PERSHORE college students came up trumps at the Spring Gardening Show in Malvern last weekend.

A garden designed by Year 2 students won a gold medal and was voted best in section at the show organised by the Three Counties Agricultural Society and the Royal Horticultural Society..

Designed on behalf of Acorns Hospice, the college took the theme of childhood for their special feature at the event which attracted over 93,000 people to the Three Counties Showground last weekend.

Childhood memories of a golden age on the railways inspired the creation of the Acorns Express garden, an old branch line at the mouth of a tunnel.

It featured an abandoned guard's van turned into a den by a group of children who have grown some of their favourite flowers around it.

"With its idyllic and nostalgic atmosphere, the Acorns Express garden evokes a picture of innocent childhood, a time when the railways whisked everyone away on their summer holidays and the summers seemed endless," said Martin Davies, who produced the original design.

At an auction conducted by Chris Beardshaw, a former member of the college, for Acorns Hospice, the guard's van sold for £950 towards the £2,000 total.

Mr Beardshaw had a pleasant surprise when he was presented with a plate made by wood turner John Bennison with a section of an old oak tree from Croome Park.

Mr Bennison made the 10-inch plate from the wood after seeing a programme made by Mr Beardshaw at Croome Park in which he said how saddened he was at the loss of the old oak tree which was a favourite spot when he was a lad.

"It was such a surprise to discover someone would go to so much trouble," he said.

In the Floral Marquee, Fibrex Nurseries, of Honeybourne Road, Pebworth, was awarded a silver-gilt medal for a stunning display of ivies and ferns.

Mike Warner, event chairman, said the weather made the build-up to the show very difficult and tons of straw and temporary walkways were laid to help visitors beat the mud.

"This is our 19th year and we are still going from strength to strength," he said, echoed by Bob Sweet, RHS head of shows, who said over 50 per cent of people who wanted to show in the 1.6 acre Floral Marquee had to be turned away.

"It shows how popular the event is and standards have even improved this year when growing conditions have been difficult," he said.