Communities named to compete for floral honours
The top gardening communities in the country have been chosen to battle it out in the RHS’s Britain in Bloom competition. Here are the full national results and Northumbria in Bloom results.
Now in its 55th year, 71 communities will compete, from Green Moor in Yorkshire with a population of just 90 to London’s Canary Wharf. Nominees are put forward to the national final based on their progress regionally and will be scored by a team of RHS judges in the summer. This year, groups will compete across 12 categories with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), town and city centres seeing a rise in entries.
Champion of Champions
Shortlisted in the Champion of Champions category are five finalists who have been hand-picked by the judges based on their exceptional past performance. They are St Helier, Durham, Perth, Kingsbridge in Devon and Castlecaulfield in Northern Ireland. The category was won last year by Truro in Cornwall, whose exotic and drought-tolerant planting beat the heat and impressed the judges.
Chairman of Britain in Bloom judging panel, Darren Share, said: “Britain in Bloom isn’t just about spectacular floral displays and making our villages, towns and cities beautiful to live in and visit. Many of this year’s finalists are on the frontline of tackling some of the UK’s biggest challenges, such as climate change, plastic waste on beaches and declining pollinator populations.”
Britain in Bloom – Judging
Judges will visit the finalists during the fortnight beginning July 29. The winners of each category and the finalists’ medals will be announced in October.
BBC Two’s Britain in Bloom also returns in the spring with Chris Bavin visiting communities as they prepare for judging. This year’s groups include three national finalists – Pateley Bridge in Yorkshire, and Llandudno and Prestatyn, both in Wales.
The finalists
- Amersham: Town, Thames & Chilterns
- Antrim: Town, Ulster
- Bath: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, South West
- Bexhill-on-Sea: Large Coastal, South East
- Bicester: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, Thames & Chilterns
- Biddulph: Large Town, Heart of England
- Brig: Large Village, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- Bury: Small City, North West
- Canary Wharf: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, London
- Castlecaulfield: Champion of Champions, Ulster
- Catterall: Large Village, North West
- City of Westminster: City, London
- Cranbrook: Small Town, South East
- Cranleigh: Town, South East
- Cullybackey: Large Village, Ulster
- Curry Rivel: Large Village, South West
- Derry: Small City, Ulster
- Desford: Small Town, East Midlands
- Donaghmore: Village, Ulster
- Dunfermline: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- Durham: Champion of Champions, Northumbria
- Farnham: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, South East
- Filby: Village, Anglia
- Garstang: Small Town, North West
- Goring-on-Thames: Small Town, Thames & Chilterns
- Green Moor: Village, Yorkshire
- Haddington: Town, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- Hale Village: Urban Community London
- Halstead: Town, Anglia
- Ham & Petersham: Small Town, London
- Harrogate: Small City, Yorkshire
- Hunstanton: Coastal, Anglia
Look for your nearest town or village
- King’s Lynn: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, Anglia
- Kingsbridge: Champion of Champions, South West
- Kirkcaldy: Small City, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- Llandudno: Large Coastal, Wales
- Loughborough: Small City, East Midlands
- Middleton-by-Wirksworth, Village, East Midlands
- Morpeth: Town, Northumbria
- New Milton: BIDs, Town Centres & City Centres, South
- Newport: Town, Heart of England
- Newquay: Large Coastal, South West
- Norton in Hales: Village, Heart of England
- Norwich: City, Anglia
- Oldham: City, North West
- Old Clee: Urban Community, East Midlands
- Pateley Bridge: Large Village, Yorkshire
- Penrith: Large Town, Cumbria
- Perth: Champion of Champions, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- Prestatyn: Large Town, Wales
- Randalstown: Small Town, Ulster
- Reading: City, Thames & Chilterns
- Royal Tunbridge Wells: Large Town, South East
- Rugby: Small City, Heart of England
- Saltburn-by-the-Sea: Coastal, Northumbria
- Sark: Coastal, Floral Guernsey
- Sedgefield: Small Town, Northumbria
- St Andrew’s: Coastal, Keep Scotland Beautiful
- St Clement: Coastal, Natural Jersey
- St Helier: Champion of Champions, Natural Jersey
- St Just: Small Town, South West
- St Aubin: Village, Natural Jersey
- Stanwix: Urban Community, Cumbria
- Tanfield: Village, Northumbria
- Titchfield: Large Village, South
- Whitby: Coastal, Yorkshire
- Wilmslow: Large Town, North West
- Wimborne: Town, South
- Winshill: Urban Community, Heart of England
- Yeovil: Large Town, South West
- Ystradgynlais: Town, Wales
Read more about the 2020 finalists. For more information on Britain in Bloom, visit www.rhs.org.uk.
