Blooming Marvellous – town takes Silver Gilt award in South-West in Bloom

THE hard work of the community has paid off as Melksham has been awarded a Silver Gilt in the South-West in Bloom competition. 

The town was presented with the award at the annual presentation ceremony held this year in Trowbridge. The award is a level higher than the Silver award earned last year.

The silver gilt award came in The Sargent Cup where Melksham competed against similar sized towns. The winner of this category was Corsham. Representatives from the Melksham in Bloom committee and town council represented Melksham at the award ceremony which also  saw Melksham businesses, schools and groups pick up awards in the ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ category, including The Golden Fleece in Atworth who won the ‘best pub’ category award, whilst The Bear came second.

Other awards went to Aloeric School who were awarded a level three (developing) award; Shaw Primary School, level four (thriving); St Michael’s Churchyard, level three (developing); Conigre Mead Nature Reserve, level four (thriving); and Bowerhill Residents’ Action Group who earned a level five (outstanding) in their first ever year of entering.

The silver gilt award for the town comes after judges visited Melksham in July and were given a tour of the town, taking in parts of the town such as Church Walk, The Market Place, The Bear, Conigre Mead Nature Reserve, Aloeric School and more.

Despite this year being Melksham’s only second ever entry in the competition, the judges were impressed.  Judge Tim Ely said, “Melksham has been fantastic. I wasn’t here last year but from the notes I have read on how the town did in 2013, I can safely say some big improvements have been made.  It’s been really, really good and everyone in the community has played their part.

“There is  real sense of the whole community being involved and that’s what has impressed us. Even major retailers like Wetherspoon’s and Waitrose have got involved and it adds to the overall experience as we factor in different aspects when judging.

“There is obviously huge pride in Melksham from the town council, residents and businesses and real potential to build on this in the future.

Kathy Iles, chair of Melksham in Bloom said, “It’s a great achievement for the town to get a silver gilt and we are very pleased to have built on last year and got an even better result. I must say a big thank you must go to everyone that made this possible. This is a community effort and a community award that we can all be proud of.

“We are still new to this but we are going in the right direction and we aim to get gold next year. That is what we hoped for this year as you have to aim for the best but we are delighted with our silver gilt.

“We have taken on board the feedback from the judges, as well as the positive comments and aim to build on that for next year and improve.”

The first meeting to discuss next year’s entry will take place on Wednesday 1st October starting at 7pm with refreshments at 6.30pm at the Town Hall.

Lorraine Mcrandle from Melksham Town Council said, “It would be great to see as many people as possible to help with various elements of Melksham’s entry, whether that be floral planting, ‘Tidy Town Days’ or ideas and suggestions on how we can achieve gold next year.”