Stourbridge, Quarry Bank and Halesowen win gold in Bloom awards

Halesowen, Stourbridge and Quarry Bank all received gold at the annual Heart of England In Bloom Awards held on Thursday in Rugby.

Stourbridge won gold in the large town category, while Halesowen and Quarry Bank won gold in the urban communities category.

Floral displays in Stourbridge town centre by The Mitre

Judges praised the horticultural teams, made up of Dudley Council staff and volunteers, for their hard work in turning their towns into an oasis of colour for the summer months.

Workers from the council’s green care, street cleansing and lighting teams worked with volunteers spending hundreds of hours carefully tending floral displays in the three towns.

It ensured they were in tip-top condition for when the judges visited earlier in the year.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, Dudley's cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services, said: "This is fantastic news and testament to the efforts of all the volunteers who worked so hard, alongside our own council workers who played such a key role as well.

"To get one gold award in the borough is a real achievement, so to have three winners is incredible."

Cllr Karen Shakespeare - Dudley's cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services

She added: "I want to take this opportunity to personally thank everyone – volunteers and sponsors and our brilliant council staff – who helped to make this a reality."

The three towns will now be in contention to win a national In Bloom award later this year.

Halesowen is also in line for international recognition.

The town welcomed judges from America and Canada earlier this year and volunteers will find out in October if they are successful against other towns from across the world in the Communities in Bloom contest.

Quarry Bank's gold award was the town's first since a dedicated group of volunteers formed an In Bloom committee in 2015. Their first entry in 2016 netted a silver award which was followed up by a silver gilt in 2017 and after a break in 2018 to concentrate efforts on 2019's offering they have finally been rewarded with a top gold award.

A floral display on the island by Park Road in Quarry Bank

Tom Keys, from the Quarry Bank in Bloom campaign, said: "The displays are still drawing compliments - some showing up better now than they were when judged in July.

"We will be removing existing plant displays end of September and replanting with winter flowers to display throughout until next spring, 2020."

Church Tavern which won the best High Street premises display in Quarry Bank

He added: "We are fortunate to have a good nucleus of volunteers but we're always looking for more to share the workload, likewise with anyone wishing to sponsor displays."