DARTMOUTH is the colour gold.

The town’s magnificent floral ­displays have won the top award in this year’s South West in Bloom competition.

Dartmouth Green Partnerships was awarded gold in the Champion of Champions Award by the Royal Horticultural Society’s South West in Bloom at a ceremony held on home soil last Thursday.

Some 320 delegates from bloom organisations across the south west were present at the awards event at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

DGP chairman Stevie Rogers said: ‘We were delighted to have achieved gold in Champion of Champions, the top award from SWIB.

‘It makes all the hard work on plant displays, parks and green spaces by so many in the town worthwhile.

‘We were also thrilled that Dartmouth hosted this prestigious event at the BRNC and at a civic reception at the Guildhall the night before, showcasing our wonderful town to a huge number of people.

‘The weather was glorious and visitors enjoyed both the college and the town.’

Members of DGP had spent ­several days creating floral displays for the event, including the platform flowers and nearly 50 buttonholes to be worn by VIPs and judges.

The awards event was attended by Dartmouth mayor and mayoress Rob and Di Lyons. They hosted the civic reception and attended the entire awards day at the BRNC. Many other mayors were also present, representing their communities.

‘It was a great showcase for Dartmouth,’ added Stevie.

Dartmouth also gained top awards for many of the RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ entries. These significant awards reward communities that have come together to improve their surroundings, of which the south west has more than 600 – more than any other region in Britain in Bloom. They were presented by Cllr Lyon during the morning.

Dartmouth entered a total of 11, with seven deemed ‘outstanding’: Royal Avenue Gardens, Higher Street/Smith Street, Foss Street, Old Market Square, Coombe Terrace, Milton Lane allotments and Dartmouth Community Greenhouse and Potager. Four were ‘thriving’: BRNC, Dartmouth Academy, St John’s the Baptist Church School and Dartmouth Community Orchard.

SWIB chairman Jon Wheatley said: ‘Coombe Terrace is one of the best IYNs I’ve ever seen’.

He said IYNs ‘really make a difference’ in getting communities, especially children, involved and that the RHS is keen to encourage more.

Coombe Terrace was given a Best Locality Award by DGP in its town awards recently.

Television presenter Jonathan Dimbleby presented the awards in the afternoon. Getting together for a photograph with mayors from ­different towns, he jokingly referred to them as a ‘chain gang’.

He said he was pleased to be at the BRNC once again, a venue he knew well, and he went on to praise the involvement of so many volunteers in the ‘bloom community’ who made things happen in their towns and villages.

Concluding the event, Mr Wheatley said it had been a ­wonderful day hosted by Dartmouth at the BRNC and thanked DGP for its help.

He described DGP chairman Stevie Rogers as ‘a force of nature’, adding that ‘the president of the RHS has said she is one of the best plantswomen in the country’.

Stevie said DGP was grateful for the help given by the Dartmouth Business Improvement District in making the day go so well, as well as for its provision of bowsers for watering plants and the new information board by the potager.

‘BID director Caroline Drew of Plugprints provided what were seen to be the best goodie bags ever for delegates at the awards,’ said Stevie.

Caroline said: ‘All the goodie bags were funded by and organised by the BID. The T-shirts and bags were part-funded by Plugprints. The work of assembling them was chiefly done by a BID director, with help from DGP.’

The canvas bag featured a logo designed free for DGP by Simon Drew, containing Drew money boxes, information about Dartmouth, postcards, a specially designed T-shirt and a 20 per cent-off voucher for local business Musto.

Caroline added: ‘The goodwill and generosity from local businesses has been notable.

‘Six businesses donated an extra prize for six of the bags, with a voucher from Musto for £100, Henri Lloyd, No.11 Clothing, Mistral, Plugprints and Quba.’

Congratulating the DGP team on their achievements, Dartmouth district and county councillor Jonathan Hawkins said the town looked a picture and that big praise was in order for Stevie and all the volunteers who had worked so hard to win gold.