Set in the countryside on the borders of three counties, the idyllic village of Thorpe Salvin opens its myriad of public and private gardens to the public for a weekend in July.

Three times winners of the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Britain in Bloom’ competition and past winner of the ‘Entente Florale’ Europe in Bloom competition, the gardens are all packed with character and prove to be a real treat for enthusiastic gardeners and plant lovers.

Thorpe Salvin also boasts sites of genuine historical interest with the ruins of Thorpe Hall, a magnificent Elizabethan manor house, and a spectacular Norman church.

Over the last 30 years, The Garden Trail has established itself as a popular annual weekend event for visitors, with people coming from all over the country to visit many private gardens, the church and ruin. The money raised pays for the following years planting and provides donations to St. Peter’s Church and local charities.

After many years of competitions culminating in 2002 with representing England in the Small Village category of the Entente Florale and being awarded a Gold Medal, Thorpe Salvin has stopped entering competitions such as Yorkshire in Bloom, however the villagers continue to plant the public areas in Spring and Summer and, adhering to the principals of Yorkshire in Bloom, run the Annual Garden trail. In recent years there has been an increase in permanent planting in order to reduce the workload and ongoing costs.

Before village in bloom started, villagers remember that they had to clean the rubbish from the Coronation Garden for wedding days. In 1980, villagers got together, tidied up the village and graveyard and entered Village in Bloom competition, starting something that really has put Thorpe Salvin on the map.

In 1990 a group of women who had started raising funds by making soft toys and other handcrafts, decided to invest the money in improving the village. They bought some plants with other villagers had a general tidy up, particularly of the graveyard and Coronation Garden. They entered Village in Bloom which in those early days was very different from the competition of today.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Thorpe in Bloom team, the village continues what has become a village tradition, winning Yorkshire Village in Bloom in 2000 and Britain in Bloom in 2001. Plaques recalling the many successes in Yorkshire and Britain in Bloom, and in Europe are displayed in the village pub, The Parish Oven.

In 2001 BBC Gardeners World spent two days producing a six-minute slot for the programme, which was shown the day Thorpe Salvin won Britain in Bloom. Radio Sheffield’s Tony Capstick spent a day recording interviews for his programme. In 2002 Thorpe Hall appeared on the front cover of the Rotherham Tourist Guide.