KIRKBY MALZEARD

YORKSHIRE IN BLOOM 2016

INFORMATION FOLDER FOR THE JUDGES

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This and Front cover illustration by Kirkby Malzeard School Art club.

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Yorkshire in Bloom 2016

The spring judging this year will take place in Kirkby Malzeard on Wednesday 6 April from 1pm

The judges will be Christine Stewart and Lynda Parkinson and we welcome them to our village.

The suggested timetable is as follows but as usual is flexible: -

12.00 Judges welcomed by all YIB group members at The Mechanics Institute for a light lunch.

1.00 Pam Collins, Pippa and Gwynneth walk the judges up Main Street to the Methodist Church and then along Back Lane and through St Andrews Meadow to the end of Mowbray Crescent.

1.30 Judges see The Green, Highside Playing Field and Jubilee Garden with Myra and Bill.

2.00 Visit Pinfold with Paul Johnson and then walk up Main Street to West End with Ian and Michael

2.45 Michael drives judges back to The Mechanics.

Our many thanks to o The WI for delivering leaflets to every house in the village. o All the residents for looking after their frontages throughout the year including planting of the grass verges. o The many people who have helped care for our village throughout the year.

Kirkby Malzeard Yorkshire in Bloom Group.

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YORKSHIRE IN BLOOM IN KIRKBY MALZEARD INTRODUCTION

Kirkby Malzeard is a Yorkshire working village of some 310 dwellings with a strong sense of community. The village benefits from a good range of community facilities and businesses including a church and a chapel, doctor’s surgery, primary school, two shops, a garage, two pubs (one currently closed), fish and chip shop, and excellent sports facilities. At the centre of the village is the Mechanics Institute, which provides a village hall and meeting space for many of the wide range of community activities.

A small group of around 10 villagers meet through the year in the Mechanics Institute to coordinate our Yorkshire in Bloom activities and to contribute to community life. The village first became involved in Yorkshire in Bloom 27 years ago. The scheme is well known in the community, is part of the annual cycle of village events and the group has led various developments over the years such as a village welcome sign and improvements to the village Rose Garden. Support comes from individual residents, the village primary school, the Parish Council, Harrogate Borough Council and village organisations including the Women’s Institute.

The quality of our village environment is the result of continuing care and hard work through the years by village residents, local organisations and businesses.

The Main Street looking west

East end of the village and Market Cross

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REVIEW OF OUR LAST YEAR’S ACTIVITIES 2015-2016

February 27 2015: YIB group meeting: planning the year’s activities

March 24: YIB group meeting: planning the judges’ visit

End of March: Circulation of information leaflet regarding Yorkshire in Bloom and spring judging to village with help from the WI

March – April: Tidying and gardening in village

April 9: YIB spring judging: a sunny and warm spring day; we were pleased that the village looked so good.

May 4: Village plant sale. This is a long-standing event in the village used to raise funds for the annual horticultural show in September. At the plant sale the YIB group hold a raffle raising funds for YIB activities.

The sale near the market cross May 2015

May 16 YIB funding raising supper

Over 70 people enjoyed a good meal, a lot of fun (entertainments included local musicians and a professional conjurer) and we raised nearly £400 for Yorkshire In Bloom funds. We were also able to explain to everyone what Yorkshire in Bloom offers the village.

Entertainment after the supper

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Villagers enjoying the YIB supper

June 10 Kirkby in Bloom visit to Foxglove Covert

Foxglove Covert is a fascinating nature reserve hidden within Catterick Garrison. We were shown around by two of the volunteer staff who expertly identified many species and explained the work at the reserve.

Warm sunshine at the ponds in Foxglove

June 19: YIB group meeting

End of June and early July: Circulation of information leaflet to village by the WI, put up banner and posters, village tidy

July 14: Summer judging

Summer judging in the Pinfold with Paul, allotment holder

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July 23 Kirkby in Bloom visit to the Ripon Walled Garden:

We have a good relationship with Ripon Walled Garden, a charity that provides horticultural experience for adults with learning difficulties. The Walled Garden provide us with many of bedding plants at a large discount and we employ them for occasional maintenance works.

