Filby in Bloom 2011
Britain in Bloom Results
On Sunday 25th September Filby was awarded one of only three RHS Gold Awards to villages at the Britain in Bloom ceremony in Fife. The overall winner in the category was Luddenden in Yorkshire.
This award brings a satisfactory conclusion to another successful year.
Great Yarmouth in Bloom
Filby won its third gold of the year to add to the two gained in the Anglia in Bloom competition.
Anglia in Bloom Results
The award ceremony was held in Colchester on Tuesday 13th September and the village was represented by Derek Nicker and David Thompson. Filby won the Best Kept Village in East Anglia, with a Gold Medal, and Filby Post Office won the Best Commercial Premises. The allotments also got a nomination in the Grow Your Own catagory. This is a good result to take to Scotland on the 25th September, when Britain in Bloom results are announced.
Full results can be found on the Anglia in Bloom website at http://www.angliainbloom.co.uk/AngliainBloomResults2011.html
Britain in Bloom 2011
Judging
The village was judged for Anglia in Bloom on 14th July and for Britain in Bloom on 2nd August. The latter at the rather unusual time, for us, of 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
There was a last minute problem before the Britain in Bloom judging when we received information that the apples in the orchard had been taken. In the event only about half were removed but this was still a blow for such a young enterprise. As our trees are representative of a number of different Norfolk varieties almost all those taken would not have been ready for picking until October.
We await the result of the competition which is to be announced on Sunday 25th September in Scotland.
Despite coming second in its class in Anglia in Bloom last year Filby was been put forward to represent Anglia in Bloom in the Britain in Bloom Finals 2011.
As we came second in class in Britain in Bloom 2008 and 2009 we had a lot to live up to if we are to maintain our record.
We learned the other competitors in our class were:
Class: Village
| Entry Name: | Representing: |
| Berrynarbor | South West |
| Elswick | North West |
| Filby | Anglia |
| Luddenham | Yorkshire |
| Newcastleton | Scotland |
| Rosliston | East Midlands |
Filby in Bloom in 2010
Anglia in Bloom 2010
Results announced on the 15th September were again a disappointment when, despite winning another Gold award from twelve awarded overall, we came second again, again by one point, to Bulphan in Essex. Well done them but it does raise the question, not for the first time, just what we have to do to satisfy the judges.
Then again we get the news, in early November, that we are again being put forward to represent the Anglia region in the Britain in Bloom finals, so we must be doing something right.
Things were going reasonably well for 2010, made simpler by the fact that our efforts can be directed exclusively towards Anglia in Bloom and not divided between two judging days less than a month apart, but made more interesting by some challenging spells of weather. We try to maintain the same high standard in our displays from Spring to Autumn but the extra effort required to impress two sets of judges who seem to look for and find every stray weed and 'wrongly' coloured flower head in a flower bed places a great strain on our dedicated but small team.
The Community Orchard continued to develop but we were unable to prepare the ground in time for planting as it was way too wet and cold. Happily the East of England Apples and Orchards Project, our suppliers, agreed to hold onto our tress and they will be planted in late November, early December. Other projects, especially the school, made very good progress.
Filby in Bloom in 2009
Anglia in Bloom 2009
Filby wins Gold - again
Following the Anglia in Bloom Awards for 2009, held at the Ocean Rooms, Gorleston, we are proud to reveal that Filby has again received a Gold Award.
Filby Gets Gold
l. to r.: Derek Nicker, Mervyn Gibson, Adrian Thompson, Tom Green.
However, the sad news is that, despite our best efforts, we did not win our class or the overall title.
The class win, for a Village (301 to 1000 residents), went to Bulphan in Essex. They entered the competition for the first time last year. Well done them.
You can visit their website by clicking on this link
The overall title went to Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
So far I have not found a dedicated site for Wisbech in bloom but they are mentioned on news sites and the Fenland District Council site at which refers to their success in 2008.
More information can be found at and is worth a look.
Full results can be found on the Anglia in Bloom website at http://www.angliainbloom.co.uk/AngliainBloomResults2009.html
The Britain in Bloom results have been announced.
Britain In Bloom 2009 Results
News reached the potting shed that Filby won a Silver-Gilt Award in the 2009. The class was won by Chipping, Lancashire, (North West Region).
Chipping is a really pretty, Ribble Valley village half as large again as Filby. Their website www.chippinginbloom.co.uk and is well worth a look.
Full Britain in Bloom results can be found at the Britain in Bloom website.
Or you can download the results as a .pdf file if you click on the icon. 
Britain In Bloom 2009
Filby was selected to represent the Anglia Region in the Britain in Bloom final in 2009. The judges came this morning, saw and went away. We can only hope that they liked what they saw. The only problem is that their time here is so short and we have a lot to show them. Not bad for a small village.
This website aims to show who we are, what we are doing as well as what we have achieved in the various "in Bloom" competitions.
We also have a sister site for Filby Village which covers topics not appropriate here.
Whilst some news will appear, from time to time, on this page the best way to see what is happening in the village week by week is to visit www.filbyvillage.org.uk/villagevoice.html.
Details of the awards won by the village can be found, you guessed it, by going to the Awards page and then by following the links to the various years.
There is still a lot of work to be done before this site is anyway near complete so you may find strange screens or links that have yet to be forged. Please visit regularly to see what has changed. This is a living village and things are happening faster than we can keep up with updating these pages.
Should you prefer a larger text size than that displayed you can adjust the settings on your browser.
Using the menus you should be able to navigate the site using just about any web browser on any operating system.
Most of the pages are being rewritten to take advantage of the leaner code, flexibility and quicker download times offered by Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). However, pages should still display reasonably, if not correctly, even if you are using an older browser (like Netscape 4.x which does not understand some CSS commands) or Internet Explorer 5.x for Windows (which does not always render CSS correctly).
If the page display is a real mess perhaps it is time to consider upgrading to the latest version of browser or try a newer, alternative browser. Most of the better ones are free to download and are being actively supported.
If you experience any particular difficulty accessing any of these pages please send an email to the address below.
If you have any comments on the site or the efforts of the village please email to: pottingshed@filby-in-bloom.org.uk
Praise is always welcome but criticism can help our continued development.
In 2008 it was time to say farewell to our old signs. They had served the village well however Tom Green's new design is stunning.
However, that's never all there is to it:
When the Judges have visited and left to determine their verdict on our efforts, only the day after all the excitement, the work goes on.
Visitors to this page
since 11th February 2011
