Village aims to retain gold after Bloom judges visit

TWO judges from the Britain in Bloom competition have visited Goring.

They were given a two-hour tour of the village and also visited Withymead Nature Reserve.

Goring in Bloom has won gold in the Thames & Chilterns regional section of the Royal Horticultural Society competition for the past two years.

Over the last few months, residents and business owners have decorated the village with hanging baskets and planters and taken care to remove weeds and litter in a bid to retain gold.

The judges were Kyle Dowling, park warden with Henley Town Council, and Steve Catanach, leader of Amersham in Bloom.

The tour, which was led by Stephanie Bridle, chairwoman of Goring in Bloom, began with a 20-minute tour of the nature reserve where the judges met Pete Morton, head warden for the past five years.

Mr Catanach called the reserve “superb” and added: “The work they do there to enhance biodiversity is unbelievable.”

The judges were then taken to Goring station to admire the newly installed £7,000 orientation plaque, which illustrates routes which are accessible for walkers, cyclists and wheelchair users.

Heading towards the village, the judges strolled past the bridge at the top of High Street, which was recently cleared of graffiti and repainted by six volunteers working for four days.

In the heart of the village, the judges observed floral baskets and trough displays maintained by local businesses.

Betsy Brown, 18, manager of the Village Café, said: “The customers comment on how nice the baskets are all the time and how it affects the village’s appearance. It does make it look pretty and I guess more enticing.

“We have all different kinds of things going on in Goring and it’s nice to see the community come together, so I hope we win again.”

Around the corner from the Arcade in High Street, the judges were shown a patch of land which was transformed by Barry and Helen Rosier with a mixture of various flowers including sunflowers as well as a bug house.

Volunteers, members of the parish council and the community joined the judges on the final stop of the tour in the village hall where a light lunch and refreshments were served.

Mr Catanach said: “The ladies who took us on the tour are amazingly enthusiastic and so knowledgeable.

“As a community, they do wonderful things because not only is the town very pretty, attractive and tidy, but the sustainability is second to none.

“You’ve got pockets of wildflowers and pollinators around which make a difference not just in terms of environmental sustainability but also make the place look nice for visitors.”

Mr Dowling said: “We had a really nice tour. Everyone that showed us around was really knowledgeable.

“The environmental projects and the hanging baskets were superb and the courtyard at the Arcade was so floral and attractive.”

Mrs Bridle said: “The judges are very interested in what we do and they understand the difficulties.

“We were talking about the changes in what they look for. They used to look for the perfect colours in the hanging baskets and the horticultural side of things was eminent but now it’s not, it’s much more environmental and a lot more about community.

“We’re very lucky that we seem to have a lot of appreciation in the village. Not everybody can help but people do love it.

“If you’re a volunteer and somebody says ‘thank you’ when they walk past it’s nice and it makes it all worthwhile.”

The results will be announced in September.

Goring first entered Britain in Bloom in 2012 for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee and has entered almost every year since.

In 2019 the village represented the Thames & Chilterns region in the national final and won gold in the small town category.

Goring in Bloom was formed by volunteers in 2007 to provide the hanging baskets on the bridge between Goring and Streatley.