Keeping town blooming lovely

8:07am Tuesday 7th October 2008

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Abingdon residents have picked up awards for making their town blooming lovely.

The winners of Abingdon in Bloom were announced last week.

Hundreds of hopefuls packed into Notcutts Garden Centre, Nuneham Courtenay, to hear who had won certificates and garden centre vouchers.

The chairman of Abingdon in Bloom, Lorraine Oates, said: "CongratuIations to all those who have entered the competitions.

"It gets harder every year to choose a winner as the standard of entry seems to just go up and up.

"Over the time I have been involved, the entries have thrived and it is always a real delight as each year comes round to visit such a variety of design and colour and admire the standard of care."

Mrs Oates added: "This year we are celebrating too the ten years which Notcutts has sponsored Abingdon in Bloom and I want to say a huge thank you for all that they have done over those years.

"They have been with us through flood and drought years, supported our efforts locally through sponsoring the prizes and presentation evenings for our own town competitions, and also as our major sponsor in our entries to the regional and national Britain in Bloom competitions."

Among the winners was Thomas Reade Primary School, of Radley Road, for its gardens with a Tudor theme.

Judges were impressed with the school's gardening club, led by Jan Skuse. Pupils designed and planted a Tudor garden based on the life and times of the school's Tudor benefactor, Thomas Reade.

They also grew herbs and vegetables from seed and held a school taster session of the produce.

Headteacher John Serle said that he was pleased to win a prize in the competition for the third year running.

He said: "We don't mind sharing our success with other schools this year."

Caldecott Primary School, of Caldecott Road, won a prize for the garden display by its reception class.

Foundation stage class teacher Shirley Rouse said: "Because our school logo is a swan, we decided to make a garden to do with our logo. It was lovely because the children really enjoyed it.

"It took up quite a lot of time, but it was a really worthwhile experience as the children learnt a lot through doing it."

She added that much of the planning and maintenance work of the garden was done by teaching assistant Lorraine Hutt, who also helped the school win the competition five years ago.

Last month, Abingdon's floral displays won the town a silver accolade in the regional competition.