FROM Victorian greenhouses and hand-crafted plant tunnels to woven metal furniture and Mrs Scrump’s home-made jams and jellies there was everything to delight gardeners in Malmesbury this weekend.

The town was transformed on Friday and Saturday when a prestigious two-day festival was staged there.

The Gardens Illustrated magazine chose the picturesque North Wiltshire town to host its first festival, which featured talks by experts on a range of gardening related subjects.

Leading exhibitors from around the country were on-hand to sell an array of goods while assorted workshops ranged from gardening photography to garden art.

Visitors were also given the chance to buy from a selected gathering of the country’s finest nurseries and suppliers of beautiful garden products.

Enthusiasts descended on historic Malmesbury from all corners of the UK for the multi-faceted event that was blessed with glorious sunny weather.

One family of gardening fans flew in from Germany especially for the festival which was held at various locations throughout the town.

Malmesbury Mayor Sue Poole said: “The town centre was really buzzing.

“I think it’s really, really important that events such as this are held in Malmesbury.

“As with any market town we need visitors to see our town and spend money here.

“Once they’ve seen Malmesbury they will hopefully come back and see the town again.”

Malmesbury’s tourist information officer Claire Mann said: “It was really good that the town was chosen for such a prestigious event.

“There were a lot of visitors – the High Street was very busy. Obviously, with so many people here there was a knock-on effect for local businesses.”

Gardens Illustrated is internationally recognised as the definitive guide to stylish gardens.

It chose Malmesbury as a direct result of the success of the celebrated BBC History Weekend which has drawn thousands of people to the town over the past two years.

The glossy pages of the magazine were duly brought to life in Malmesbury with the abbey, the town hall and sacred Cloister Gardens all hosting festival events, presentations and displays.