BELLINGHAM in Bloom members decorated their own Christmas tree in the triumphant colours of silver and gold last week as a reflection of their shining success earlier this year.

St Cuthbert’s Church in Bellingham has been filled with Christmas trees, each individually designed by a different school, group or organisation in the village.

And the Bellingham in Bloom Christmas tree stands proudly opposite the doorway in the church to celebrate the village’s triumphant win.

In October, Bellingham took its first venture on to the national stage at the national Britain in Bloom awards, and committee members were astonished to take away a gold award in the village category, after coming runner-up against competition from the rest of Britain.

“We did a lot better than we expected,” said Margaret Power of the Bellingham in Bloom group, reflecting on their gold. “We’ve been told that it’s very unusual to enter first time and get gold, so we’re quite proud of that.”

Christine Bragg from the group added that while the group would continue to work tirelessly on the village’s blooms, they did not plan on entering Northumbria in Bloom next year.

She said: “We are going to make the village look absolutely fabulous and everyone is going to keep up all their hard work.

“But it’s a lot of pressure being judged all the time and having to make sure everything is done by a certain date.

“We decided to take a break and feel we need a year of just doing our thing and keeping the village looking lovely without that pressure.”

So far, the group has decided on its colour scheme and planted its spring flowering bulbs in October.

Margaret said: “We have decided to go with pastel colours this year, which is very different to last year.

“Last year, we went with reds, oranges and yellows for the Northumbrian colours, but this year we wanted to get away from the harsh colours and instead go for delicate garden shades, such and lilac and pink.”

And the dedicated gentlemen who keep the village clean and tidy and look after the allotments have been out every day keeping on top of the work.

Ken Graham of the allotment group said their winter tasks include keeping the paths and walkways clean and tidy, turning over soil, fumigating the greenhouses and dividing perennials.

“There’s something wrong if you can’t find something to do,” he laughed, adding: “We all enjoy it and it’s good to get out of the house and have something to do.”

“It’s best to do a little bit every day to keep on top of it, rather than do a lot and not going back for six weeks,” said Neville Wood, who also looks after the allotments. "It’s very steady going and you need to keep on top of the work.”

Pam Mattinson of the Bellingham in Bloom group said: “The allotments are fantastic. I’ve never seen anything like them anywhere, and that’s because of the hard work they put into them.

“We were told that at the awards, one of the judges told another to come up to Bellingham to see the allotments because they were the best they’d seen.”

The bloom group is hoping to keep up its reputation this year, and its monthly meetings will soon begin again, where members plan how to split up tasks between them.

They are hoping that more people from the village will get on board to help deliver another outstanding year.

“We could really do with more hands,” explained Margaret. It would be nice to see more people getting involved in helping throughout the whole village.

“We usually each take a different area to do in the village and now more people are definitely looking after their gardens and keeping them tidy; people are making a big effort to keep them looking nice.

“They can probably see how much better the village is looking and are taking pride in their gardens.”