A LOCAL woman has won an honorary award in the town’s gardens competition for the memory garden she created to honour her late husband, Roy, who died in January.
With the help of her son Nigel and son-in-law, Federico, Heather Songhurst now has a garden that reflects her late husband’s love of fishing and flowers.
“Nigel and Federico entered the garden into the competition so thanks must go to them,” said Heather. “The space out there is just lovely; it is very tranquil and quiet. We have lots of different wild birds that come to the garden. It’s totally different from where we have lived before. Roy said before he passed away that ‘it was lovely where he lived’ and he would go around telling people.”
Heather still lives at Hornbeam Crescent, where she lived for two years with Roy, who worked at the Avon for around 20 years. “To honour Roy, we have got a fish pond in the garden because he used to go fishing,” says Heather. “He used to love gardening generally and we have all sorts of flowers out there. We used to enter Melksham in Bloom, once we won the entire competition when we lived at St. Andrew’s Road.
“There is also a painted fish hung behind the fish pond and he also used to love stained glass windows and we have got a stain glassed window behind the fish pond with forget-me-nots on it too.
“When Roy passed away in January, my son and my son-in-law came and redid the garden in memory of him because it is something Roy always wanted to get done. We decided that it was time to do it in memory of him.
“He was well-known in the town and used to love going around all the cafes chatting with people. It’s just amazing to win this award.”
Heather will collect the honorary award at the Food and River Festival in King George V Park next month.