Some of our group in the walled garden

Sept 8: YIB awards presentation at York Race Course. We were delighted to have won a Gold Award and Joint Best in Category

September 25: YIB group meeting

September 26: Village Plant and Seed Swop

2015 Plant Swop

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December 4: YIB group night out at the Black Sheep Masham to celebrate our achievements

January 21 2016: YIB village open meeting. Attended by over 30 people including representatives of most village organisations. We celebrated our achievements in 2015, discussed the value of Yorkshire in Bloom to the village and invited ideas for what we do next. Many ideas were put forward and most are included in our action plan.

February 25: YIB group meeting to prioritise the ideas from the January meeting and plan for the spring judging and the year ahead.

March 19: Village tidy

Repairing damage to verges in the village March 2016

End of March: Circulation of our information leaflet to all households in the village and general tiding and preparation.

Last page of our 2016 four page leaflet

April 6: spring judging

Plus: throughout school term time: Regular Friday lunchtime gardening with School gardening club

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OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

SECTION A: HORTICULTURAL ACHIEVEMENT

Impact: The initial impact of the centre of the village is the long stretch of houses running along the main street, the older and historic buildings sited towards the church, the dominant use of local stone and a number of houses abutting directly onto the road. Many of these houses have well-established evergreen wall shrubs and /or maintain small borders, tubs or arrangements of pots.

Main Street looking west, Summer 2015

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In places around the main street and in the adjoining residential areas there are larger front gardens. Much of the planting has good structure and seasonal colour.

East end of the village in high summer

In spring, bulbs planted over the years provide a colourful display in the green areas in the village.

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Horticultural Practice: Most residents maintain their gardens to a high standard. Due to the layout of the village only some of the many interesting gardens are viewed from the street. Most householders care well for their frontages including maintaining their green areas, verges and tubs using a range of hardy planting and summer annuals. Communal tubs and troughs, for example those outside the Mechanics Institute, are thoughtfully planted and maintained by local residents.

One of the many stone troughs, July 2015

Residential and community gardening: Communal garden areas include the extensive Highside Playing Fields, the church yard, the school grounds, and the village ‘Jubilee Rose Garden’. These are well cared for by the playing fields association, residents, the school and Harrogate Borough Council respectively.

In the last two years, the YIB group worked with the Parish Council to bring the village Pinfold back into community use. It has been leased out as an allotment by the Parish Council and is being brought back into a very productive cultivation by a local resident.

The Pinfold July 2015

Business areas and premises. Village businesses are keen to ensure the good presentation of their premises, which are generally tidy with some planting. The current closure of one of the pubs, the Henry Jenkins, is unfortunate and although representations have been made to the landlord there is no progress at present. However a villager continues to plant and tend the Henry Jenkins’ window boxes.

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Example business premises, The Queen’s Head

Green spaces: The village includes significant green areas such as the well-used Highside playing fields, some wide verges, and “The Green”, an open space surrounded by housing. Bulbs have been planted by villagers in many verges. Some green areas are cut by Harrogate Borough Council and others by the Parish Council. Following research by a YIB group member we know that residents of “The Green” are concerned that the grass when cut is not collected. As a group we are working to resolve this issue by working with the Parish Council. We also tend a number of verges especially those damaged by vehicles.

The “Green”

Highside Playing Fields

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SECTION B: ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Conservation and biodiversity: Kirkby Malzeard lies within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and some villagers are involved in AONB voluntary work. The village and its surrounds provide a habitat for a good range of birds, plants and animals. Many villagers provide wildlife friendly planting in their gardens and maintain garden ponds, bird feeding etc. The village has a small woodland at Lambert’s Quarry to the west of the village and the school has a wildlife area, which is well used by the school.

