Silverdale Country Park near Newcastle-under-Lyme has truly blossomed recently, picking up an array of accolades.

The 83-hectare park achieved Green Flag status earlier this summer, with judges stating: “This is an exceptional country park, with a wonderful range of habitats created from an unpromising colliery tip site only a few years ago. This successful dramatic transformation came about due to the vision, expertise and hard work of all those people and organisations involved – the Land Trust, Groundwork and its dedicated staff, and the local community. Well done to all concerned in creating this much-needed, valuable green oasis for future generations.”

Shortly after that, Silverdale Country Park won gold in the Parks and Open Spaces category at the Heart of England in Bloom Awards.

It has also been part of the bids and judging routes for Newcastle-under-Lyme’s Heart of England in Bloom entry, for which the market town picked up the Horticultural Excellence Award, GOLD Award, won the Small City category and was also the overall regional winner for the second year running.

The town has also been invited to be part of the National RHS Britain in Bloom campaign and the country park was part of the entry – results are expected soon.

In addition, Silverdale Country Park has been nominated for a Community Champion Awards in the Newcastle in Bloom Awards, with the winners due to be announced in mid-October.