A miniature version of Rochdale’s stunning ‘silent soldier’ pop up garden, has won top spot at one of the country’s leading horticultural shows.
The exhibit, a smaller version of the garden near the Gracie Fields statue in Rochdale town centre, won the best in category award for Blooming Borders and a gold award at the Royal Horticultural Society’s flower show in Tatton Park.
Themed on the commemoration of 100 years since the end of the First World War, the exhibit’s blossoming popularity means that it will now be recycled and re-used around Rochdale.
The entire display, sponsored by Marshalls PLC and supported by Rochdale Borough Council, will be recycled and used to strengthen the Rochdale in Bloom displays for this year. The carved stone pillar will be an emotional addition to Norden memorial gardens, while the stone bench and topiary bushes will be donated to Springhill Hospice. The plants will find a home in Jubilee Park, Norden while the picture frame will become a quirky addition to Petrus Incredible Edible, a charity that supports health and wellbeing across the borough through a community allotment project. The wooden base will be recycled into roadside planters.
Once the centenary year is over, the pop-up in Rochdale town centre is also due to be distributed across the borough with elements making an appearance in each township.
Councillor Neil Emmott, cabinet member for environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The In Bloom display in the town centre has added colour and inspiration to Rochdale this summer. It’s a fitting memorial to our fallen and has been enjoyed by visitors and residents alike. It’s great to see it making waves far beyond our borough, especially at somewhere as prestigious as Tatton, and I’m very proud of all the volunteers for achieving the gold award.”
Paul Ellison, of Rochdale in Bloom said: “Exhibiting at Tatton Park has been a first for Rochdale in Bloom. The design was really well received and now we’re looking forward to bringing it back home to find its final resting place. It’s only right that parts of both displays are placed in fitting sites across the borough.”
