Judges' Biographies

 

Roger Burnett (Chairman)

Roger is currently Parks and Countryside Manager for Scarborough Borough Council heading up a new department responsible for over 2000 acres of parks and green spaces.

 

He began his horticultural career as an apprentice working in the Nurseries at Scarborough before attending Askam Bryan College near York and has held various posts within the Authority since.  Roger is a Yorkshire in Bloom judge and has a keen interest in the recent resurgence of the importance of parks nationally.

Mark Wasilewski (Vice-chairman)

Mark’s horticultural career began in 1978 with the Somerset Health Authority with whom he held various roles.  He joined the Royal Parks in 1989, initially as the Propagator and Nursery Manager at Greenwich Park during which time he was heavily involved in the production of plants used in The Royal Parks gold medal winning exhibits at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. 

 

Mark is currently the Park Manager for St James’s Park and The Green Park.  The challenging role sees him balancing the management of a listed historic landscape against the needs of one of the most heavily visited parks in the country.

Mark has been involved with “in Bloom” for many years and is Chairman of the Judges of “London in Bloom”.

Jeff Bates

Jeff’s career in horticulture began in 1970 as an apprentice gardener in the Royal Gardens at Windsor Castle and in the Savill and Valley Gardens in Windsor Great Park, before working in landscape design and construction in Yorkshire and then a period of over twenty years as a senior lecturer in horticulture in Derbyshire.  For the past eighteen years he has been a judge for East Midlands in Bloom, and is also currently chairman of EMiB.

 

He is a freelance lecturer, consultant and examiner in horticulture, a busy garden designer, and has a particular interest in historic gardens. 

Jim Buttress, VMH

Jim is involved with judging at a large number of horticultural shows including the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. He is chairman of the Guild of Horticultural Trade Display Judges. He was chairman of London in Bloom for the 10 years and a member of its committee for several years, having also participated in the campaign as a judge.

 

He has been Chairman of the London Gardens Society for 13 years. He was a member of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society (Perennial) Cases Committee from 1990 and took over the chair in 1997. He was reappointed as a Trustee in 2006. 

 

In 1998, he became an ‘Associate of Honour’ of the RHS and was also awarded a Fellowship of Institute of Horticulture in 1999. In 2006 he achieved the highest accolade in the British gardening world, the Victoria Medal of Honour. Only 63 horticulturalists can hold the VMH at any one time, to commemorate the length of Queen Victoria’s reign.

Martyn Hird

Martyn began his horticultural career as a school leaver on the local parks department in his native East Midlands.  After attending Askham Bryan College near York, he worked at Borde Hill Gardens in Sussex and Levens Hall in Cumbria.  He finally returned to Sussex to work as Head Gardener at The High Beeches for eleven years.

 

Since 1996 he has been writing a weekly gardening column for his local paper. Martyn first got involved in the “In Bloom” campaign as a local judge for Crawley, and has more recently helped steer the town to success both at regional and national level.  Since 2002 he has judged at regional level for South and South East in Bloom.

Jim Knight

Jim began his career in horticulture straight from school as an apprentice gardener with his local council parks department. 

He spent 25 years with the City and County of Swansea parks department, taking early retirement in 1997.

 

His involvement with “in Bloom” began in the early 1970’s as a participant preparing entries for the competition, and he has now been involved on the judging side as a Wales in Bloom judge and Foundation Committee member since 1999.

David Littlewood

David started his working life in 1970 as an apprentice gardener with Huddersfield Parks Department.  Whilst there, he was seconded for training at Askham Bryan College York 1972-4 and the Institute of Parks and Recreation Administration (The Grotto) in Reading in 1975.

 

Prior to taking early retirement in September 2005 David was Operations Manager for Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Leisure & Amenity services managing Parks, Refuse Collection, Recycling centres & Street cleansing operations. 

David has been on the South West Britain in Bloom judging panel since 1995 and also judges the Green Flag Awards.

Susan Smith

Susan started her career in horticulture by working for various Parks Departments including Portsmouth and Birmingham.  After a short break with the Ministry of Agriculture in Lincolnshire she returned to Local Government as a Landscape Officer with Kent County Council.

 

Interest in parks management led to posts with Eastleigh, Hillingdon, Brighton and Bournemouth Councils.  Involvement with Britain in Bloom commenced in Bournemouth in 1986, where Susan had considerable experience as a competitor helping the town achieve Britain in Bloom Awards and Entente Florale.  She is a trustee and judge for South and South East in Bloom and was a Green Flag judge from its commencement in 1987 until 2003.

