IT has been a wonderful year of achievement for Farnham and for the Bishop’s Meadow.

In past years the meadow has been a part of the very successful Farnham entry for the South East and Britain in Bloom competitions.

But this year the Bishops Meadow Trust was encouraged to go it alone, and was reward with a RHS South East in Bloom gold award.

Jim Munro, of the trust, said: “Last year, we were surprised and delighted to hear that the Bishop’s Meadow Trust had been given the prestigious Chairman’s Award for the best community based project in the South East. This is the highest accolade that South and South East in Bloom can give.

“After a lot of thought and some encouragement from Farnham Town Council, we decided that for 2017, we would go a step further. We would enter the meadow in its own right in the Large Conservation Area category, keep our fingers crossed and see what happened.

“After a long and anxious wait, we were very pleased (and quite a bit surprised) to hear that the meadow had won a gold award.”

On top of its individual award, the meadow also played a significant part in helping Farnham to win gold both in South East in Bloom, and - as reported in last week’s Herald, in the national competition Britain in Bloom.

“This,” Jim continued, “puts Farnham into the top rank of British towns and recognises the national importance of the meadows as one of the last few undeveloped British water meadows.”

He added: “It is a fantastic tribute to the work of our board members, to the generosity of our donors and to the dedication of the volunteers who turn out in all weathers throughout the year to help restore and manage the meadow, raise funds, hold events and generally keep things going.

“Thank you one and all. Your involvement made this possible.”

The Bishops Meadow Trust was set up in 2009 to secure and protect 34 acres of historic, floodplain and hay meadow called the Bishop’s Meadow close to the centre of Farnham for future generations.

For more information visit www.bishopsmeadowtrust.org.