“We wanted to show the village its best”.
That was the reaction from Upper Hopton In Bloom secretary Chris Breare as the village enjoyed its day firmly in the national spotlight.
Upper Hopton has been chosen to represent Yorkshire in the 2014 Britain in Bloom competition after winning a gold medal in the regional contest and this week they hosted a visit by judges from the Royal Horticultural Society.
Sue Wood and Kim Parish toured the entire village on Monday, looking at formal floral displays and the general appearance of the area.
They and their fellow judges will then have until October to complete their assessments before announcing the national winner at a ceremony in Bristol on October 16.
In Upper Hopton, the mood was upbeat. A group of seven willing volunteers set up the In Bloom project in 2003 and now they boast 19 hard-working and willing workers.
Chris said: “We are not all gardeners, we have people who bring a variety of skills.
“We have people who can paint and people who are engineers and others who want to get involved and learn as much as they can about gardening.
“I think we put on a good show for the judges.
“It was a good day weatherwise and I hope they were impressed.
“They toured the whole village and everyone had made a real effort. It wasn’t just about gardens, it was about the impression given by the village.
“We not only want to make the village a nice place to live but also a haven for wildlife, flora and fauna.
“As this year is the centenary of World War I, we also had a special display on that and we planted out red geraniums and flowers in the village churchyard outside St John’s Church, which pays tribute to some of the men from upper Hopton killed in the war”.
