‘It’s Your
Neighbourhood’
Results
Civic Centre – Poet’s Corner
Wedding Garden
Level 2 - Improving
Textile Garden, Union Street
Level 2 - Improving
War Memorial
Level 2 - Improving
Trowbridge Alms Houses Trust
– Union Street Alms Houses
Level 3 - Developing
Trowbridge Alms Houses Trust
–
Lady Brown’s Cottages
Level 3 - Developing
Gloucester Road AllotmentsCommunity Plot
Level 3 - Developing
Larkrise Community Farm –
Bee Colony
Level 3 - Developing
Open Gardens
We are pleased to announce that
a grand total of £184.54 was
raised for the Mayor’s Charities,
Revival - Wiltshire RASAC and
Storehouse Foodbank during
Summer Open Gardens in July.
Thank you to everyone who so
kindly opened their gardens and
to all those that visited them.
We look forward to seeing you
all again next year!
See National Open Gardens
Art in Your
Window
This year, windows of many local
businesses were spruced up by
decorated trellises for the ‘Art in
Your Window’ Initiative. The
Trowbridge Chamber of
Commerce will be leading this
project in 2014 and we hope that
many more businesses will
participate by
decorating their windows to make
the town look even more beautiful
for residents and passers by and
do us proud in our entry to South
West in Bloom.
Dates for your Diary
2013/14
Saturday 30th November 2013
Biss Meadows Country Park
Community Environment
Conference
Devizes School
9.15am - 3.00pm
Thursday 13th February 2014
‘Young Voice of Trowbridge’
Public Speaking Competition
Wingfield Hall
John of Gaunt School
5.30pm
St James’ Parish Church
Level 3 - Developing
The BIG Community Grow
Level 4 - Thriving
Gloucester Road Allotments
Association
Level 5 - Outstanding
Trowbridge Community
Sensory Garden
Level 5 - Outstanding
Friends of Biss Meadows
Country Park
Level 5 – Outstanding
Averil Beresford
On a sad note we would like to
say farewell to Averil Beresford
who passed away a few weeks
ago. A stalwart Trowbridge in
Bloom supporter, she always did
so much for the town and always
brightened the room up
wherever she went with her
colourful outfits and creations
She will be missed by us all.
Well Done to All…..!!
Sunday 27th April 2014
Spring Open Gardens
1.00pm - 4.00pm
Sunday 13th July 2014
Summer Open Gardens
1.00pm - 5.00pm
Tuesday 18th September
South West In Bloom Awards
The Civic Centre
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Trowbridge in Bloom Awards Evening
The Civic Centre
United Church Gardens,
Church Street
Level 3 - Developing
Wiltshire College – Fashion in
Bloom
Level 3 - Developing
The Friends of
Trowbridge in Bloom
Are you part of a group working
on a project to improve your
local area? Or do you have an
idea for a project that would
benefit your community?
If so the ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’
Awards are
looking for people like you!
For the first time ever...
The South West in Bloom Awards
are coming to
Trowbridge at the Civic Centre on
Tuesday 18th September 2014!
We would love to hear what projects you are
working on and we want you to be recognised for
them!
Contact Nick Allford, Lead Officer,
Trowbridge in Bloom
at [email protected] or on
01225 765072 or to find out more look here
The Trowbridge in Bloom Awards Evening took place on Tuesday 24th September at the Civic
Centre. It was a fantastic culmination of all the hard work that residents of Trowbridge have
put in this year and we would like to thank you for supporting us once again!
Many awards and certificates were handed out and on top of this, two very impressive
presentations were shown. The night took off with a collection of images from St James’
Church Flower Festival which was held earlier this year. The women at the Church who put
such hard work into creating beautiful floral displays have done a superb job since starting
the festival two years ago and we do hope that we will see more of the same in 2014!
