Norden In Bloom aims to retain gold in third year of North West In Bloom

Norden In Bloom

North West In Bloom judges will be welcomed to Norden village and surrounding areas this summer for its third year of the Royal Horticultural Society’s competition.

Norden was first entered into the contest as a standalone entry in 2021, where it won both ‘best newcomer’ and gold in the large village category.

The In Bloom group's second attempt last year, amazingly saw them regain gold with top marks.

Judges will be taken on a colourful route around Ashworth Valley, St James’ Chapel, Taylor Park, Norden Rockery, the Norden War Memorial, the village, Norden Bowling Club, Moss Row Community Allotments, Moss Row Woodland, the award-winning Norden Jubilee Park, Birtle Brook Garden Village and the Pavillion restaurant.

Each site has either been improved or had a new addition in anticipation of the big day, plus two new additions to round off the judging.

Paul Ellison, of Team Norden, the group behind Norden in Bloom, said: “We’re hoping to retain gold again this year; after winning ‘best newcomer’ and a gold in 2021 and gold in 2022, we want to keep our standards high.

“Taylor Park has undergone immense improvements for 2023, and watch out at Norden Jubilee Park, where further improvements will be made in the next few months and we’re welcoming Birtle once again to the team, which is a great asset to the large village entry.

“We’ve worked hard all year round and had plenty of new volunteers join us in this big community effort. Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors and partners who have made this possible; a special thanks goes to H Bell and Sons and Rochdale Borough Council.”

Team Norden is made up of Paul Ellison, Christine McHugh, Phil Starr, Sian Hegarty, Kathryn Bentley, Andrew Nutter, ward councillor Jim Gartside, Louise Scott and Michael Scott.