Fame for the Tripe Baths

Since our posting on the 12th December about the fate of the tripe baths, we have been contacted via email by an Italian group who run their own blog that is full of facts and stories all about tripe!
They were very interested in our story and have featured our story on their Italian site! Who would have thought that Pudsey`s fame would travel so far?
If you click on the link below it will take you direct to their tripe blog....you may need to use Google translator to translate some of it.
It just goes to show that everything is of interest to someone!

http://troppatrippa.blogspot.com/2009/12/salvate-le-vasche-del-trippaio.html

The fate of the tripe baths!

Many Pudsey folk may be completely unaware of the two old tripe baths that for years have been in situ in front of the leisure centre and lovingly planted up each year.

There is history attached to these baths as they once lived in a shop owned by Job Ross in Lowtown, he was the local tripe dresser and the tripe he would sell to his customers was washed in the baths. This was many years ago and after he passed on they were given a new home as flower pots...bizarre maybe, but some folk are very attached to them.

Now with the building of the new bus station, the baths had to come out and Pudsey In Bloom have been trying their best to avoid them being destroyed and are trying to find them a new home. A local building company, Farmac, have kindly offered to move them for us and store them until we can find them a new home.

Keep checking for updates on the tripe baths!!

Here`s a photo of them in their old home in front of the leisure centre:

And in a rather sorry state, amongst the rubble that will be Pudsey`s new bus station:

That`s another job done!

All the barrier troughs were today planted up with a selection of primulas, violas and spring flowering bulbs. The displays should bring a bit of cheer to Pudsey over the coming months whilst it undergoes the disruption that will be caused by the building of a new bus station that has now started and is not expected to be completed until September 2010!

We also planted two japanese acer trees, one in each library bed, kindly donated by one of our members.

Our newly acquired folding wheelbarrow bought with group funds, colour coordinated as well!

Article in Pudsey Times about our Silver Award.

An article has been posted in the Pudsey Times about our Silver Award in this year`s Yorkshire In bloom competition.
Read about it here:

http://www.pudseytoday.co.uk/news/Pudsey-celebrates-Yorkshire-in-Bloom.5704155.jp

Autumn Tidying.

A couple of members met to tidy up the Lowtown beds; now that the benches are finally in place, the flowers and grasses needed cutting back, although some like the Stipa were left for their ornamental seed heads. Unfortunately, mainly due to the bin strikes, there was also quite a lot of litter around, so this was bagged up too!

























We are hoping to take on board one of the comments from the Yorkshire In Bloom judges who suggested that we should plant up the borders with lavender to compliment the blue hydrangeas, so we are already propogating some cuttings, but we would be most grateful to anyone out there reading this blog who has any spare lavender plants they would like to donate to us.



We have also been busy preparing the barrier troughs for the winter planting, and today we made a start by emptying them of all the summer bedding which is now starting to die off.

Once we have bought the primulas and violas to supplement the bulbs that we managed to save from last years display, we will be meeting again to replant them.

Some updates as promised!

Whilst I have time, here are couple of updates I have been meaning to post from our summer activities:

Firstly, after awarding The Fleece Inn at Fartown as the winner of the "Pudsey Pubs In Bloom 2009 competition", the group were pleased to present the landlord with a winners trophy, this will be presented to the winner in each subsequent year, and very attractive it is too!

And also, remember the old benches that we replaced this year in our Lowtown seating area with the money we got from the the YPN community awards grants?.... well who would think that this was one of those benches? One of our members has revamped the old bench and we have now re-sited it on land near to Pudsey Parish Church, it looks like new!

More news later...................

Judges comments on Pudsey following our SILVER award.

Category 2D Town

Pudsey Silver Rose Award
Spring: Silver Rose Award Summer: Silver Rose Award

Introduction (introductory remarks from the judges):

The determination and fighting spirit of the Pudsey in Bloom group is clearly evident through the town, the newly sponsored hanging baskets and barrier baskets have had a positive impact on the town. We were escorted around by a great team of enthusiastic volunteers who have the right sort of get up and go to help continually improve the town for years to come; showing that with a little determination lots can be achieved. The additional volunteers to the group and the work done to secure business support as well as good floral displays throughout the town make Pudsey a worthy entry into the competition.