Vincent Ling of St Augustine’s Catholic College provided musical entertainment and
performed a piece from the hit Pixar film, ‘Up’ and Mel Jacob of the BIG Community Grow
gave a very interesting talk on the Apple Festival. Rounding off the evening was a dvd
documenting the work of some very talented students from Wiltshire College, Trowbridge
who created some fantastic pieces of coursework in conjunction with Fashion in Bloom some of their works were displayed in the Civic Centre alongside their sketch books for all to
see! Thank you to all our sponsors, The Consortium, Tesco, Trowbridge Lions. The Rotary
Club of Trowbridge Wessex Mead, Sylvester Forrester Mackett, Waterstones and the BIG
Community Grow as well as the judges and presenters, the committee and of course
everyone who took part this year. Without you 2013 could not have been such a success!
Message from the Chairman
"Despite the fact that Trowbridge did not enter the
main South West in Bloom competition this year,
the town really has looked "blooming marvellous".
Visitors have remarked on the beautiful floral
displays and how they help to give the town a
"cared for" look. Apparently St James’ Church Flower Festival welcomed
people from as far away as Ireland, Spain, the USA, South Africa and the
Netherlands. An enormous "thank you" to everyone who participated in
our many competitions this year, as this all helped to achieve ‘Pride in our
Community’. Praise must also go to Mr Kevin Hartley and Mr John Sansom, our two
extremely professional photographers, who are always on hand, come rain or shine, we
would be lost without them. And finally, just to confirm that our County town will be
entering South West in Bloom in 2014 as well as hosting their main awards evening at the
Civic Centre on Thursday 18th September, so that's a challenge we're all looking
forward to!"
Mrs Jennifer Polledri, Chair of Trowbridge in Bloom
November 2013
Inside this issue:
Park Take Over!
2
Biss Meadows
Updates
2
A taste of the
Caribbean
2
Festival
Fun
3
Primary
Awards
3
Spot the Winners at 3
the
Gloucester Road
Allotments
Annual Show
‘It’s Your
Neighbourhood’
Results
4
Dates for your
Diary
4
Page 3
Page 2
Park Take Over
On Monday 1st July, Trowbridge Town Council took over responsibility for
the Town Park from Wiltshire Council. Since then a huge amount of work
has taken place to make this beautiful space even better for the residents
and visitors to Trowbridge to enjoy. Have a look below to see what the
Town Council has been doing!
The Lake…..
* Water has been pumped back in and the fountains have been fixed.
* Surrounding hedges have been cut back to improve visibility, safety and
to reduce anti-social behaviour, this now allows families to walk down to the lake’s edge, feed the ducks
and enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
 Path opened up on the far side of the lake, saplings have been removed and shrubs cut back to allow walkers easier access.
The Play Area…..
 Brand new green metal fencing,
 New Basket Swing has been installed and is being enjoyed by the many children that visit the park.
 Old equipment will soon be re-painted
Many more projects are in the pipeline to improve the Park, to make it safer, more relaxing and more enjoyable
for all! Please see www.trowbridge.gov.uk for more information.
Biss Meadows Country Park
The Friends of Biss Meadows Country Park Committee have been very
busy recently taking part in many local events, see below for what
they have been up to……...
Saturday 7th September the committee took part in the Home Produce
Fayre, members had collected blackberries and elderberries and made
delicious jams and chutneys which sold well!
September also saw Biss Meadows receiving 3 well deserved awards
at the Trowbridge in Bloom Awards evening, this included the much coveted Chairman’s
Cup for all their hard work throughout the year!
The Annual Bat Walk in October was very popular this year, Daubenton’s and two types of pipistrelle were spotted.
Biss Meadows have been awarded a Link2Nature grant, for a new visitors leaflet.
The committee took part in the Apple Festival on Saturday 12th October (see Page 3) and added an apple tree growing in the
park to the Apple Map.
The committee are always looking for new members especially those with conservation management or financial experience .
Can you help? See here for full details
Bringing the Caribbean to Trowbridge
Sam Gilling is one of our fantastic committee members, here he tells us where his inspiration
to help us improve his local community came from……...