Footpath to Lambert’s Quarry woodland

One of our villagers is leading a group to build and place many more bird and bat boxes in the village. The boxes will be built over the summer and put in place next winter ready for 2017. Locations will include the school woodland and Lambert’s Quarry.

Resource management: Household collection of paper, plastics, cans and garden waste is organised by Harrogate Borough Council and most households take part. Many people also make garden compost. This year the school has been working to improve the composting of kitchen waste at school and at home. They have produced a series of posters which we will be using in the village to promote composting to villagers.

Examples of the posters

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Local Heritage

Kirkby Malzeard has an intriguing history going back to the middle ages and earlier. Much of this is history is described in a substantial book published by one of our group, Ian Corfield in 2012 and well distributed in the village.

There are many interesting and listed buildings mainly at the East end of the village near the church. The church is Grade 1 listed and has a lovely interior and well tended grounds.

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Medieval stained glass in the church

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The village celebrates its heritage in many ways, for example in publications, tapestry making and village walks:

Ian Corfield’s book 2016 village calendar

Wall tapestry A village walks booklet

This year the YIB group plan to add to these initiatives with a village heritage notice board. (See our action plan)

Local environmental quality: Community involvement in reducing litter, dog waste etc. keeps the village generally clean and tidy. Following concerns voiced by residents, the Parish Council is currently leading an initiative to reduce dog fouling in the village. The YIB group takes care of particular areas of the village such as the Jubilee Rose Garden. Our posters and leaflets encourage whole village involvement in caring for the village.

2016 leaflet

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2016 leaflet

Pride of Place: The pride that villagers have in their village results in tidy streets and well-maintained communal areas. The magnificent wall tapestries in the Mechanics Institute and the smaller all weather sign by the Jubilee Rose Garden help express the identity of the village and its place in wider Nidderdale environment. The village welcome sign, built in 2013 and maintained by our Yorkshire in Bloom group, is an important statement of village identity.

Sign on the road from Ripon

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SECTION C: COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN YORKSHIRE IN BLOOM

Kirkby Malzeard is a strong community with a large number of events taking place throughout the year, many held in the Mechanics Institute located on the village main street or at the Highside playing fields towards the west end of the village.

Development and Continuity:

• Yorkshire in Bloom has been a feature of village life since 1989. The general community awareness and support for the YIB scheme was well expressed at our open meeting in January 2016. This provided a good opportunity to involve a wide group in discussing and developing our Yorkshire in Bloom plans.

• The Parish Council support for the Yorkshire in Bloom activities includes funding our entry in Yorkshire in Bloom and often supporting proposals presented by the village in Bloom group.

• Successful developments led by the Y in B group, such as the village welcome sign, our regular leaflets and press coverage help maintain villagers’ interest and support.

• The regular weekly activity at the school is an important example of a sustainable on-going project with long term impact in helping develop children’s knowledge of gardening and environmental issues.

Communications:

• The Y in B group uses the local press and the Parish Magazine “The Fountain” to promote Yorkshire in Bloom. We have an articles published in the Ripon Gazette and regularly contribute to the Gazette’s Community columns. We are pleased to see mention of Yorkshire in Bloom in the school’s publicity. We have information on the new village website http://www.kirkbymalzeardareaguide.btck.co.uk. We put up posters and our banner to inform everyone about our events and the judging dates and with the help of the WI we regularly leaflet all households to keep people informed.

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Example of our posters

Ripon Gazette September 2015: Picture of the week.

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Some of our coverage in the Ripon Gazette Community Column 2015-16.

