Plant sale proceeds to help Shropshire village bloom bid

The Norton in Bloom group, based in Norton in Hales, near Market Drayton, will be holding two plant sales this year.

The first will be held on Sunday in the village centre from 10am until 2pm.

A wide variety of plants, many of which have been grown by group members, will be available.

All proceeds will go towards the costs of its Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Britain in Bloom bid this year.

Norton in Hales has been selected for the Champion of Champions category in the annual bloom competition hosted by the RHS.

The village scooped gold as joint category winner in the village section of the 50th Britain in Bloom UK Final Awards last year.

As regular winners in the village category awards over many years, it has been nominated as one of only six communities in Britain, chosen from 70 finalists in total for the prestigious title.

Norton-in-Hales has won top awards in the RHS Britain in Bloom awards for three consecutive years and will now go against other winners in the Champion of Champions category. Hoping to add another achievement to the board, the group will compete against six other cities, towns and villages across the country for the prestigious title.

Judging will take place on August 14 and the award winners will be announced in October.

The group recently unveiled a new honours board at the Hinds Head Inn to celebrate the work from volunteers who have helped the village in its long run of gold awards each year.

Last year it won the village category for the third year.

Nigel Passmore, of Norton in Bloom, said: "We have been consistently winning RHS and national competitions for more than 15 years and this year we are competing for the champion of champions.

"There are just a few towns and cities that have been shortlisted including Bath and Usk.

"We are judged on three categories – horticulture, involving the local committee and environmental. We work on all those aspects.

"We are looking forward to competing again this year."