Blooming beautiful alleyways

Green fingered residents of Manchester Road, Rochdale are in the pink after scooping the first prize in the 2012 Alley in Bloom competition.

Aiden and Nadine Finn entered with their neighbours from Sudden village and judges from Rochdale Borough Council felt its combination of beautiful floral displays and practical touches like benches and play areas made it the perfect alley-gates scheme.

The group scooped £50 of vouchers for the council’s Bowlee nursery to keep their alleyway looking beautiful and an engraved plaque.

Ms Finn said: “The alley-gating scheme has worked really well for us. We feel much safer and have made the most of it by creating a lovely outdoor space that we can all enjoy. We’ve all become keen gardeners since we had the gates installed and it’s a pleasure to be outside now.”

The second prize went to Christine Morgan of Hulbert Street in Middleton, who was awarded £25 of Bowlee nursery vouchers.

The competition is run each summer for residents who have benefited from the installation of alley gates.