SECTION A – Horticultural Achievement
Areas of Achievement: The newly designed and planted garden at the Baptist Church was very pleasant, colourful and well maintained. The hanging baskets throughout the town were good and in particular the displays around the sports centre. The uniqueness of the hanging basket brackets were a great innovation showing the business and community sponsors and supporters names. Pudsey Park formal gardens and summer bedding displays are a credit to the gardening staff on site, it was also refreshing to see that the two gardeners on site had designed and planted their own bed in their own unique styles. The new additional wooden planters are a welcome splash of colour in the town centre as well as the barrier planters to the front of the funeral directors.
Areas for Improvement: Rose beds within Sparrow Park were looking sparse and in need of updating, look into prairie planting if future funding is available, or look into replacing the roses with more formal planting as has been done in Pudsey Park. In the Lowtown seating area once the new benches have been installed, and if future funding allows it would be nice to see the edges of the paths planted with lavender or fragrant plants which will complement the beautiful purple and blue hydrangeas currently surrounding the area.

SECTION B – Environmental Responsibility
Areas of Achievement: Artwork to the side of the sports centre depicting local history and heritage of Pudsey, and the unusually planted up tripe bath in front of the centre. Pudsey Park bandstand was surrounded beautifully with stunning hanging baskets. The judges were impressed with the Lowtown school wildlife gardens and ‘bug hotel’ made up of things found and given by the parents, teachers and children themselves.
Areas for Improvement: Management of weed throughout the town, especially on areas not in council ownership needs to be pursued, it may be an idea to engage with the businesses that have sponsored and supported the hanging baskets to take more of an active role in caring for their environment.

SECTION C – Community Participation
Areas of Achievement: The uniqueness of the hanging basket brackets were a great innovation showing the business and community sponsors and supporters names. Barrier planters outside the post office bought and displayed through sponsorship monies from local business. The judges were again impressed with Lowtown schools enthusiasm, knowledge and understanding of their environment. The progress made and changes seen throughout the school gardens and grounds have been astounding and a credit to the pupils themselves, the judges were impressed with the corn and barley garden area complete with their very own scarecrows. Public house and restaurant competition. It was great to see and meet the newest members of the ‘in bloom’ group and it is a credit to the established group through raising their own profile at events and fundraising they have secured the help of more volunteers. Good partnership working with the Pudsey Civic Society, Rotary Club and, Town Centre Management which is a good foundation and support network for the ‘in bloom’ group. Ongoing projects and press file showing year round involvement and commitments.
Areas for Improvement:
Now that the group has been successful in its pub and restaurant competition it might be worthwhile, if time and commitment permits to work with local schools with gardening in mind, maybe ‘a wildlife garden in a pot’ theme, building on the successful poster competition.

....And for anyone who is interested in viewing comments for all the entries in the competition, you can read these by visiting http://www.yorkshireinbloom.co.uk/ and clicking on results on the left hand side of the page.

Latest News!

Pudsey In Bloom have been having a well deserved rest during the summer and letting the flowers do their own thing, and they have been bloomimg very nicely indeed.

The latest news is that yesterday at the Yorkshire In Bloom Awards Ceremony in Bridlington, Pudsey was again awarded SILVER, this is fantastic news and shows that we are keeping up the high standards, we actually gained more points this year , just not quite enough to get us a Silver guilt, but the judges were very impressed when they visited and said that as we are such a small group we are doing great work, and we would especially like to thank all the local businesses who have supported us this year.......your support did not go unnoticed by the judges!

There are some more updates to post on the blog to bring it up to date and these will follow shortly. In the meantime, our next meeting will be on Thursday 1st October at 6.30pm at the Pudsey leisure centre, we would welcome some new members.

Summer Judging and Pubs Winner Revealed!

