transform the central market square with a 12-foot-high floral windmill plus a life-sized figure made out of flowers. Then, one of the youngest Bloom committee members wants to create a spectacular musicals-themed garden around the temporary ticket booth in the square. Finally, at the newly-revamped scout hut, the Bloomers transform the dusty concrete grounds into a sustainable garden with flowers and vegetables. This is an ambitious grand plan and they've only got seven weeks until judging day.
Chris Bavin meets the community of Breaston in Derbyshire which is entering Britain in Bloom for the first time. With little gardening experience between them, the Breaston Bloomers are ambitiously planning to fill the whole village with flowers. They feel it's important to keep the community spirit alive and want to involve as many residents as possible. They have decided on three main projects to try and win gold. Their centenary garden needs to impress the judges, so the Bloomers create a centrepiece Bug Hotel. Next, they plan to create a welcoming entrance to the village, and lastly they want to plant over 1,000 flowers in the centre of the village. They've only got six weeks until judging day.
The Melksham Bloomers have been entering the annual flower competition for five years, but they've never won gold. They are upping the ante but major roadworks in the town square threaten to scupper their chances. Chris Bavin heads to this Wiltshire market town to help them with their grand plan. First up, the high street needs to be breathtaking so the Bloomers have come up with a brand new idea to fill the area with colour. Then their heritage quarter needs to look its absolute floral best, and the library beds need a complete revamp. With judging day just six weeks away, there's a huge amount to do, so Melksham have to call upon the services of their secret weapon - their perfectionist gardener who makes sure everyting is to gold-winning standard.
Chris Bavin travels to the Lincolnshire coast to meet a group of dedicated Bloomers determined to put the 'Great' back into Great Grimsby. Last year their council funding for Bloom was cut and the volunteers had to drop out of the competition, but they are back and have created a social enterprise company to raise funds. Money remains tight, but these gold-winning Bloomers take a huge risk by opting to take on one of the most-deprived estates in their town. To brighten up this area, they tackle a neglected stretch of the River Freshney which flows through the estate. The river is clogged with weeds and rubbish and needs to be cleaned up. They also clear an overgrown jungle at the entrance to the estate and give an old bowling pavilion a floral makeover. But their valiant efforts will be in vain if they can't persuade the residents to stop dumping rubbish.
Chris Bavin heads to the historic market town of Oakham in Rutland where the Bloomers are having to cope with major roadworks around the town. They can't avoid them, so the team has decided to embrace the construction with a roadworks-themed Bloom entry. They aim to fill their windows with planted-up traffic cones and hard hats. At the showcase library gardens, they hope to fill the beds with traffic light-coloured blooms. Finally, they're engaging the wider community to produce bespoke planters to green up the centre. But this community knows all too well that things can go wrong at any time - last year they were hit with a scandal involving slugs that threatened to scupper the whole competition.
Chris Bavin meets a group of extraordinary Bloomers who must start from scratch every year after their gardening efforts are literally washed away. Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire is at the confluence of four rivers, which makes for a lovely setting, but one that devastates the town to a greater or lesser degree every year when the waters rise and flood the town.
Chris Bavin travels to Stechford to meet a group of determined volunteers entering their town into the entry level scheme of Bloom, called It's Your Neighbourhood. This is a grassroots campaign which is meant to be a gentle introduction to the main annual competition but this small team of Bloomers is taking on three daunting projects that would be a challenge for even an experienced group. They aim to tackle the overgrown weeds at the train station, clear up the litter strewn grounds at the local police station and transform a neglected church garden into a vegetable patch to supply the local food bank. But finding invasive Japanese knotweed in the garden threatens to derail their plans.
The Chorley volunteers have been competing in Bloom for 15 years and are gold winners but this year major construction work in the town centre is proving a massive challenge for the group. They must choose the judging route carefully so as not to lose marks. Chris Bavin meets the Bloomers who this year are focusing on three areas away from the building work. First up, their civic square needs to be transformed from a bland concrete square into a pleasant place for people to enjoy. The local district hospital on the edge of town are creating an inspiring sensory garden for dementia patients. Finally, the Bloomers are engaging the help of the local Mormon community, who have a show-stopping garden inside their temple which might gain the team extra marks for horticulture. They hope all this will be enough to win them another gold on judging day.
Chris Bavin travels to the pretty Oxfordshire village of Goring on Thames to meet a determined Bloom group of grandparents who this year are taking on big businesses in the hope of winning a gold award. They aim to transform the refurbished train station which is utilitarian and uninviting, but to do this, they first have to get extensive permissions in place from the train company. Next, they want to green up the pathway from the village car park to the high street to create a pleasant first impression for visitors. Again, they have to find out who owns the land and seek permission to remove a tatty fence. Lastly, they will be filling the village centre with hanging baskets and troughs. None of this will be possible if the Bloomers can't engage the local commuters to help with the heavy planting work.
The volunteers from Immingham in Bloom are determined to make a difference in their port town. They have been taking part in Britain in Bloom for seven years and have won gold before but this year the Lincolnshire group is upping the ante by taking a huge risk. Chris Bavin finds out how they plan to retain their crown by including the port in their Bloom entry, aiming to brighten this enormous, industrial area with flowers. They are also building a three-metre-high steel ship and crane as part of their display, plus at the local recycling centre there will be an intriguing project they hope will impress the judges. But with only two months until judging day, there is a very long to-do list.
