Awards and Wet Weather in Cleethorpes

We have just returned from a weekend up on the Lincolnshire coast. We had been invited to attend the RHS Britain in Bloom award ceremony at Cleethorpes’ Beechcomber Entertainment Centre, a rather strange place harking back to the days of Butlins Holiday Camps. We were there to represent our Allotment Community as I am chairman and Jude is secretary to the management committee. We had to attend the ceremony on Saturday eve so decided to make a weekend of it.

The award ceremony was very successful for us, the rest of the weekend less so. But we are gardeners and hardy folk so we were not going to let the wild weather beat us. At the ceremony we proudly received an RHS National Award of Distinction. This was a result of our awards Bowbrook Allotment Community received at the RHS Its Your Neighbourhood Award Ceremony in Birmingham in September, a “Level 5 Outstanding Award” and two RHS Discretionary Awards, the “Community Gardening Award” and one awarded to me for “Outstanding Merit Award for Leadership in Community Gardening”. We came away with some beautiful cut glass trophies as well as our certificates.

The east coast of England was battered by winds and heavy rain over the weekend but being a hardy pair we carried on regardless and enjoyed a bracing walk along the promenade. The gardens here had been recently renovated and were neatly kept. We are not fans of bedding plants formally planted nor of conifers but admired the gardeners handiwork none the less. Sculpture pieces featured along the promenade gardens.

All the photos were taken through pouring rain and often through a filter of rain drops on the lens filter glass.

Cleethorpes had become run down but is experiencing a bit of a revival and civic pride seems to be returning. However some of the traditional buildings of seaside resorts were looking worse for wear especially emerging from the gloom of the day.

But we weren’t the only brave souls defying the elements. Dog walkers, fishermen, the seaside donkeys and windsurfers were equally defiant.

Drying out after our promenade along the sea front took some time but the seaside in rough weather has its own specific charm about it. It was heartening to see a seaside town trying to reinvent itself using gardens as a starting point, a good way to create some pride in a place.