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!