One of the most meaningful awards handed out at Keswick In Bloom went to guest house owner Pauline Jackson.

She picked up the Country Accommodation Award for Beechings Holly, which she and her husband Bruce bought in 2014 when they cut down 120 trees to make way for the beautiful garden that’s now in their place.

Tragically Bruce couldn’t be there to see the smile it had put on his wife’s face. He suddenly passed away in February from a brain haemorrhage.

After he died Pauline, 53, and their two daughters pulled together to keep the garden he loved so much looking its best. They have also added a memorial bench to the garden.

Pauline said: “I entered this after the recent loss of my husband and it has given me comfort.”

Her elder daughter Katherine, 24, said: “It will mean the world to her after everything she’s been through. It just a bit of a ray of sunshine to get her through.

Her sister Amy, 17, who also helps maintain the garden, said:”You can just see that recently it has boosted her spirits and given her something to look forward to, getting up to do the garden.

“He would be so proud of it.”

Keswick In Bloom judges presented the awards at a ceremony in Hope Park yesterday.

It was a double whammy for Cindy Fox, of Derwent Close, who won the award for Best Container Garden as well as the Mayor’s Trophy for the overall best garden.

It’s not hard to see why. It’s taken her a matter of nine months to transform the outdoor space of her flat in the town centre.

And it is not wasted on visitors, the stunning display turns a number of heads as people walk through the town with many of them stopping to take photos and admire it.

“I’ve had hundreds of comments off visitors,” said Cindy, 76. “And people having photographs on the wall. I’m just inundated with it really.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I didn’t think I was going to get anything like that. I just thought I’d get a certificate.

“There are a lot of nice gardens in Keswick. It’s very well maintained.”

While she doesn’t have a lawn to mow or a hedge to trim, Cindy couldn’t fit anymore plants in her garden if she tried.

There also a number of garden ornaments including a deer, ducks and a pig playing a guitar.

It’s not the first time Cindy has won the top prize. When she lived in Station Avenue she also managed to impress the Keswick In Bloom judges in 2014.

She added that credit must go to her husband Kendall, 65, who helps with the gardening.

Vicky Wright was the winner of the Secret Garden Award for her back garden in Brackenrigg Drive.

Almost every inch of her her garden is covered by colourful flowers and there’s something new to see everywhere you look.

The central feature is a pond, installed in 2008, which is surrounded by kingfishers and dragonflies made from recycled spoons and forks.

Vicky, 68, who heads for the orphans corner of any garden centre said her top tip is to pack in as much as possible so there’s no weeding to do.

She said: “I’m thrilled. It’s the second time I’ve won but I’ve re-jigged the back border since then so there’s more plants and less gravel. I keep making the borders bigger and bigger so I can get more plants in and there’s still never enough.”

The Dog & Gun pub won Best Pub for the first time. Owner Sheila Morley was thrilled.

She said: “I’m really chuffed. We always do our boxes and hanging baskets but I think this time they’ve just bloomed.

The entries had been narrowed down by the judges who looked at hundreds of gardens in the town.