Harrogate's floral record: 1975 - present
1975 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside', Finalist, 'All England'.
1976 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1977 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom';
Winner, 'Entente Florale'.
1978 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1979 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1980 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1981 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1982 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1983 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside;
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1984 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1985 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England'.
1986 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'All England';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1987 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1988 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Joint 3rd, 'All England'.
1989 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Winner, 'All England';
Finalist, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1990 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1991 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1992 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'
1993 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1994 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1995 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1996 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1997 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside';
Finalist, 'Britain in Bloom'.
1998 Joint Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
1999 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
2000 Runner-up, 'Britain in Bloom'.
2001 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
2002 Winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'.
2003 Gold Medal and Winner, 'Britain in Bloom'.
2004 Gold Award, 'Entente Florale'.
2005 Gold Award and winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside'
2006 Silver Gilt Award RHS 'Champion of Champions'
2007 Silver Gilt Award, and winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside' region
2008 Gold Award and winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside' region
2009 Gold Award and winner RHS 'Britain in Bloom'
plus RHS Discretionary Award for Best Public Park
2010 Silver Gilt Award RHS 'Champion of Champions'
plus RHS Discretionary Award for Tourism
2011 Gold Award and winner, 'Yorkshire & Humberside' region
plus the YiB Summer Floral Award
Introducing Harrogate:
Harrogate is a Spa town in North Yorkshire. It is a tourist destination and visitor attractions include the Turkish Baths, Betty’s Tea Rooms, Valley Gardens, RHS Harlow Carr and a very floral and green town centre.
Harrogate sits on coal measures and sandstone with a thick overlay of boulder clay. The result is poor draining acid soil. Gardens, with their improved soil and long season of pollen-producing flowers, generally provide much better biodiversity than the natural boggy scrub that covered the area before urbanisation.
The natural drainage to the west of the town centre is very unusual and causes the reduction of sulphate in the water to sulphide. There has never been any volcanic activity to give rise to the sulphurous Harrogate waters.
Harrogate Spa
Harrogate waters were first discovered in the 16th century. Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and other salts. In the 1770s the “medicinal” value of the springs was recognised and Harrogate developed as a spa.
The town became known as 'The English Spa' in the Georgian era, when these 'chalybeate' waters (iron) were a popular health treatment, and the influx of wealthy but sickly visitors contributed significantly to the wealth of the town.
By Victorian times, Harrogate was a spa of international repute and a number of large hotels and bath houses were developed along with smaller hotels and guest houses.
The Harrogate Waters
88 different springs were discovere, 36 of them in the area that is now the Valley Gardens. They all had different mineral contents e.g. the Magnesia well, the Sulphur well etc. (Incidentally these “medicinal” springs are not related to the modern bottled “Harrogate Water”)
The stream in the Valley Gardens is from natural drainage and due to the natural sulphurous waters can smell unpleasant in the summer when the flow is reduced. The waters also tend to have a murky appearance due to precipitation of sulphur as the sulphide is oxidised on contact with the air.
The Stray
The Stray is 200 acres of open grassland, protected by act of parliament, for the use of the public of Harrogate. The majority of the Stray is in the centre of Harrogate but part of it is within the area of the Valley Gardens.
It is well used by the Harrogate public for formal activities e.g. football matches at weekends, the town bonfire and Bank Holiday fairs as well as informal activities such as Army keep fit classes, innumerable informal games, kite flying, picnics, sunbathing etc.
It is NOT a municipal park, but common land; some years ago even the initial idea of planting crocuses around the edge, now a feature of the town, was met with a lot of resistance from the Harrogate public. The Stray Defence League was set up to protect the Stray for future generations.
Harrogate today
When the number of visitors “taking the waters” declined, Harrogate, with its hotels and halls, became an ideal base for conferences. This trade was boosted by the building of a large modern conference centre in 1982. There are now around 40 conferences held each year in Harrogate.
The large number and range of hotels and guest houses together with the town’s position near the Yorkshire Dales, York and other attractions also makes Harrogate an important tourist centre. This was recognised by Britain in Bloom 2010 when the Judges Discretionary Award for Tourism was presented to Harrogate.
The council recognises the financial importance of visitors to Harrogate and invests heavily in maintaining the attractiveness of the town.
Introducing Harrogate in Bloom:
Our mission statement
Harrogate in Bloom is a voluntary organisation which in partnership with the Local Authority and community promotes responsible care of the environment and horticultural excellence in the town.
Harrogate first entered Yorkshire in Bloom in 1975. Harrogate in Bloom (HiB) was formed in 1990 by Chris Beard, who was Director of Parks for Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) at the time. By 1996 the HiB team developed into an independent group of volunteers. Harrogate has entered Yorkshire in Bloom and Britain in Bloom on a regular basis since 1975 and has enjoyed considerable success. (see panel on right)
The main Harrogate in Bloom group has a formal meeting once a month. It is a diverse group of around 16 people and includes community volunteers. businesses, hoteliers, horticulturists, Harrogate Borough Council and
Allotments Association representatives
The group also maintains strong links with many local groups
¤ Pinewoods Conservation Group ¤ Friends of Bachelors Fields
¤ Rossett Acre Nature Reserve Group ¤ Rotary Club of Harrogate
¤ Bilton Conservation Group ¤ Harrogate Soroptomists
¤ Killinghall Moor Conservation Group ¤ Local schools
¤ Friends of Valley Gardens ¤ Uniformed organisations
¤ Harrogate District Biodiversity Action Group ¤ Community Groups
¤ North of England Horticultural Society ¤ Care Homes
Harrogate in Bloom correlates the activities of many of these groups and where appropriate helps to co-ordinate and facilitate them to produce a town wide picture of “In Bloom” activities. As a result Harrogate in Bloom has a very limited expenditure as the various groups raise their own funds.
Our members and supporters do, however, give very freely of their time and support in kind. Projects that require financial input are generally self-funded through some form of associated fund-raising or sponsorship.
gardensharrogate
This is a subsidiary group of Harrogate in Bloom formed in 2009 with the aim of promoting Harrogate as ‘the floral town of the North of England." This group also includes representatives from major horticultural tourist attractions and retail outlets in the wider Harrogate District and aims to promote local gardens and gardening events.
