By Monica Chard
Nothing was going to stop local residents from making their gardens look beautiful for the annual Spelthorne in Bloom competition. This year it was even more important to spread some cheer in the form of colourful blooms. Lockdown earlier in the year had seen many of us enjoy our gardens and discover green fin-gers and with it, the joys that gardening can bring and the benefits to mental well being.
The presentation of awards was of course ra-ther a different affair. Rather than a delightful awards evening at Shepperton Studios with buffet and drinks, the Mayor of Spelthorne, Colin Barnard, accompanied the SiB commit-tee to the winners and made the awards in per-son. It was at least a good chance for him to admire the gardens for himself. ‘Mrs Mayor’ Barbara Barnard has herself been a winner of the Best Riverside Garden in previous years, so Colin enjoys a lovely garden. And there were many!
On his visit to French Street in Sunbury he met Kaye Friday had won both Best Front Garden (see above) as well as Best Newcomer. Kaye told us that locals stopped daily by her garden and told her it had raised their spirits. One little two year old particularly liked the owl which featured and he would have a chat with the owl whenever he passed by. The full list of 2020 winners as follows:
St Michaels Primary School, Feltham Hill Road, Ashford – Best Scarecrow Nicola Twose
The Feathers, Laleham – Best Small Pub
29 Templedene Avenue, Staines – Best Hang-ing Basket, Mr Sivakumar
Riverbridge School, Staines – Best School Recycling Project The George, Staines – Best Large Pub Stanwell War Memorial, Stanwell – Best War Memorial St Mary’s Church, Stanwell – Best Place of Worship Stanwell Community Allotment – Best Envi-ronmental Project & Best Community Gar-den Plot 1A Stanwell Allotments, Town Lane Stanwell – Best Allotment
Stepping Stones, 33, Staines Road, Laleham – Best Riverside Garden Jen Chisnall