Horsforth in Bloom working to make the town a brighter place to live

Horsforth in Bloom is, according to chair Pete Mallott, a small band “of a certain age” which has been quietly working hard to improve the surroundings of the town.

Their work does not go unrecognised — they have achieved the prestigious Yorkshire in Bloom Gold Award on several occasions.

And their impact on the community has been massive, with several diverse large projects alongside their regular enhancements of the general environment.

Pete said: “We have hopefully over these years developed to enhance the appearance of our town and in doing so, influenced the thriving business’s to follow suit.

“We are a small group of volunteers who meet once a week and work on different parts of the town, either to simply maintain the various sites, or at others to plant either summer bedding or perennial varieties.”

The group has installed a “natter bench” in Horsforth Park for people to have a sit down and a chat, with planting around it including wild flowers, Portuguese laurel and yew bushes.

The natter bench (Image: Horsforth in Bloom)

Pete said of another project: “The Queens Green Canopy was an initiative that began in May 2021 in the United Kingdom in honour of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth ll in 2022 to increase and protect the native tree cover.

“This ‘Liriodendron Tulipifera’, like others is being urged to create this ‘special gift’ for the Queen, to remember her and to mark her 70years on the throne.”

The Liriodendron Tulipifera tree (Image: Horsforth in Bloom)

Horsforth in Bloom was also approached by staff from Featherbank Junior school who were anxious to seek their help concerning a piece of land on Featherbank Lane that had been given to them to create an outdoor learning space for the children from the school. This was a secure fenced area which the school staff and children had made.

The group worked with the children to plant a lot of spring daffodils to improve the area. One of Horsforth in Bloom’s members has since become a governor of the school to oversee the development in this area.

For more information about the work of Horsforth in Bloom go to their website www.horsforthinbloom.co.uk or find them on Facebook.