Press Releases
SURPRISES AT 2008 AWARDS LUNCH
November 2008
An unscheduled bouquet for the new breed of gardening bloggers surprised the 400 creative multimedia professionals from the fields of horticultural publishing and broadcasting gathered at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on November 20th for the annual awards lunch of the Garden Media Guild.
For the first time in the 17 year history of its awards scheme, the Guild departed from its script to announce that the quality and immediacy of gardening blogs entered for its Digital Media Award were so impressive that it felt bound to spawn a separate award for them. The winning entry was James Alexander-Sinclair's Blogging from Blackpitts at http://web.me.com/blackpittsgarden which the judges said was an original and amusing voice which is quirky, informative and up to
date.
The scheduled Digital Media Award was won by Graham Drake and Chris Beardshaw, publishers of the Gardeners Click website at http://www.gardenersclick.com which was praised for innovative use of the medium, a clean, fresh design and good community-spirited gardening advice.
The Guild's Awards recognise exceptional creative and journalistic skills in garden broadcasting, books, magazines, newspapers, photography and electronic media. The other Award winners announced by master of ceremonies, Andy McIndoe, were:
Lifetime Achievement Award: Michael Warren, garden photographer
Television Broadcast of the Year: The fate of the cottage garden - a Gardeners' World Special for BBC2, presented by Rachel de Thame and directed by Rupert Miles at BBC Birmingham
National Radio Broadcast of the Year: Slug Hell - feature for BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour, edited by Jill Burridge
Local Radio Broadcast of the Year: Gardening with mini people - feature by Daphne Ledward for the Sue Taylor on Sunday programme, BBC Radio Lincolnshire
Newspaper of the Year: Garden News, edited by Neil Pope
Magazine of the Year: Gardeners' World magazine, edited by Adam Pasco
Journalist of the Year: Roy Lancaster, for a series of articles in Gardens Illustrated magazine
Practical Journalist of the Year: Helen Riches for "Baskets by design" in Gardeners' World magazine
Trade Journalist of the Year: Matthew Appleby for "Garden Retail Power 50" in Garden Retail
News Story of the Year: "Greece wants her plants back" by Jean Stowe in The Plantsman
Inspirational Book of the Year: Seeds of Adventure by Peter Cox and Peter Hutchison (Garden Art Press, £35)
Reference Book of the Year: Clematis for Small Spaces by Raymond J. Evison (Timber Press, £20)
Practical Book of the Year: How to Create a Wildlife Garden by Christine and Michael Lavelle (Lorenz Books, £14.99)
New Writer Award: Joe Reardon-Smith for his article, "The cutting garden at Parham House" in The English Garden
Environmental Award: Oliver Whaley for his article, "Messages from the past" in Kew Magazine
Photographer of the Year: Andrea Jones for a portfolio of images
Features Photographer of the Year: Paul Little for images illustrating Tony Kirkham's article, "Rising to the challenges" in Kew Magazine
Single Image of the Year: Jason Ingram's photograph, Gardening at first light.
This year also saw the introduction of the Guild's new Young Gardener Initiative Award, sponsored by the RHS, which aimed to encourage the media to seek out and promote projects which develop and nurture horticultural talent within the educational system or wider community. It was won jointly by The Guardian's Dominic Murphy and the Edible Playground garden at Thornford School in Dorset. The project is chronicled in Dominic Murphy's book, The Playground Potting Shed: A Foolproof Guide to Gardening with Children (Guardian Books, £12.99) and in his blog at www.edibleplaygrounds.co.uk/blog/. Guild chairman, Valerie McBride-Munro said that the judges were impressed with the author's inspiring and sustainable approach to developing children's interest in gardening while supporting the adults who teach them. "All of the entries were impressive," she added, "and it is reassuring to know that so much is being done around the country to encourage youngsters to get their hands dirty!"
Full details of the Garden Media Guild's 2008 Awards, including the judges' comments and photographs of the winners, can be found at www.gardenmediaguild.co.uk.
The 2008 Awards were sponsored by: Bayer Garden, Briggs & Stratton, Brother UK, Garden World Images, Hartley Botanic/Gabriel Ash, Honda UK, Horticultural Trades Association, Johnsons, Johnsons Lawn Seed, Laurent-Perrier, Marshalls, The National Gardens Scheme, The Royal Horticultural Society, Scotts Miracle-Gro, STIHL, Thompson & Morgan and Westland Horticulture.
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FURTHER PRESS INFORMATION: Simon Chapman
tel: 0118 940 3785; e-mail: awards@gardenmediaguild.co.uk
