The Mayor and Town Council send Congratulations to all Volunteers on achieving a Gold Award in the Heart of England in Bloom competition! However the team want to maintain this high standard in 2008. 

Our theme for all aspects of Ledbury in Bloom in 2008  is ‘Bees and Butterflies’. We need some special volunteers who are willing to help organise the Ledbury Gardens Competition next year. We need some special volunteers who are willing to help improve the Butterfly habitat of the Riverside Trail in an exciting project planned for next year. This may involve the planting of native daffodils, native bluebells, buckthorn to encourage brimstone butterflies and a whole range of robust wildflowers. This should beautify the Riverside trail for residents and visitors as well as attracting more butterflies. Anyone specially interested should contact John Grove 01531 631575.

We are hoping to include some more Residential Accommodation in next year’s route for the Judges, and one or two of the industrial areas of the town. We need new volunteers to join in with the one hour weekly sessions in April – June, and forms for this are available at the Library and at the Tourist Information Centre, or by contacting Carole Hawkins, 47 Browning Road, Ledbury HR8, or email details to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our AGM on November 26th was a success. The chairman reported on the year of our re-launch with his great appreciation of the work of the project leaders. The treasurer reported on the audited accounts with £3,115.12 income which include last year’s balance, and £182171 outgoings. Though we are solvent, he noted the lack of fundraising this year. Lindsay Heyes of the Symonds Yat Butterfly Zoo gave a stimulating talk on the present and future prospects for bees and butterflies world-wide in the light of climate change. 

Earlier in July the Heart of England in Bloom judges particularly praised the floral displays, the entrance to the town and the tubs with butterfly plantings, the Burgage Hall front garden, the Town Trail shrub beds, the Millennium Garden, and the excellent Youth Club Garden Project. The same praise was also given to the Walled Garden plantings, and Sensory Garden, the gardens at the Ledbury Primary School, and the Almshouses Gardens. They were impressed by the waste management and recycling efforts in general, and general cleanliness of Ledbury.