Beautiful Scotland gold and silver gilt for area’s villages
Two Strathearn horticultural groups were awarded medals in the prestigious Beautiful Scotland competition.
Green- fingered volunteers from Comrie in Colour – who mark their 25th anniversary this year – were delighted to win a gold medal in the Large Village category.
And representatives from Muthill in Bloom were celebrating after being awarded a Silver Gilt medal in the Small Village section.
Representatives from across Scotland gathered at the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom last week to celebrate the 50th annual honours which reward efforts to improve the environment.
Comrie has won Gold (Outstanding) for the last 10 years now and Comrie in Colour chair Muriel Gregory said the committee was delighted to retain the award.
She said: “We were absolutely over the moon because we didn’t know if we would get Gold this year as the weather meant we didn’t manage to get as much done as we wanted to.”
The Comrie volunteers were also beset by vandalism issues with flower planters destroyed just days before the Beautiful Scotland judges arrived in the village.
Vandals ripped out plants from the containers at Dalginross and threw them at each other leaving a mess for residents to fix.
However, all ended well and Mrs Gregory was pleased to be congratulated by villagers when she arrived home from the ceremony.
She said: “It was lovely to have everybody saying ‘ well done’ and thanking us and we’re really pleased with how everything went.
“We also want to thank people in Comrie who help us by looking after some of the floral arrangements which are near their homes.
“Everybody does their bit and it really is a true community effort.”
Sandra McRitchie, chair of Comrie Community Council, praised the volunteers from Comrie in Colour.
She said: “Congratulations to everyone involved for all your hard work and for – despite some setbacks – fighting back to take the award.
“We are all very proud of your efforts, which are a wonderful acknowledgement in this your 25th Year.”
Meanwhile, Muthill in Bloom were delighted to win the Silver Gilt ( Very Good) award just a week after being named Best Small Village in the annual Take a Pride in Perthshire competition.
Chair of the organisation Susan Crawford said: “It was wonderful to be awarded the Silver Gilt medal and we did our best with everyone working really hard this year.
“The judges commented on how we had reclaimed items such as the village cart and incorporated them into the floral displays.
“They also noted our determination in keeping the ‘ in bloom’ initiative alive with our floral arrangements and described the war memorial area as being ‘pristine’.
“It was great to get that kind of recognition and acknowledgement and they also commended us for encouraging newer, younger members into Muthill in Bloom.”
The Beautiful Scotland ceremony, hosted by Aberdeen City Council, recognised the hard work of communities across Scotland to clean up and beautify the places that matter to them.
Almost 300 delegates travelled to the city to receive their awards from television presenter George Anderson of the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden.
All entries were assessed against the three core pillars of the Beautiful Scotland campaign - horticultural achievement , env i ronment a l responsibility and community participation.
Beautiful Scotland is managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful, a member of the RHS Bloom Federation, and entrants are judged by a team of expert volunteer judges on their year-round achievements. • Pictures by Michal Wachucik/ Abermedia