Berwick’s floral tribute to the Queen

Gillian Ridley (4th Berwick Guides), left, Coun Catherine Seymour and Kate Dixon, right, with Jessie and Libby.

More than 9,500 bulbs have been prepared and planted at Flagstaff Park in the town to support the Queen’s Green Canopy – an initiative which invites people in the UK to plant a tree and bulbs to celebrate the monarch’s 70-year reign in June.

The site was prepared by Northumberland County Council staff along with the help of volunteers from Friends of Castle Parks and Berwick Community Crew Youth Group.

The planting was organised by Frances Povey and Jimmy Reith from the council’s Countryside Services team, with layout design by parks officer Kate Dixon.

The planting of bulbs took place at Flagstaff Park.

Catherine Seymour, county councillor for Berwick North, provided the funding for the project from her members’ small schemes fund.

She said: “I was delighted to be involved in this project. It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm of the young people planting in our local green space areas and to see their creativity shine through in the poster competition that was organised.

“It’s so important that we expand and enhance our green spaces as much as we can. Not only are they beautiful to visit, but they are a huge part of our climate change action plan to be carbon neutral by 2030.

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing more community projects like this in the future.”

The bulbs have been planted in the shape of ‘E II R 70’, which will create a special floral display when they begin to bloom.

The young people’s groups have now come together to celebrate their achievements with a special picnic.

In addition, the winning entries for the poster competition have been erected at the park. The winners include Jessie of 9th Berwick Rainbows and Libby of 9th Berwick Brownies.