THE Bedwellty House and Park in Tredegar has won first place in the community group category award at this year’s annual Blaenau Gwent in Bloom competition.

The award was granted in recognition of two particular areas of the park; the circular garden at the front of the house and the kitchen garden, which provides a variety of homegrown vegetables and fruit to the Orchid House tea rooms.

The beautiful parkland surrounding Bedwellty House is looked after by a team of Aneurin Leisure Grounds Maintenance staff and dedicated volunteers from the community, who work together each day to ensure the park and its various flower beds and borders are maintained to a high standard and flourish throughout the year.

The award is more significant as the park and kitchen garden have sadly been the victim of regular attacks of vandalism throughout the summer, which has seen the greenhouses, shed and plants damaged.

Despite the heartbreaking losses, the team of gardeners have persevered and doubled their efforts to re-plant the garden and repair the damage left behind.

Anthony Hughes, the managing director of Aneurin Leisure, the charitable Trust that runs Bedwellty House and Park said: “We at Aneurin Leisure are very proud of the team at Bedwellty House and Park for all their amazing efforts this year which has resulted in the park gaining recognition and winning this prestigious award from Blaenau Gwent in Bloom.

“I would like to thank the organisers and judges from Blaenau Gwent in Bloom for considering our venue and for the high praise they’ve given us.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to say a special thank you to all the staff and community volunteers at Bedwellty House for their tireless efforts to keep the park looking beautiful throughout the year for our visitors, and commend them for the commitment and determination they showed when much of their hard work was destroyed by vandalism during the summer.”