The summer judging went off well, and we had a lovely sunny day to show the judges around our town. We also took the judges to present a prize to the winner of our first ever `Pudsey Pubs In Bloom` Competition. The winner this year was The Fleece at Fartown and prizes donated by the Pudsey Civic Society, which included a book on the history of Pudsey`s pubs, were presented to the landlord for having the tidiest gardens and the most colourful displays, making the pub a truly delightful place to visit. Others who entered were, the King`s Arms, the Stroom, the Fox and Grapes, and the Butcher`s Arms.
The picture has been publishe on the Pudsey Today website: http://www.pudseytoday.co.uk/news/Winner-of-Pudsey-in-Bloom.5455785.jp

More flowers for Pudsey!

One of our members was offered some large wooden planters and these have been painted and filled with bedding, we have situated them around Pudsey, one by Sparrow`s Opticians, one in front of the Yorkshire bank, and one near the Greetings card shop. We also have a lrge barrel planter in front of Lloyd`s Pharmacy. We`re sure you`ll agree that they brighten up the area.

Helping the wider community.

When we have time, our members also try to get involved with other projects that benefit the wider community of Pudsey, and recently we were asked by the Civic Society if we could spare a couple of hours to help clear some himalayan balsam that is growing rampant in Black Carr woods, we went along to help West Yorkshire joint services who are working on a project called `tracks in time`,which will put all of Leeds Victorian Tithe maps online. Trees will be planted in the area we cleared in Autumn.

Benches ordered and water kit installed on Town Hall.

In December `08 the group were awarded a `grassroots grant` for £900, we had earmarked this money to buy a new bench for the garden in Lowtown, members of the group had replanted this last year and entered it in the Community and City Pride Awards and we were runners up. However, the area has always been spoiled by the old tatty benches that are there. This is what they look like at the moment:

And we have just ordered a new bench which will be arriving very soon, in fact we are getting 2 as the Pudsey Civic Society are also buying one. The benches are made from recycled plastic which should be low maintenance, environmentally friendly and an economical alternative to timber. We have also approached the Pudsey town centre manager who is checking if council funds are available to replace the dustbin with a permanent litter bin.

The rest of the grant money has been spent on installing an automatic water kit on the town hall, this is now almost complete and will save us lots of money on watering costs.

Sponsorship Increases!

We were approached by a number of local busineses who want to support Pudsey In Bloom by advertising on our barrier troughs and flower tubs. This not only gets their name across to Pudsey folk but will also bring in valuable funds to enable us to further improve the town. look out for the signs when you are in Pudsey. We will also use the signs to thank other groups who support our work, like the Civic Society and Pudsey llotments, to name a couple.

Also look out for the BIG increase in hanging baskets around the town centre this summer, our efforts earlier in the year to encourage more businesses to take an interest in making the town more attractive has certainley paid off!

Calling all Pubs and Restaurants!

Pudsey In Bloom is launching a competition for Pubs and restaurants in Pudsey, shortly one of our members will be distributing letters inviting anyone who is interested to enter the competition. Members of the group will judge the entries for their summer floral displays on Monday 6th July, and the winner will be visited by the `Yorkshire In bloom` judges on the 10th July. We will also try to get them as much publicity as we can and give them an advertisement on one of the flower troughs in the town centre.

Pudsey park does us proud!

We had this photo published in the Pudsey Times today, showing some of the members with a couple of the Park gardeners. The park has looked really stunning this spring and is a credit to the town.

Spring Judging Feedback

Feedback from the spring judging are now available at http://www.yorkshireinbloom.co.uk/downloads/Spring%20Comments%202009.doc.

The judges were obviously very impressed with our work with the community and the effort every member contributes.

Fun at the Carnival

We had lots of interest in our stall at this years Pudsey Carnival, and thankfully the weather held out, although this year we were in the Civic Society Marquis, and this gave us protection from the odd heavy showers! We sold lots of plants including houseplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and chilis, many grown by members of the group and some donated from the public.

We were also visited by the local councillors and by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. The Lord Mayor is himself a former chairman of `Yorkshire In Bloom` and a long standing judge, and strongly supports work done by `in Bloom` groups.

Pudsey Carnival

Don`t forget to visit us if you can at the Pudsey Carnival on Saturday 16th May. You will have the chance to chat with us about our work, and we will have plants for sale, and all proceeds will be put towards making Pudsey even more colourful and attractive, money well spent!

Next Round of Judging!