Jon Wheatley

Jon was brought up on a commercial horticulture Nursery in Somerset and trained at Cannington, Wisley and Reading.   He moved to Bristol City Council where he was initially in the Parks Department and progressed to become Divisional Director of Community Leisure.  Jon retired in 2000 and set up a consultancy and a landscape and horticultural maintenance company based on a Nursery at Chew Magna.

 

Jon is vice-chairman of South West in Bloom as well as being heavily involved in RHS committees and both Chrysanthemum and Dahlias.  He also writes and broadcasts on a range of horticultural and landscape issues.

Sue Wood

Sue’s horticultural training began at Writtle Agricultural College in Chelmsford with a further stint at Thomas Danby College in Leeds. 

 

Since 1988, Sue has been with Harrogate Borough Council – initially as the Parks Technical Officer for 12 years where her responsibilities included designing and preparing bedding schedules for the whole District.  Her current role involves liaising with eight local “in Bloom” groups across Harrogate District many of which she has supported and mentored in both the Britain in Bloom and Entente Florale campaigns helping them achieve extremely high standards.  Sue has been a judge for Yorkshire in Bloom since 2001 and on the Yorkshire in Bloom Executive committee since 2003.

John Woodward

John started his career at Long Ashton Research Station working in the fruit plantations.  After training at Pershore, John returned to Bristol, working in the University Botanic Garden and for the Parks Department. 

 

After a move to Guernsey to work with the Island's Horticultural Advisory Service John stayed on, eventually becoming Head of Service until his retirement.

 

He now runs a consultancy business for glasshouse growers and is also a director of Grow Ltd, which is a sheltered workshop providing basic horticultural training and support for people with a learning difficulty.

John has been involved for several years with the Floral Guernsey Council and is Vice Chairman.

Jim Goodwin

Jim served as an apprentice gardener with Derby Parks Department, and continued his training at RHS Wisley. He then worked for a major Landscape Contractor to further his interest in landscape construction and design.

 

He moved to Birmingham in 1970, as Landscape Clerk of Works, and then to West Bromwich (later Sandwell) as Senior Technical Officer overseeing major reclamation works. He served five years in Manchester as Parks Operational Manager and in 1981 a final move to Cardiff where he later became Assistant Director – Parks. Major accolades were the initiation of the Cardiff in Bloom campaign, and steering the City to success in the 1988 Britain in Bloom competition.

 

Since early retirement in 1995 he now works as a landscape/horticultural consultant. He chairs a local volunteer conservation group and has judged for Wales in Bloom for 18 years. He particularly enjoys talking to local groups, and passing on his experience for the benefit of others.

Rae Beckwith

Rae has worked as Area Manager for Gateshead Council for 20 years. During this time he has led his team to victory in Britain in Bloom in 1990 as well as 7 finalists since 2003. He sits on two ‘In Bloom’ local group Committees and was delighted to receive an Award of Commendation from the RHS in 2006 for his work with Whickham and Rowlands Gill.

 

He has been a member of the Guild of Horticultural Trade Display Judges for 10 years and judges at major large shows around the country. Rae is Area Advisor for the Royal National Rose Society and is Chairman for the Daffodil Society (Northern Group). For many years he has served as Chairman of Houghall Horticultural Training Committee. During this time many new training initiatives have been developed in conjunction with College staff.

 

Currently Rae is Show Referee for Gateshead Summer Flower Show and is Senior Steward In the Daffodil Marque at Harrogate Spring Show. In what spare time remains Rae, together with his wife Susan, run a small Daffodil Nursery growing and hybridising new cultivars.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew is currently Technical Support Manager for City of Durham Council’s Environment & Leisure Services Department. In this role he is responsible for initiatives to address the ‘Cleaner-Greener-Safer’ agenda, development of parks and open spaces, Local Agenda 21 and biodiversity, environmental education and enforcement, and the management of a wide range of environmental campaigns.

 

He began his horticultural career as an apprentice with Gateshead Council in 1983. He trained at Houghall College, Durham. His career with City of Durham dates from 1990 and he was previously the City’s Horticultural Officer and Grounds Maintenance Officer.

 

Andrew is a passionate supporter of the ‘Bloom’ and has been a member of the Northumbria in Bloom Executive Committee since 2006. He co-ordinates the ‘Durham in Bloom’ campaign and steered the City to national success in 2005. In the same year he received an Award of Commendation from the RHS for his involvement with the competition over a number of years.

 

A member of the Institute of Horticulture since 1985, Andrew has been active in Northern Branch as a member of the Branch committee from 1989 until 2008. He was Branch Chairman and Representative to Council 2002-2004 and Treasurer 1993-2001 and 2005-2008. Awarded Fellowship of the Institute in 2005; Northern Branch presented him with its Commendation Award in 2008 in recognition of an outstanding contribution to horticulture in the northern region.