The Britain in Bloom judging took place on Monday 11th July and, on a bright, sunny day, it went extremely well. Three of the Edwinstowe in Bloom team showed the two judges round the village and what had been achieved so far. En-route they also talked to them about plans for the future.
At the end of the judging everyone gathered at Edwinstowe Cricket Club for tea, coffee and cakes (made by volunteers). This gave the judges an opportunity to meet some of the people involved as volunteers, sponsors and contributors. The judges were also asked to cut the superb ‘Edwinstowe in Bloom’ cake made by Fables.
The judges were very positive and liked the village so much that they indicated that they intend to come back as visitors. However, we will have to wait until the Awards Ceremony in September to get the results.
Once the Britain in Bloom judging deadline was over, because of the heatwave everyone was still kept busy with watering all the new flower beds, planters, displays and hanging baskets, with the help of residents living nearby.
After the short break, the team started work to prepare the village for the Tour of Britain. Stage Five will take place on Thursday 8th September and it is estimated that the cyclists will ride through Edwinstowe between 2.30pm and 3.25pm depending on the speed of the cyclists in the peloton. They will come into the village along Swincote Road and turn right at the crossroad along Mansfield Road and proceed to Warsop.
It was decided to line the route with decorated bicycles and everyone was asked via social media and contacts to donate any unwanted cycles or cycle parts. 16 bikes were donated. Recycling Ollerton and Boughton (ROB) members donated four bikes, Sherwood Pines also donated four, and a further four were donated by residents. Three Little Daisy’s provided an additional three and the Furniture Project gave another bike with the promise of more if any become available.
Organisations that volunteered to decorate the undecorated bikes included Edwinstowe Running Club, Hope Springs and the Village Playgroup. O’Dwyer Academy and the Scouts decorated a bike that they provided. In addition, Edwinstowe in Bloom team members ran community painting sessions in the Old Bowling Green on 16th August, Sherwood Forest Arts and Crafts Centre on 17th and on 30th in the car park at the Church Rooms.
The pebbles and hearts from the previous projects together with fabric cut offs will be used to create patchwork art titled ‘Re-Cycling Art’ and is entered into the Land Art competition. Keep an eye out to see if it gets shown in the media coverage of the event.
If you are unable to be there on the day to see and support the riders, why not drive through and see all the bikes decorating the route through Edwinstowe? After the tour any roadworthy bikes will be donated to worthwhile causes and any which are not road worthy will be sold for scrap. Any money obtained will be donated to charity.
For more information, find Edwinstowe in Bloom on Facebook.