TENANTS and schoolchildren from across the borough put their cherished gardens under scrutiny at an awards ceremony for an annual garden competition at Barrow town hall.

Barrow Borough Council Housing Service’s annual garden competition returned for its 29th year on Thursday as 50 tenants and 11 schools enjoyed an afternoon lunch as awards were dished out for a range of categories.

After a nervous wait in the schools category, Dane Ghyll Primary School in Barrow were declared as the overall winners thanks to their fantastic array of vegetables and dedication to gardening.

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Ten-year-old Lewis Taylor has seen the school's plot develop throughout his academic life and was over the moon as his school claimed the winner's trophy.

"I did think we were going to get an award, but not first place," he said. "The teachers have been great, they've really helped us, especially Mrs Postlethwaite - we couldn't have done it without her."

Chief gardener Louise Postlethwaite has assembled her troops over the past year in preparation for awards season which has seen them bag a number of regional accolades.

She was delighted to see the children rewarded for their enthusiasm.

Mrs Postlethwaite said: "We are chuffed to bits, the children work so hard and every member of every year group puts in a lot of effort. The kids absolutely love it and they are all desperate to get involved; there isn't a single child that doesn't want to help out."

In the tenants' section, a huge congregation of residents packed out the drawing room in Barrow town hall to find out if all their hard work had secured them a prize.

Doreen Ballentine, 74, of Grange Crescent, Barrow, won the best first-time award as judges praised her "beautiful harmonious planting scheme."

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John has always grown own veg

She said: "I must give some credit to my husband, because he has helped out and the pair of us love working on our garden. Things like this really encourage people to take care of their garden, which is lovely to see."

Caroline McGuirk, 33, and Stewart Landsburgh, 47, who live in Newbarns Road, Barrow, were also praised for transforming their sloped lawn into an impressive vegetable garden.

Mr Landsburgh said: "When we first moved in it was so overgrown, so we knew we had to do something with it. Now the garden is our pride and joy and we love being able to pick something to eat and cook it for tea.

FULL LIST OF RESULTS:

SCHOOLS CATEGORY

- Merit Awards:

 Cambridge Primary

 Greengate Junior School

 Hindpool Nursery School

 Parkside GGI Academy

 Ramsden Infants School

 St. Paul’s Junior

- Best small school site: Chapel Street infants & nursery school

- Best first time school garden: George Romney junior school

- Overall winner of the school's garden competition: Dane Ghyll primary school

WINNERS IN THE TENANTS CATEGORY

 Abbotsmead: Ching Sian Jong, Newton Brow

 Barrow Island: Monica Logan, Farm Street

 Central: Doreen Ballentine, Grange Crescent

 Dalton: Valeria Atkinson, Meadow Grove

 Greengate: Andrew and Laura Clark, Jarrow Street

 Hindpool: William Meadows, Cumberland Court

 Newbarns: Sandra Jones, Hempland Avenue

 North Walney: Antony Storey, Trent Vale

 Ormsgill: Dennis Pye, Quantock Green

 Risedale: Caroline McGuirk and Stewart Landsburgh, Newbarns Road

 Roosegate: Margaret Cochran, Longway

 Tummerhill: James Walmsley, Bigger Garth

 Vulcan: Lisa and Philip Luisi, Levens Terrace

- Best first time award: Doreen Ballentine, Grange Crescent

- Best estate award: Raglan Court - Mandy and Tony Anderson, Brian Hudson and Peter Roebuck

- Best garden by a disabled tenant: Norman Wheeler, Newton Road

- Best vegetable garden: Caroline McGuirk and Stewart Landsburgh, Newbarns Road

- Best flower garden: Andrew and Laura Clark, Jarrow Street