Flower Gardens at the Bath War Hospital
In August 1917 the Commandant of the Bath War Hospital organized a competition to encourage and reward the patients and staff who had developed and maintained the gardens around the hospital buildings. Three of Bath’s leading horticulturalists, including Mr. W.H. Coles of the Bath Nurseries in Weston Road, agreed to judge the competition. There were prizes for the gardens around the permanent wards, and also for those around the tents. Ward 1 was judged to be the winner, with Ward 4 the runner up. The tented section seems to have had space to be really creative – they cut designs from the turf and filled them with flowers. The Bath Chronicle reports that the English soldiers in Tent W won 1st prize with their anchor design, with a tent of Australians taking 2nd prize with a clever stork design.