The date for the summer judging for `Yorkshire In Bloom` will be Friday 10th July. We have plenty to organise before then including lots of summer displays.

Article on Pudsey Today website

You can read about the spring judging in an article on the Pudsey Today website at:
http://www.pudseytoday.co.uk/news/Pudsey-in-Bloom-says-thanks.5212411.jp
The same article is also printed in the newspaper, but unfortunately they have reproduced the photo at a very poor resolution!

More local business support!

We have been very busy receiving orders from many of the local businesses wanting hanging baskets for the summer. This support is fantastic, it can only help to strengthen the work we do to make Pudsey an attractive place. We have received lots of comments about how colourful the spring displays are. The post office also wants to show their support and this summer we hope to have 3 more barrier troughs on the steps up to the post office. We have been able to place an order for an additional 15 or so hanging baskets. As an incentive, the group have offered to pay for a bracket installing on any premise that wants to support us. So far to name a few, we have enlisted: Wetherby Whaler, HQ Dentals, Old Booths Tea Rooms, The Light Bite, Lidget Hill DIY Store and Hanson Travel. Many thanks to everyone for their support.!Community Involvement is a major contribution to gaining an award in the `Yorkshire In bloom` competition!

Spring Judging 3rd April 2009

We were fortunate to have a sunny day, although a bit chilly. Members of the group met with the judges and took them on a tour of Pudsey`s highlights. We were met by Councillor Jarosz who welcomed the judges:

Councillor Jarosz escorted us to our first port of call, Claremont Housing Complex, where we met with Dennis Pontefract who works tirelessly to keep the grounds tidy, recently the children of Swinnow Primary school volunteered to plant lots more daffodils in the grounds, these were in full bloom.

We went on to visit Pudsey lowtown School. the Crimbles Allotments, Robin Chase, Spinners Chase, Pudsey centre and the park, and ended up back at the library for a welcome cuppa!

Display at Pudsey Flower Show

Today the group had a display board at the annual Pudsey Spring Flower Show that was held at the United Reform Church on School Street.

Lots of people stopped to look at our pictures and read about our projects; we gave out quite a few leaflets about Pudsey In Bloom and and we are hopeful of recruiting some more members.

Many people commented on how bright and colourful Pudsey was looking, and how they had noticed some of our group out and about planting.

Meetings

We have had two meetings in March. We have finalised our route for the spring judging; this year we are including the Claremont Grove sheltered housing complex. The elderly people who live there work very hard to keep their gardens and grounds looking good, and this year they have had some extra help from children at Swinnow school who have planted lots of daffodils for them, the daffodils were donated by Groundwork Leeds.

We are also making plans to spend the £900 we were awarded last year from the YEP Cash In the Community, we now have permission to install the automatic watering kit on the Town Hall, this will be in place for our summer displays and greatly reduce our watering bills!

We are also very pleased that there is a lot of interest being shown by the businesses in Pudsey to have displays this summer, we have been approached by HSBC bank, Hanson World Choice, the Post Office and Lidget Hill Hardware store who all want to be a part of Pudsey In Blooms attempts to make the town a more attractive place.

Spring Judging Announced!

We have found out that the first round of our judging for the Yorkshire In Bloom Competition will take place on Friday 3rd April. We are busy getting posters ready to distribute ready for judging day.

1st March - A lovely Spring day

We have been out and about continuing the tidying up of the barrier troughs today, luckily the sun was shining!


Remember the tired old library beds that we planted up in December, well here is a picture of how they looked today, come summer they should be full of colour!















DECEMBER 2008 MARCH 2009

Getting Businesses on board!

A new Pudsey Business forum has been formed and as one of our members has a business in Pudsey, we are hoping to be able to spread the word about Pudsey In Bloom and encourage the businesses to come on board. Already people are showing an interest in putting up displays and helping to display our posters. This will be a great boost to Pudsey`s entry in the Yorkshire In Bloom competition, as one area that judges always comment on is how many businesses give their support to their local In Bloom initiatives.

The Total garage on Lowtown have already said they are interested in improving the land around the garage, and we have dug up a small area and planted it up. It`s hard work as sometimes the ground is very hard, but well worth the effort! This is one of the areas that the judges said we should work on.

