“IT’S brilliant and I’m really chuffed.”

The response from Kirkburton man Richard Clegg, who tasted gold at this year’s stunning Chelsea Flower Show.

Richard, 51, and his son Lewyn, 21, were the drystone wallers involved in creating part of the Welcome to Yorkshire Bronte-themed garden for the show.

And yesterday it was awarded a gold medal, bringing delight for the pair, for Aire Valley Landscapes and for designer Tracy Foster.

The scheme, based on the landscape which inspired the Bronte sisters, won gold in the artisan garden category.

As the public got their first chance to see the world-renowned flower show, the sun finally put in an appearance after the build-up to the show was dogged with cold, wet weather and muddy conditions on site.

The Queen and celebrities including Ringo Starr, Michael Caine and Who frontman Roger Daltrey have visited the show, which includes a series of features marking the Diamond Jubilee.

Mr Clegg and his son were approached by Tracy Foster many months ago and did their research into the Brontes.

Mr Clegg said: “I walked to Top Withens to get a feel for the place and studied the stones used in the walls up there.

“I managed to get similar stone from a disused Victorian quarry and we shaped it by hand for the garden, creating a folly at the back of a small dell which apparently inspired the sisters.

“We spent six days working at Chelsea and it was brilliant. It was very focussed and very intense, but people were really helpful and friendly, helping out with tools and equipment.

“It was a great atmosphere and when I heard the news we had won gold, it was brilliant and I was really chuffed”.

Gary Verity, chief executive of tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The garden has had a non-stop stream of admirers since The Chelsea Flower Show opened, but this was the ultimate goal, taking gold back to Yorkshire.”

Tracy Foster added: “The stone is beautiful. We have deliberately not cleaned it so it has aged naturally and it is of the period when the girls would have been walking around the Yorkshire Moors and writing their novels.

“The stone still has its original lichens and mosses attached which look just perfect in the garden and really give a sense of the beauty and bleakness that epitomise the wonderful moorland landscape.”

A garden celebrating the popularity of topiary scooped best in show at the Chelsea show.

The Brewin Dolphin garden, created using beech hedging and yew topiary among the planting, handed designer Cleve West the show’s top award for the second year running.

But Diarmuid Gavin missed out on gold for his huge 24-metre (79ft) high pyramid garden, complete with seven terraces of trees, flowers, vegetables and shrubs and a metal tube slide, receiving a silver-gilt flora award for his creation.

A GAZEBO built by a Huddersfield firm has become a winner at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The structure formed part of the winning garden built for the show by Leeds University.

And there was delight at Paragon Oak Ltd in Lascelles Hall yesterday when the garden picked up a gold medal.

A team from the firm built the gazebo last week to form a key part of the garden.

Director Paul Brierley said: “We were absolutely delighted to hear the garden had taken a gold medal.

“We have been based at Lascelles Hall for a year and our team put a lot of work into the gazebo for Chelsea.

“It is just part of our range, as we do everything from oak-framed houses to garden structures.

“This winning gazebo will be taken down next week and we plan to auction it at the Great Yorkshire Show this summer to raise cash for charity”.

The Great Yorkshire Show is at the Harrogate showground from July 10 to 12.