Judges were in town this week as Abergavenny showed off all it has to offer for entries to the annual Britain in Bloom competition, with the town bursting into colour as they were shown around the different sites.

At a special presentation after a morning walk around the town, the two judges, who will complete around 1,600 miles on their tour of the UK this week, said the sense of community here was unique to other entries around the United Kingdom.

“In Abergavenny, you take a unique approach to gardening and horticulture with the structure of an umbrella organisation supported by the local council,” they said.

There is no shortage of displays, including those in Bailey Park, Castle Meadows and the Laurie Jones Community Orchard.

On Monday afternoon (August 4), the volunteers gathered alongside members from other community groups and the judges at an event in Abergavenny Library to proudly show off some of their work.

There were also poems written by local children and a special film bringing all of the individual projects together for the judges to see the community impact of maintaining public spaces.

Speaking to the Chronicle, judge, Ian, praised the efforts of the volunteers and said he was impressed with the town.

“I’ve seen all the core elements we would look for at Britain in Bloom here,” he said.

“It is split up into three core values, horticulture, environment and community and there is no doubt that Abergavenny is showing off all three of those here this morning.”

The Britain in Bloom UK finals are held in October and this year the ceremony will be in Brighton, and Abergavenny will be flying the flag for Wales in its category.

Abergavenny in Bloom is a finalist in the ‘Town’ category, and is the only finalist in the said area from the Wales in Bloom Region.