Aberglasney has been overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of entries received for its art and poetry competition making it extremely difficult for resident artist, Andrew Douglas-Forbes, to choose a winner.

Children up to the age of 16 were encouraged to enter the competition to do an A4 design of their dream garden and to make it as colourful as the flowers around Aberglasney Gardens. A poem about their dream garden could be created instead, or as well as, a picture.

The gardens designed had beautiful flowers and bees as a common theme but some had so much more with tree-houses, vegetable plots, ponds with bridges, tennis courts, deck chairs, pets, swimming pools, bicycles, basketball nets and football pitches incorporated.

Congratulations go to Molly Bechan Rose, aged 10, from Ceredigion. Molly uniquely combined the competition brief as she drew a garden design on one half of her A4 entry and wrote an absolutely magnificent poem on the other side. Her entry stood out amongst the entries and has been chosen as the competition winner.

Andrew Douglas-Forbes said: “Congratulations to Molly. Your drawing stood out amongst all the entries for me as it looked so realistic and your poem ‘Fy ngardd breuddwydiol’ was breathtakingly fabulous.

“The standard of entries was very high. Thank you to all who entered. I can see a lot of time and effort has gone in to each piece of art and poetry.”

The winner will be able to bring a group of friends or family to have a fun-packed, bilingual, and informative guided tour of Aberglasney by the Gardens’ Director, Helen Scutt. The group will also be given lunch, prepared by the Tearooms.

The standard of entries was so high that Andrew also chose second and joint third prize winners and each will receive a £10 voucher to be used in Aberglasney’s giftshop. Freya Rees, aged 10, from Ysgol Saron in Ammanford, came second and the two third place winners are: Mia Haf Tomlin, aged 11 and Lilly from year 3 at Ysgol Llangynnor.

Helen Scutt, Aberglasney Gardens’ Director said: “Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all those who sent in entries. I was especially blown away by the standard of the poem that won. Such fantastic work Molly, well done.

“The competition is a fitting tribute to the residency of one of Aberglasney Gardens’ long-standing supporters, Andrew Douglas-Forbes.

“It is always a pleasure to welcome younger visitors to Aberglasney. We have fun activities and trails for children of all ages throughout the summer holidays and all the competition entries will be on display in the mansion during the summer holidays for visitors to enjoy.”

World renowned artist, Andrew Douglas Forbes, lives in Llandeilo and studied under Patricia Briggs at Swansea College of Art. He subsequently received guidance from Gordon Stuart, known for his portrait of Dylan Thomas and dramatic landscapes where forms emerge from light.

Beyond his artistic talents, Andrew is a scholar of the Royal Academy of Music and a professional tenor who lived in Tuscany for several years to pursue an opera career.

Upon returning to Wales, Andrew coincidently was invited to a ball at Aberglasney when it was still in ruins, which he recalls as ‘enchanting’. Since the end of the 1990s, his relationship with the mansion has deepened as the space itself has evolved.

Understanding Andrew’s unique vision as an antique specialist, artist and operatic tenor is crucial to appreciating his work.

The Carmarthenshire attraction is delighted to announce a new series of art workshops with Andrew Douglas-Forbes at Aberglasney. Full details will be on the Aberglasney website soon.