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Some of our entries in The Fountain Parish Magazine 2015-16

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Education:

Gardening at the village primary school has made significant progress in the last three years supported by the Y in B group. A very popular ‘Eco-club’ ago is open to all pupils. The club meets on Friday lunchtime and is lead by teachers and Yorkshire in Bloom volunteers. Funding for tools, equipment and plants has been provided by generous parents, supermarket “Growing Schools” vouchers, the Ripon Walled Garden and the YIB group. Inspired by this initiative the school has now timetabled environmental activities into taught curriculum time for every class. These developments will be explained to the judges during their summer visit.

Children gardening at the school

Community participation:

There is good awareness throughout the village of Yorkshire in Bloom and general involvement throughout the village. The village Horticultural Show Committee supports the scheme. They run an annual plant fair in the spring (where the Yorkshire in Bloom group do some fund raising) and a horticultural show in the Mechanics Institute in the autumn.

The Yorkshire in Bloom group has also involved the wider community, for example supporting the Ripon Walled Garden, a charity providing horticultural experience for adults with learning difficulties. One of the YIB group members has recently sold plants for the Walled Garden from her house. This also has the advantage of providing plants for villagers to enhance their gardens in the village.

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Sale for the Ripon Walled Garden

Year around involvement: Year around involvement is shown in our review of our year, above. We are particularly proud of our Friday gardening activities during term time at the school. Regular activities through the year include meetings of the Yorkshire in Bloom Group, village tidies, spring plant sale and autumn plant swop, social events (such as the village suppers) and garden visits.

Funding and support: Our bi-annual fund raising events - last year a village supper – and some occasional donations generally cover our year-on-year expenses – principally printing, bedding plants and occasional repairs. When we have a significant development - which this year is planned to be a village heritage sign - we seek and usually receive good sponsorship support from village businesses.

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KIRKBY IN BLOOM ACTION PLAN 2016/17

Ripon Gazette March 2016

Our action plan for this year is built on the ideas discussed at our celebratory open meeting held January 21 2016. Many of these developments are already underway.

Horticultural Achievement:

• Work with Parish Council to improve grass collection after cutting on “the Green”.

• Support people in the village who have difficulty in preparing for Yorkshire in Bloom. Organise a session on how to plant/maintain containers/hanging baskets

• Help connect people who would like to offer part of their garden for vegetable/flower growing etc – one garden already helped this way

• Set up a tree nursery from local seed in the autumn. • Continue to care for tubs, pots and verges and general tidying

Environmental Responsibility

• Request more wildlife and garden photography and art categories in the village Horticultural show and through this collect evidence of wild life friendly planting, ponds and wild flowers in the village and back gardens

• Help the school make a display of children’s environmental activities at school and home

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• Put up a village notice board with a map of local interest/history/heritage. The design, build and funding of this will be a major project for the year.

• Set up a group making and placing bird boxes in the village. • Site a bench which we have available, ideally outside the Mechanics. • Continue to seek a site for community allotments. There is long standing

demand for allotments by many villagers. It has not yet proved possible to obtain suitable land. However research and representations continue and this remains an important objective for the group.

Community Participation

• School Art Club to create both Spring and Summer judging posters • Help run the Church Open Gardens day in July including organising a village

heritage walk • Set up a Community ‘Help Yourself’ herb area possibly using an existing stone

trough • Support the village celebrations of the Queen’s 90 birthday including church and

house window flower displays. • Continue our annual activities including work with the primary school, organised

gardens visits in the summer 2016 open to all villagers and the plant and seed swop autumn 2016

• Take all opportunities to involve village residents in Yorkshire in Bloom and personally thank villagers who make a special effort for YIB.

31.3.16 PM MJ PC

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Kirkby Malzeard Yorkshire in Bloom group would like to acknowledge all help and financial support received. We thank residents who look after their own properties and

other areas of the village, mow verges and care for the churchyard, plant bulbs, maintain tubs and troughs and generally care and tidy. We also thank village

businesses and organisations for their support. We especially acknowledge the help of Kirkby Malzeard Primary School, Women’s Institute, the Parish Council and Harrogate

Borough Council.