Spring is springing!

Despite the ongoing roadworks in Pudsey, spring is certainly on its way! The barrier troughs bring a welcome splash of colour at this time of year. Bulbs are also emerging in the grassy areas which the group planted last November.

We have been busy doing our "spring cleaning", tidying up the troughs and flower beds after the winter. How lovely it is to see the flowers again!

Community and City Pride Awards

At an awards ceremony last night, Pudsey In Bloom received the runner up prize in the Community And City Pride Awards for the seating area on Lowtown.
The awards are run by Leeds City Council to recognise projects that make the city cleaner and greener. The ceremony was at Leeds Civic Hall and prizes were handed out by Look North weatherman Paul Hudson.
We were in the Green Space Creation category; first prize went to Bruntcliffe school.













BEFORE

AFTER

Article in Pudsey Times

This week there is an article in the Pudsey times, mainly to thank the Borough of Pudsey Charity for the money they donated that helped to purchase plants for the newly refurbished flower beds next to the library.

You can read the article by following this link:
http://www.pudseytoday.co.uk/news/Pudsey-in-Bloom-brighten-up.4904355.jp

First Meeting of 2009

The group had their first meeting of the year on 8th January, and decided that despite any impending disruption that will inevitably be caused by the building of the new bus station, we should once again enter the Yorkshire In Bloom competition. Our next meeting has been planned for Thursday 5th February at Pudsey leisure centre starting at 6.30pm.

Library beds finally planted!

One of our main projects has been to replant the two flower beds that are next to the library, you can see by the pictures below how bad they were looking!

The council agreed to rebuild the beds and then in November `08 they filled them with soil, we then replanted them with a variety of winter -flowering shrubs, ferns, grasses, perennials and also planted some daffodils. It was a difficult area to plant as there is not much depth to the beds and also there is poor drainage and lots of shade. We are confident that the planting scheme we have chosen should ensure a vibrant colour scheme of purples, bronze, orange, yellow and white. There are evergreen plants, and some scented plants too. This summer it will be a much pleasanter place to sit and read!

Grants the group have received.

We received £300 from the Borough of Pudsey Charity in November `08 and we plan to put this money towards plants for the beds in the library square just as soon as the newly rebuilt beds are filled up with soil.

On the 12th December `08 two of our members attended an award ceremony at St. George`s crypt in Leeds, as we had been shortlisted to receive a grant from the YEP Community cash Giveaway, the awards were announced by Hilary Benn and we were thrilled to hear that Pudsey In Bloom had been given £900! We plan to spend this on an automated watering kit for the Pudsey Town hall, which will greatly reduce our annual watering bills, and also to replace some of the dilapidated benching near the permanent planting areas we have been working on.

We have also found out that Pudsey In Bloom have made the shortlist in the Community and City Pride Awards for the seating area we planted up on Lowtown, we will know the result of this after the award ceremony that takes place on 30th January at the Leeds Civic Hall, so fingers crossed we will be successful!

Mammoth Bulb planting day!

On Sunday 9th November 2008 we embarked on our mammoth planting of lots of daffodil bulbs that had been donated by Groundwork Leeds. We were very pleased that some new volunteers turned up to help, it was a cold day, but we got wrapped up and got on with the job in hand.

Daffodils were planted in the grass on Church Lane and near the Total Garage on Lowtown, as well as in the containers.

Hopefully we will be rewarded with a colourful Spring display!

Preparing for Spring Displays 2009

Throughout October and November 2008, the group were busy planting bulbs and spring bedding to ensure that there will be a colourful display in 2009. We are trying different planting schemes with the 21 barrier troughs we have in Pudsey centre. 14 of these had traditional summer bedding in them in Summer 2008 and really looked splendid, we received lots of comments about how colourful they were, this year for the first time, we bought and planted up all the troughs ourselves, we chose a colourful array of petunias, geraniums,fuschias and gazanias. It wa hard work, especially as it wasn`t a very good day for planting! But those involved all agreed it was well worth it, and we plan to do the same again next year.

