| About Woolton | Woolton quarry supplied the sandstone for many of Liverpool’s buildings including the Anglican Cathedral. In the Victorian times many of Liverpool’s successful and rich merchants moved out to the area. On 6th July 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at the St Peter’s church fete in Woolton. |
Woolton Village has won the Silver Gilt Award at this year's national Britain In Bloom competition.
Judges who visited the village in August were impressed with the litter free environment, the barrier planting and containers and the Marie Curie Field of Hope on Kings Drive. The village also received praise for it’s conservation, wildlife awareness and the involvement of local children in planting the School Badges flower bed and the healthy schools awareness programme. Winning the Silver Gilt is unusual for a first time entrant and Woolton came second in the Large Village Category which saw Broughshane in Northern Ireland win Gold. Woolton has won the Best Large Village category of North West in Bloom for the last two years and was chosen to represent the North West in the national competition of Britain in Bloom.
 | | Woolton's floral clock |
Preparing Woolton in Bloom requires a year long effort, Horticulture Manager Kerry Peacock says “September for next year is when we start preparing, it's all year round. In September we start to plan for next year and take down all of this year's displays and do winter planting.” In recent years the Woolton in Bloom committee have worked to upgrade parts of the village, The Edwardian Floral Clock in Woolton Woods was restored in 2002 and is now in full working order. For 2005 the village cross had its railings reinstated and has flowers planted around its edge for this year's competition. Britain in Bloom Britain in Bloom, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, is the largest competition of its type in Europe. Judging for this year's competition took place across the country at the end of July and the beginning of August. The judges John Woodward and Mark Wasilewski visitited Woolton on Tuesday August 1st. Mark Wasilewski manages the Royal Parks St. James Park and Green Park. John Woodward is from Guernsey where he has spent many years managing ‘Floral Guernsey’. Area improvements
 | | Horticulture manager Kerry Peacock |
Local Councillor Barbara Mace who is Joint Chair of Woolton in Bloom says the competition has brought a lot of benefits to the area, “It’s made a huge difference to the village. It’s brought in lots more visitors for the economy of the village, as well as it looking absolutely fantastic. Everyone you pass in the village itself or even outside the village say how beautiful it looks. “It’s not just about the floral displays much as that looks wonderful for the village it is all about recycling, bio-diversity, which is the theme for this year and involving local schools and local businesses.” Local schoolchildren have their own flower bed in the centre of the High Street. There are five schools represented in the flower bed. The children are involved in the planting and maintenance of the large flower bed which is split in to five sections between the schools with their school badges displayed in each section.
 | | Reynolds Park walled garden |
Joint Chair Councillor Barbara Collinge says involving young people is an important feature of Woolton in Bloom, “This year we held an art competition to depict bio-diversity and six school’s took part from which we have about 300 entries. And we’ve turned an empty shop in Allerton Road in to a minature art gallery with them all on display. They cover ages from reception classes to G.C.S.E. work and are from all the different schools in Woolton.” Local residents were encouraged to get involved in a front gardens competition and approximately 50 houses took part. Bio-diversity forms a major part of Woolton in Bloom, animal friendly habitats have been created in the villages parks and homes for birds, bats and hedgehogs. Rhododendrons have been removed from Woolton Woods to allow the return of bluebells which have been planted around the area. The grass has also been allowed to grow to encourage small mammals to return to the wood.
Britain in Bloom is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society and encourages communities of all sizes to make improvements to their local areas, encouraging people to get involved to help create safer, cleaner and greener local environments. | 
