It's the North Chelsea Flower Show as medals come our way

The north has played a blinder in this year's Chelsea flower show , with medals and crowds alike going to set-piece gardens designed by the likes of Leeds city council and Welcome to Yorkshire, the county's tourist board. Little Easington Colliery up in Northumberland also gets a place in the honours list with a silver gilt medal for the National Chrysanthemum Society which is based there; and Greater Manchester's Joseph Massie goes home with a Royal Horticultural Society gold medal as Young Florist of the Year. Pottering about the Royal Chelsea Hospital's grounds yesterday, I was forcibly struck by the way that the huge event – long since sold out – is primarily about people-watching and buying pricey trowels. But the vastly wide definition of 'gardening' these days at least gives space, and welcome publicity, to the likes of Saltburn-by-the-Sea's Arts Bank , a brilliant local initiative in a town full of artists, whose stand was also deservedly popular. Saltburn's high profile presence points up another virtue of this grand, early summer market place: it gives a chance for unexpected (because routinely misrepresented by the metropolitan media) places to shine. My heart always lifts on the M1 at Barnsley, where Britain's best collection of rhododendrons at Wentworth Castle , the Elmhirst family's deer herd and the rolling woods of the Fitzwilliam estates give the lie to southern visitors' nonsensical images of South Yorkshire. Thus it is great to see the names of Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield among the Chelsea winners too, and not for showpieces such as the Hepworth gallery or Magna. Donny gets a silver gilt for the local deaf trust 's urban garden, while Wakefield's pipeline contractors Stockton Drilling win gold and Best in Show in the same category, with Rotherham providing their garden's designer, Jamie Dunstan. The place to be Northern voices are heavily outnumbered at Chelsea, but we shouldn't get too hung-up about that. Just as I was given my free forget-me-not seeds by the Leeds garden staff (everyone was offered a packet), a well-spoken woman at my elbow told her friend: "Oh, I know Leeds. My daughter went to university there." This has been one of the brightest sides of today's north: the flood of young people from elsewhere in the UK who come and see for themselves; and in my experience, seldom go away disappointed. There's more evidence of that today in a survey by the website accomodationforstudents which rates Newcastle upon Tyne as the best place in the UK for students to study, live – and party. Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield are all well up the table too, although I'm sorry to see Bradford and Salford at the bottom. Mind you, it's only a score difference between 66 percent for Tyneside and 42 percent for Salford. And when the BBC comes… Spend a penny Although on that score, the doughty Salford Star – slogan 'news with attitude and love' - isn't happy about the BBC's 'young ambassadors' scheme at Salford Quays. It has doubts about whether six month contracts in reception, meeting and settling guests and the like are going to help the local economy much, with minimum wages at £3.64 for 16 and 17-year-olds and £4.92 for those aged 18 and 19. Um. It's a tricky one. I think we all know media employers who offer work 'experience' and even internships for nowt. And a foot in the door at the BBC is a chance to shine, if I'm not mixing my metaphors. But check out the Star; it's an excellent alternative voice. Talking of which, there's a meeting in Leeds tonight to discuss the future of alternative local media after the sad demise of Guardian Leeds Local next week. It's at 6.30pm at Old Broadcasting House in Woodhouse Lane and our own John Baron is chairing. I'll be there.