LISKEARD is looking ‘blooming lovely’ says a Royal Horticultural Society judge – and everyone who’s played a part should feel proud.

Chairman of South West in Bloom, Jon Wheatley, was in the town last week to meet with Liskeard in Bloom (LIB) and view their work in the Cattle Market and Fore Street as part of a non-competitive award. While there, the judge was shown round some ‘hidden gems’ such as the Pipewell and Pig Meadow Lane, and had a chat with principal gardeners Lynette Rule and Lynda Fletcher about all the work carried out by LIB volunteers.

Unbeknownst to the team, Mr Wheatley had spent half an hour prior to the meeting driving round the town and having a good look – and he was impressed, says John Hesketh.

“As we’d hoped, he liked our work – but what we hadn’t expected was his next suggestion. He’d been so pleased with what he saw, he strongly advised us to enter the South West in Bloom Pennant Cup category – a competitive award which we won gold in last year.

“He told us he would waive the entry fee, and didn’t need another judge to make a visit - he’d seen enough.

“For us, the biggest compliment he could pay was that he felt the whole town was all ready to be entered,” John continued.

“Usually, we spend months getting benches repaired and painted, graffiti and flyposting removed, extra sweeping of the streets and weeding.

“However, the judge felt that all of this was to standard with no more work to be done. To me, this is an enormous vote of confidence in the town because it’s come from an independent observer who visits many other similar towns and can make the comparison.

“This is not just about the gardeners, it’s the street cleaners, the team from the town council, every business who cleans their windows and paints their doors, the residents who stroll along The Parade and do a bit of deadheading; it’s all working and we should all be proud of it.”

After a quick conversation that evening, Liskeard In Bloom agreed to enter the Pennant Cup for 2023, the results of which will be announced in Truro in October.

Meanwhile, LIB is asking supporters to email in with ideas for the small roundabout near Pets At Home on the Plymouth Road.

The next project for the team will be to remodel the planting on this roundabout which is one of the first places seen by visitors as they come into Liskeard from the A38.