Mayfield and Five Ashes crowned winners of Parishes in Bloom

The villages of Mayfield & Five Ashes in East Sussex have achieved a major accolade in the 2018 Parishes in Bloom competition organised by the South and South East in Bloom (SSIBC) organisation.

This was the first year Mayfield and Five Ashes has entered the competition, scoring 89 points out of a possible 100.

They were the highest scoring parish, crowning them the winners.

Janna Todd, parish clerk said: “Competition was tough but it was a credit to Mayfield & Five Ashes’ band of volunteers, residential gardens, schools and high street shops who helped make it happen.

Both the Mayfield and the Five Ashes Horticultural Societies played a major role in making this win, possible.

The judges made note of the local butchers, Leppards, together with their butcher’s bike outside the shop adorned with flowers.

The local florists made a big impact on the judges with an impressive colourful shop window floral display.

The award ceremony was held at the Amex Stadium in Brighton on Friday September 14.

The award was accepted by Cllr Monica Aitken and Cllr Chris Lilly on behalf of the Parish Council.

The organisation’s lead sponsor was Gatwick Airport and their representative presented the award.

The judges comments included: “Mayfield is a ‘quintessential’ village and a pleasure to visit.

“The village could go far in some of the other categories in future years.

“The supportive information was excellent and gave context to the entry.

“The primary school gardening club had produced a very creditable themed display.

“The community clearly has considerable civic and local pride.”

Cllr Deveda Redman, Chairman of the parish council said: “We are delighted to have achieved such a high standard in the very first year of entering and we hope to enter other categories next year and achieve a similarly high result”.

Peter Holman judge and Chairman of SSEIB observed in his judge’s report: “Mayfield is a quintessential East Sussex village and a pleasure to visit.”

SSEIB is a registered charity whose goal is to encourage every gardener, amateur or professional, to help contribute to improving the environment and work to improve health & wellbeing and the quality of life by caring for our gardens, parks, high streets and our natural landscapes.