Editing Britain in Bloom (section)

==History==
The history of the 'Bloom', as it is colloquially referred to,<ref name="History">Graham Ashworth CBE, ''Britain in Bloom'', pages 7 & 8, The Tidy Britain Group (Wigan:1991)</ref> began in 1963 when [[Roy Hay (horticulturalist)|Roy Hay]] [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]], a horticultural journalist, went on holiday to France during the ''Fleurissement de France'' and was enthralled by seeing the country "filled to overflowing with flowers, shrubs and trees all in full bloom". His enquiries revealed that [[Charles de Gaulle|President de Gaulle]] had given orders to brighten up the country and the French Tourist Authority had set up the ''Fleurissement de France'' in 1959 (now called ''[[Concours des villes et villages fleuris]]''). Hay was so impressed that he approached the [[British Tourist Authority]] (BTA), and he and Len Lickorish,<!-- check spelling – it is different in list below --> then Director General of the BTA, set up a committee to run a British version, "Britain in Bloom".  It was piloted by the British Tourist Authority in 1963 ([[Lewisham]] being part of that pilot<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NewsAndEvents/CommunicationsCentre/PressReleases/LewishamInBloomHeroesPickUpAwards.htm|title=Lewisham in Bloom heroes pick up awards|accessdate=9 March 2024}}</ref>), and went national in 1964.

Many organisations were invited to help, including: [[The Automobile Association]]; London Tourist Board; [[National Farmers Union (England and Wales)|National Farmers' Union]]; London Parks; Institute of Parks and Recreation Administration; National Association of Rural Communities; [[Royal Horticultural Society]]; [[Royal Automobile Club]]; The Tourist Boards of [[English Tourist Board|England]], [[Scottish Tourist Board|Scotland]] and [[Welsh Tourist Board|Wales]]; The [[National Federation of Women's Institutes]]; [[Civic Voice|Civic Trust]]; [[Keep Britain Tidy Group]]; the Flowers and Plants Council; The Horticultural Trades Association; The British Hotels and Restaurants Association; The Society of Town Clerks; [[Townswomen's Guild]] and [[British Airways]]. Despite this impressive list, Roy Hay later reflected that the initial reaction of the horticultural trade and local authorities was lukewarm.<ref name="History"/>

Nevertheless, regional committees were quickly formed, and in 1964 [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] became the first national winner. From 1964 to 1969 inclusive there was an overall national winner. From 1970, however, the competition was divided up into a range of categories, because of the difficulty of comparing settlements of different sizes fairly.<ref name="History"/>

The British Tourist Authority managed the competition until 1983 when the Government Department sponsoring the BTA felt that it should relinquish the responsibility. The [[Tidy Britain Group]] (the group responsible for the [[Keep Britain Tidy]] campaign, now known as [[EnCams]]) took over; it already had a long association with the competition. To mark the changeover, 1983 was celebrated as "Beautiful Britain in Bloom Year".<ref name="History"/> Sir [[Lawrie Barratt]] of [[Barratt Developments]] expressed his support to the Tidy Britain Group for the competition and provided sponsorship until 1989.

More categories and awards were added, in part reflecting a greater range of settlements, but also to recognise other elements of horticulture, including landscaping, and also to recognise the strenuous efforts to beautify the urban areas of the larger cities. [[McDonald's]] began sponsoring the competition from 1990, which led to focus on littering behaviour and the implementation of a Children's Painting Competition Calendar.<ref name="History"/> In 2001, the event was organised jointly by EnCams and the [[Royal Horticultural Society]], and from November 2001 the RHS took full control as the organising body of Britain in Bloom.<ref name="Woolton">{{Cite web|url=http://wooltonvillageuk.tripod.com/woolton%20in%20bloom.htm|title=Woolton in Bloom|accessdate=9 March 2024}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Year
! Organising Body
! Main Sponsor
|-
| 1964 to 1982
| [[British Tourist Authority]]
| No main sponsor
|-
| 1983 to 1989
| [[Tidy Britain Group]]
| [[Barratt Developments]]
|-
| 1990 to TBC
| [[Tidy Britain Group]]
| [[McDonald's]]
|-
| 2001
| [[Tidy Britain Group]] & [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| TBC
|-
| 2002 to 2003
| [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| [[B&Q]] (from 2003)<ref>''The Garden'' (Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society), April 2003, p233</ref>
|-
| 2004 to 2006
| [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| B&Q
|-
| 2007 to 2009
| [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| [[Shredded Wheat]]
|-
| 2011 to 2011
| [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| [[Anglian Windows]]
|-
| 2012 - 
| [[Royal Horticultural Society]]
| No main sponsor
|}
In 2017, after winning Britain in Bloom Champion of Champions, Elswick admitted to having previously cheated in the competition three years earlier. The volunteers engaged a specialist company to design a display which came in ready assembled trays. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Ward |first=Victoria |date=2017-10-28 |title=Britain in Bloom winning Lancashire village claims it once 'cheated' by getting ready made displays delivered |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/28/britain-bloom-winning-lancashire-village-claims-cheated-getting/ |access-date=2024-04-20 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>