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The charity making life better by water

Welcome to Yorkshire Chelsea canal garden cruises to gold

The Welcome to Yorkshire garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show has received a highly coveted Gold Medal - a fitting celebration of wellbeing by water.

Mark Gregory, garden designer wins gold medal at Chelsea

We teamed up with Welcome to Yorkshire to create a garden which was truly unique. The garden was inspired by Yorkshire's proud industrial heritage and stunning natural environment with the aim of encouraging more people to visit and experience the county's beauty first hand.

Designed by Mark Gregory from Landform Consultants, the highlight of the design was an authentically built canal with flowing water and genuine lock gates. The garden also included a towpath and a lock keeper's cottage with a colourful garden and vegetable patch.

We donated the lock gates, which were removed from right outside Huddersfield University on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal after reaching the end of their working life.

Welcome to Yorkshire's Commercial Director Peter Dodd said:

“We were blown away when we saw the garden and it looks like the judges were too. The reaction so far has been incredible, and this is exactly why we've been coming to RHS Chelsea for the last 10 years, to open people's eyes to the beauty of Yorkshire.

“After a record success last year, Mark said he would up his game even further in 2019 and he totally has. This has been the most demanding design we've ever under taken and I know the build presented some complex challenges to Mark at some points, but he's truly knocked it out of the park."

Sean McGinley, director of Yorkshire & North East for Canal & River Trust added:

*“*Our huge congratulations to Welcome to Yorkshire and Mark Gregory. His attention to detail and passion is phenomenal. Our charity is proud to have helped support the garden with gifted genuine lock gates from Huddersfield Narrow Canal, adapted at our Stanley Ferry workshop in Yorkshire and equipment typically found in a lock keepers lodge. We hope this wonderful achievement will inspire visits to Yorkshire and encourage even more people taking time out to discover their local waterways, which can help improve our health, wellbeing and happiness."

Two women eat lunch next to the canal

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Last Edited: 29 May 2019

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