Cliffe Castle Park in Keighley one of best in Yorkshire

Cliffe Castle Museum and Park, in Keighley, retained its platinum status in the ‘Best Parks, Garden Cemeteries and Public Buildings’ category from last year, but this year it also won overall across the whole of Yorkshire, alongside joint winers York Museum Gardens.

The park is just a short walk from the town centre, and judges praised park staff for their “outstanding” engagement with the local community.

The announcement comes just a few days after members of Bradford Council’s Keighley Area Committee were told the park was likely to play a big role in Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations, with community events and performances taking place in the park and an exhibition of Ice Age artwork being held in the museum.

The Yorkshire In Bloom judges’ notes said: “It was a pleasure to visit Cliffe Castle. The team are clearly very passionate about their work in the park – particularly supporting members of the very diverse local community.

“The plant selection and plant quality in all the beds is excellent with much perennial planting. It is well-chosen to give a sense of the heritage of this once-family home. All areas are very well-maintained, clean and tidy with beautifully mown lawns.

“The team work well together and show a wonderful enthusiasm for the environment and for enhancing the lives of their local community.”

The judges were particularly impressed with the collection of cacti, spices and exotic plants in the green house, as well as educational projects such as the ‘Bog in a Box’ teaching about the benefits of peat bogs.

Cliffe Castle Park (Image: Bradford Council)

They also praised community engagement highlighting the Dawn Chorus Walks, family days such as enjoying the cherry blossom, as well as ongoing work with local schools throughout the year.

In the same category, Bradford Council’s Lister Park in Manningham also won the highest honour with a platinum award and Roberts Park in Saltaire achieved gold.

Keighley Town Hall Square also won platinum with silver gilt being awarded to the Keighley Civic Centre.

Shipley in Bloom won ‘outstanding’ in the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood category and in the Yorkshire Rose Award for Town/Parish Councils, Cottingley was awarded Two Roses.

Scooping gold awards were Northcliffe Environmental Enterprise Team (NEET) in the Charitable Establishments category; Abbeydale Residential Home in Ilkley in the Small Business category; and Keighley And Worth Valley Railway in the Tourist category.

In the Universities, Colleges and Further Education establishments, the University of Bradford was awarded Silver Gilt.