When I was growing up in Jamaica with my Mother and Father, I saw how they played a
very active and important role in the community, there was such community spirit and all
the local families worked together to achieve this, it was such a happy place to live. I now see
the same community spirit in Trowbridge and I hope that it continues to develop and grow.
I moved to England when I was 25 and have been here ever since, in my view, Trowbridge is
the best community in the West of England! The people here are so friendly, we only have to
keep getting to know each other and assisting each other in improving our Town and I
believe that this community spirit will grow and grow. I would like to leave this as something
that my grandchildren can remember me for as the years go by...
One of my hobbies is to grow pumpkins and yams, the pumpkin I grew this year wasn’t quite
as big as previous years however it is a very nice colour! It would be lovely if we could all get
involved in improving our environment in some way, through gardening, recycling or
growing your own vegetables like I do! I am very grateful to the members of the Trowbridge
in Bloom Committee who have accepted me as a member and continually encourage me to sit and share ideas with everyone.
Thank you TIB! Sam.
Festival Fun at Courtfield House
The BIG Community Grow’s second
Trowbridge Apple Festival was held at
Courtfield House on Saturday 12th October,
and what a beautiful Autumn day it turned out to be for this popular local event!
Children enjoyed activities including apple bobbing and conkers to making whistles
and storytelling. The animals from Larkrise Community Farm were popular, as was the
William Tell shooting game!
Richard Cripps, Apple Expert gave tours of the beautiful mature orchard and provided tips on caring for
fruit trees and the wildlife living in and around them.
There were some great stalls representing local groups and food producers, the Friends of Biss Meadows
Country Park, Vowley Farm, Get Buzzing and Wessex Cider! Wiltshire Wildlife Trust were searching for
the longest apple peel but have yet to find a record breaker!
Did you know? The longest peel world record currently stands at 172 feet!
Gerry Edwards, Apple Expert was met with queues of visitors who wanted
their apples to be identified and to view his fantastic display of over 30 kinds
of apples. The apple press proved very popular for apple juice making and
tasting. The crowds were entertained by live music and a display from the
Bathampton Morris Men, even the Deputy Mayor joined in!
Look out for the third Trowbridge Apple Festival in October 2014!
Keep in touch - for latest news see here.
Primary Awards Presentation
The Primary Award Presentations were held at the Town Hall on
Tuesday 15th October with eight Schools participating in the
Trowbridge in Bloom Competitions. All of you did a fantastic job
and we hope to see you again next year and that more schools will
come and join the fun for 2014!
Congratulations
Hilperton Primary School
‘Best Primary School’
Well Done to all the Primary Schools
that took part!
The Mead Community Primary School, Hilperton
The Mead Community Primary School,Wingfield
Newtown Community Primary School
Walwayne Court Primary School
Hilperton Primary School
Holbrook Primary School
Oasis Academy, Longmeadow
North Bradley Primary School
Some fantastic presentations were made by Holbrook Primary
School’s Rachel Humphries on how gardening can be a therapeutic
activity for children and Beatrice Adie from Oasis Academy
Longmeadow on how students have been working on an Art Project & Design of a local garden. Keep up the good work!
Gloucester Road Allotments Annual Show
The Annual Show and Barbecue on Saturday 7th
September was a great success, with presentations
being made by the Mayor, Councillor David Halik and
his wife, Councillor Mrs Deborah Halik.
Prize Winners!
Winner of Best Fruit and Vegetable Section Miguel Ferrer
Cookery Cup - Tracy Paterson
Best in Show - June Jackson
Highest Yield from One Show Potato - Gillian Plues
In January 2014 a pathway will be installed to allow disabled users to move around the site more easily, this will be funded by
grants from Wiltshire Council’s Trowbridge Area Board and the Co-operative Community Fund.
Raised Bed Available please call Valerie Fahey, Vice Chair of TIB on 01225 760636 if you are interested.
Unfortunately the site has endured several break ins this year and vandalism on both the association’s and plot holders’
property. The police have taken the matter in to their hands but the committee will be investigating opportunities for funding
for new fencing to be installed.