Series Repack (Originally Posted Apr 2019)
Ep01.
Chris Bavin heads to the heart of the Yorkshire Dales to meet the Pateley Bridge Bloomers, who are determined to save their local high street after it was affected by dwindling tourist numbers. This is only their second time competing in Britain in Bloom. Last year they won a silver gilt but this year they are adding a touch of razzamatazz to attract new visitors and win their first ever gold award. Firstly, the whole community are needed to strip back the undergrowth in a forgotten public grotto at the church. Next, local business owners transform an old air raid shelter at the bottom of the high street into a show-stopping display. Finally, the team plant a spectacular wildflower garden under the bridge at the entrance to the village, with the help of local children from the Cubs. This being Pateley Bridge, everything is supersized, but will it impress the judges?
Ep02.
Chris Bavin heads to the Devon coast to meet the Bloomers of Clovelly, a tiny village clinging to a 400ft cliff edge. They have been competing in Bloom since 2012, when a flood devastated their ancient cobbled street, and the residents decided to do something to keep the community together. This year, they have extra special plans in an effort to impress the judges and continue their winning streak. Firstly, the walled garden on the main road into the village will be planted up with fruit and vegetables to make the village partly self sufficient. Next, the visitors centre at the entrance to Clovelly is transformed into a colourful outdoor space for tourists and locals alike. Finally, the centre of Clovelly will be filled with thousands of flowers to a gold standard. But Clovelly is not like any other village - its steep landscape and lack of access means that gardening is a major challenge for its residents.
Ep03.
Chris Bavin travels to Birmingham to meet the business owners and residents of Soho Road, a busy route into the city, who are entering Bloom this year under the Business Improvement District category. Soho Road is a diverse area with anti-social issues - 600 businesses along the road are working with the council to improve trade and make the area safer and greener. Firstly, the local secondary school pupils are working to create a relaxation garden in an abandoned play area at the back of the school. Next, the Sikh community brighten their Temple campus with a show-stopping floral display. Finally, the whole community needs to step up to plant thousands of flowers along the entire length of the mile-long street. They hope all of this will be enough to win them a gold award on judging day.
Ep04.
Chris Bavin heads to the seaside town of Southport in Merseyside, where the Bloom team has been taking part in the annual floral competition for more than 20 years. After budget cuts in 2008, the council could no longer afford to look after all the town’s green spaces so this gold-winning Bloom team has slowly taken over more and more of the projects. This year, they have ambitious plans to keep their town on the map and to maintain their Gold award. Firstly, Rotten Row, the town's famous half-a-mile-long herbaceous border, needs to be crammed with thousands of flowers by a team of volunteers. Next, at the Botanic Gardens, a neglected heritage Fernery will be spectacularly brought back to life, with the aim of opening it permanently to the public. Finally, the local team will be blooming up Ainsdale High Street to make it feel welcoming for shoppers. But this year, the summer’s extreme drought threatens to scupper all their plans.
Ep05.
Chris Bavin meets the residents of Petworth in West Sussex who are entering Britain in Bloom for the very first time. These Bloomers want to engage the whole community, from the historic town centre to the modern housing estates on the outskirts, in an effort to bring the community spirit back to Petworth. Firstly, they want to spruce up the drab entrance to the town by the car park to impress the judges. Next, at the local primary school the young Bloomers are creating a brand new sensory garden in an unloved part of the playground. Finally, the team have set the local residents a challenge: to turn some overgrown allotments into award-winning show gardens. For even experienced Bloomers this would be a huge task and they have only got eight weeks until judging day.
Ep06.
Chris Bavin heads to an area he is familiar with from his days as a flower trader – Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, known as the ‘Capital of the Fens’. The community are competition veterans, entering Bloom for 25 years and winning gold for ten years in a row. This year, the Bloomers reach out to their diverse community to create an ambitious school garden, plant a brand new community orchard and fill the town with their spectacular signature floral displays. Wisbech’s Bloomers are desperate to retain their gold crown, but their efforts will be in vain if they can’t persuade the wider community to take part.
Ep07.
Chris Bavin travels to Richmond in the Yorkshire Dales to meet the volunteers who are determined to keep their town on the tourist map by entering Bloom for the very first time. They hope to encourage visitors so they have come up with an ambitious plan to showcase three heritage sites and impress the judges. Firstly, they transform the neglected site of an old gas holder into a peaceful riverside garden. Next, they create a community orchard on an overgrown slope. Finally, they work with volunteers from ‘Just the Job’, a centre for adults with disabilities, who help fill the town with flowers and transforming their own patch of land into a flourishing allotment. This would be a huge task for the most experienced of Bloomers and they only have six weeks until judging day.
Ep08.
Chris Bavin travels to the Borough of Halton in Cheshire to meet three determined Bloomers who met during treatment for cancer and decided to radically change their lives. They are entering the beginners’ level scheme of Britain in Bloom, called ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’. This is a grassroots campaign designed to be a gentle introduction to the main annual competition, however, this small team of Bloomers is taking on two large and neglected community gardens. In the first, they have grand plans to create three distinctive gardens; a sensory area, a creche garden and an allotment. In the other garden, they want to give the yard a complete makeover for residents to enjoy. But they have to battle local apathy and vandalism to get both gardens ready for the judges.
Ep09.
Chris Bavin travels to the historic city of Lichfield in Staffordshire to meet a determined group of Bloomers looking to show off their glorious heritage and continue the success of last year with another gold award. Firstly, a local Georgian mansion will be transformed, with a stunning walled kitchen garden and a restored Victorian greenhouse. Next, on the site of a filled-in canal, the team is undertaking one of the biggest ever Bloom projects in digging out a stretch of the former canal and re-creating the wharf. It will take a huge effort and it is all to be done in three months by only a small group of volunteers. Finally, an unloved area of scrubland is turned into community gardens, with small allotment plots for the locals and community beds to grow fruit and flowers. But the site is covered in mare’s tail, an invasive weed that is hard to control – so the Bloomers will have to find a creative use for the weed to impress the judges.
Ep10.
Chris Bavin travels to the Welsh coast to meet a group of Bloomers who want to keep Prestatyn in Denbighshire on the tourist map and win gold again after five years of missing out. Firstly, they are giving an old refuse tip a complete environmental overhaul by ripping out the weeds and creating raised beds to make it a more welcoming place. Next, a makeover for a recently decommissioned railway signal box, which was saved from demolition by the community. Finally, the Bloomers will convert a park at the top of the high street into a vibrant public events space. All of this to do and only four weeks till judging day.
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