Pupils dig deep to win award

The Adcote School pupils, aged between six and 16, won not only a gold award but also the coveted Best In Show trophy for their Victorian-themed garden at the rain-soaked event on yesterday's opening day.

Of course, they did have a bit of help in the form of TV presenter and gardening expert Chris Beardshaw.

Chris designed the garden to replicate a typical modest homestead of the mid-1800s, highlighting the skills, expertise and understanding people had of the land and livestock around them.

But he admitted that the idea was sown by the teachers and pupils at Adcote who had set up their own after-school gardening club.

"These girls had discovered the thrill of growing plants and I wanted to showcase their new-found passion," he said. "Their enthusiasm and energy has touched everyone who has met them."

Visitors were enthralled by the garden which has been packed with heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables, as well as rare breed pigs, sheep and poultry.

"It isn't a rural idyll," said Chris. "It's a realistic portrayal of rural life."

Louise Hudson, head of geography at the school and in charge of running the gardening club, was delighted with the achievement.

"It's an enormous accolade for the girls and the school," she said. "The girls have worked really hard on this project and in many respects the idea to team up with Chris and produce a garden for Malvern was theirs.

"Adcote School itself is Victorian so this garden has taken inspiration from our own surroundings in Shropshire. To replicate that theme here is a tribute to everyone involved."

Mrs Hudson explained that the school had approached the Gardeners' World presenter at the Shrewsbury Flower Show last year.

"Obviously we were delighted to have someone of Chris's calibre leading us and it has given us a real appetite for future shows, although I'm not sure we will be tackling Chelsea just yet."

Unlike other show gardens which will be dismantled on Sunday, Adcote's will stay until the Three Counties Show in June.

By Nathan Rous at Malvern Show