Green-fingered school wins 'Chesterfield In Bloom' title

Green-fingered gardeners harvested the fruits of their labours at a glittering Chesterfield in Bloom presentation evening in the Winding Wheel. Thousands of pounds worth of prizes were handed out to the winners of the 14 categories in the contest, which attracted over 100 entries.

Winner of the coveted overall title was Spire Infants School from Derby Road, Birdholme, who as well as taking the main prize also claimed two first places and a third from the categories they entered.

They won Best School Garden and Best School Environmental/Wildlife Garden, and the school also figured in the prize list for Best Place of Work. On top of all that, the three children representing the school at the awards evening - Jack Gill, Stephen Scott and Chloe Hill - went up on stage a fifth time to receive a certificate awarded to the school as part of the East Midlands in Bloom competition, in which Chesterfield earned a Silver Gilt award.

A spokesman for the judges said: "There was strong competition but we all agreed that the school was a worthy winner, particularly as the children played such a major role in the work involved in creating their beautiful gardens."

Spire Infants were pushed all the way by several contestants, particularly last year's overall winner, Malcolm Smith, of New Whittington, who triumphed in the Best Front Garden and Best Container categories.

He was also involved in his neighbourhood - Caxton Close - winning the runner-up prize in the Best Residential Street competition.

Overall sponsor of the competition was the Derbyshire Times newspaper and local companies sponsored every category in the Chesterfield in Bloom competition.

Cllr Keith Morgan, the Borough's Lead Member for Environmental Services, said: "All sections of the community in Chesterfield responded with great enthusiasm."

The judges commented on the high standard of entries received in all categories.