Spring 2022Rochdale in Bloom reaches Britain in Bloom nationals

Rochdale has been named as a finalist representing the North West nationally in the finals of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom competition.

The Rochdale in Bloom group won gold in the ‘small city’ category and ‘best town centre’ in the North West in 2021, its fifth consecutive gold in the category.

No competition took place in 2020, with all In Bloom and community-led It’s Your Neighbourhood entries deferred until 2021.

Rochdale last reached the nationals in 2018 – winning a gold medal – after being nominated to go forward as the small city category representative for the main competition after winning a North West in Bloom 2017 gold award.

Representing the same category, after being nominated by North West in Bloom, this year, Rochdale is up against Burton (Derbyshire), Canterbury (Kent), and Bath (Somerset).

Finalists are put forward to the national final based on their progress locally and will be scored by a team of RHS national judges. Unlike the regional competition, where individual entries and features are judged, the national judging route is a ‘snapshot’ of the whole town in bloom.

Judging will take place between 25 July to 12 August. The results and the category winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in October.

Now in its 58th year, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom is an environmental competitions that pits rural villages, urban corners and city centres against one another across a range of criteria that includes horticultural know-how, community engagement, efforts to bolster biodiversity and climate change adaptation.

Chairman of Rochdale in Bloom Roy Down said: “We’re up against some places which have a lot of spending power and tourist attraction. We are the underdogs, but bring it on!”