Since the last article, the Edwinstowe in Bloom team has been kept busy watering the flower beds and planters and replacing the plants which did not survive the continuous high temperatures throughout August.
Many events took place throughout the summer to get the village ready for the Tour of Britain. This year the fifth stage took place entirely in Nottinghamshire on Thursday 8th September.
The Edwinstowe in Bloom team, together with the RSPB Community Development Officer, worked over the last month with the volunteers from the community to get the village ready for the event. This included placing bunting at the village signs at each end of the route through the village and displaying lots of brightly coloured bicycles along the route. The donated bikes were painted at sessions held on the Old Bowling Green, at Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre and in the car park of the Church Rooms and the volunteers had great fun painting and decorating the bikes. A further 10 wooden cycles painted yellow were also loaned for the duration of the event by Ashfield District Council and used to decorate railings.
A drop-in session was held in Sherwood Forest Arts and Crafts Centre on 3rd September, to create a commemorative plaque made from 60 tiles created by volunteers during the session with sculptor Phil Neal. This project was funded by Arts and Development, Newark and Sherwood District Council. The finished plaque measures 1000mm × 600mm. Planning permission is being sought for the finished plaque to be put on the roadside wall of the old toilet block on Mansfield Road as a permanent memento of the event.
The Re’cycle’ art project is the name that was given to the re-use of the pebbles that were painted by volunteers for the ‘Britain in Bloom’ competition. Land art showing a big heart created from these pebbles and hearts from other previous community art projects was created on the cricket ground. This was designed to be visible from the air in the TV media coverage of the Tour. The ‘in Bloom’ pebbles were placed around flower beds.
The Edwinstowe Book Festival was held on Saturday 3rd September with activities at the Village Hall car park, Edwinstowe House, St Mary’s Church, the Arts and Crafts Centre and the Sherwood Forest Amphitheatre. The Edwinstowe in Bloom team had a stall selling donated books in the book market to raise funds to purchase some Tree Mallow plants, which do especially well in the sandstone in the village. These will be planted out in the coming months.
Hundreds lined the route to cheer the riders on the day of the Tour, and Robin Hood hats and flags were given out to the school children who attended the event. Bowe Radio broadcasted from the Village Hall, where stalls were set up and a bubble artist and music entertained the waiting spectators. The Land Art could be seen from the air during the TV broadcast, and it was described by the commentator as ‘really imaginative’. The competitors rode past Budby, South Forest, and Sherwood Forest, along the A616 and B604 Swinecote Road and then through Edwinstowe at between approximately 2.30pm and 3.30pm as they battled it out along the 118-mile route from West Bridgford to Mansfield.
Edwinstowe has entered the best dressed village competition for the Tour of Britain. So now there is this result to look forward to, in addition to the results of the Britain in Bloom competition entered earlier in the year.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/edwinstoweinbloom.