Upton in Bloom 2007

From Tuesday 31st July the Committee and volunteers made a magnificent effort to repair damage to displays in anticipation of the Britain in Bloom judging on 3rd August.

Four boats were damaged in the July floods, one of which was completely emptied of compost & flowers.Two others had been partially emptied and had been moved by the force of the water. The one at the Marina was emptied of plants and compost, moved back and refilled with some of the not-so-badly damaged plants and new ones. Another at the entrance to Hanley Road car park was moved back into position by about twelve of the volunteers who came to help.

All the riverside tubs suffered in the flood. Four were completely empty of compost and plants and were replanted on the 31st July. The others just had very muddy mounds on top of them.

Severn Waste Services donated 50 bags of Greengrow compost. Brian Williams of Earls Croome Garden Centre brought plants for the boats and tubs. The centre had also suffered from flooding.The Hanley Road boat was refilled and planted in about 10 minutes, such was the enthusiasm of the volunteers!

On the 1st August flags were put up on the bridge. These were created by local children & groups in many workshops organised by the Blues Festival Committee. A film crew from BBC Gardeners World spent the day filming the recovery efforts by the Upton in Bloom Committee and a great band of volunteers.

2nd August saw the Committee planting tubs that hadn't been done the day before as we were waiting for Brian to find more plants for them. In the evening, notes were added to the flower bed in the Old Churchyard.

3rd August - judging day! The weather was lovely, the judges very interested and sympathetic in the community's efforts to recover from the flood damage. The Gardeners World crew were back to film judging and the gathering on the Old Churchyard.

Whatever we have achieved in Britain in Bloom we, as a community have worked together to brighten up our town. Comments as we've been working have all been positive. A lady stopped and said she couldn't afford to give us money, but had cleaned mud from a couple of benches. Someone else handed us some money from a Premium Bond win. With spirit like this, Upton will recover from this flood as it has from all previous ones.

To all who have worked so hard and supported Upton in Bloom, thank you - we couldn't have done it without you.