In November, we again turned out on another cold and wet day to empty the summer bedding that was now getting past its best and plant up the troughs with spring bedding, most of which we had been saving throughout the summer from last years displays, otherwise the plants would just have been discarded by the council! This again saved us lots of money. In addition to the spring bedding we also planted a mixture of bulbs including: tete a tete,red robin tulips, and crocus.

In the other 7 troughs which had been planted up with drought resistant plants throughout the summer, the job was a little easier as we did not have to remove and replant, we just added a good mixture of bulbs to each of the troughs, including: alliums, (allium azureum), crocus (Barr`s Purple and snowbunting) These troughs have given a very different look throughout the summer and provide a good contrast to the other troughs. We feel we are catering for everyones tastes and at the same time doing our bit to find a greener way of planting up the containers. It will be interesting to see how these troughs develop this year:

Summer Judging comments- and a SILVER Award!!

In September the group finally received the long awaited feedback from our Summer Judging. We were amazed and highly delighted with the news of a SILVER Award - it seemed that all the hard work had paid off, now we have a high standard to try and maintain!

I have listed the judges comments here but you can view all the comments from all the entries at the Yorkshire In Bloom website-
http://www.yorkshireinbloom.co.uk/default.aspx

PUDSEY are certainly progressing and things have moved on since the Spring Judging with the adoption and replanting of old rose beds and the trial of drought tolerant barrier baskets. If the business sector can be engaged, Pudsey will 'bloom' even more.

SECTION A – FLORAL DISPLAYS

The judges were particularly impressed by:
1. The hanging baskets and beds in front of the Leisure Centre.
3. The summer displays by residents on The Chase.
4. Creation of the 'sea monster' and other plants by the children
of the local school.

Areas suggested for future development:
1. Involvement of business sector to provide floral displays.
1. Improved maintenance to bedding areas in Pudsey Park.
4. More involvement from youth organizations.

SECTION B – PERMANENT LANDSCAPING, INCLUDING
SHRUBS

The judges were particularly impressed by:
1. The trial of perennial plants (drought resistant) in barrier baskets.
1. The upkeep of Crimbles Allotment site.
2. The adoption of two old rose beds and their subsequent
planting by the group with perennials.

Areas suggested for future development:
1. Coordinated mowing of Pudsey Park to ensure follow up work
is in keeping with general grass areas.
2. Speak with 'Total Garage' to see if anything can be done with shrub bed.
4. Continued adoption by group of older shrub/rose beds etc.

SECTION C – LOCAL AGENDA 21 AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The judges were particularly impressed by:
1. Work within the school by children/volunteers on the wild area
and involvement with recycling and composting.

Areas suggested for future development:
1. Future planting/management of the pond area at Spinner
Chase.
2. Possible extension of mulching to more beds.

SECTION D – LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

The judges were particularly impressed by:
1. The general cleanliness of the streets.

Areas suggested for future development:
1. Renovate the two benches at 'Low Town' recently newly
adopted area.
2. A few sites noted which required graffiti removal.

SECTION E – PUBLIC AWARENESS/PUBLICITY

The judges were particularly impressed by:
1. The involvement of the judges to award prizes to the winners
of various children's competitions.
2. The posters displayed by houses on Robin and Spinners Chase.

Areas suggested for future development:
1. Further publicity/press releases regarding the 'in bloom'
group's work.
2. Future commercial sponsorship of areas etc.

Everyone agreed these comments are a very positive start, and certainly gives us something to build on. WELL DONE to everyone, group members and invaluable volunteers who help with planting projects.

Happy New Year, the planning begins again!

2009 may prove a difficult year for Pudsey In Bloom! We are anticipating a fair amount of disruption when the building of the town centre bus station commences in April. However at our first meeting of the year on Thursday 8th January, we decided that we should not be `put off` by impending disruption and just `go for it`! To that end, we have now started preparations for entering into this years round of judging for the `Yorkshire In Bloom` competition.
Much has been achieved since our last meeting in June 2008, and here I plan to outline all of the group`s activities since then, starting when three of our members were invited to help judge gardens that had been entered in the `Leeds In Bloom` competition. It was a fun, if quite tiring day, and the standard of the gardens was very high. Below are just a few examples of some of the winners.