'BRILLIANT' — that was the reaction following the Gardens Illustrated Arts & Crafts Garden Festival at Coombe Trenchard near Lewdown recently.

Sarah Marsh, owner of the beautifully restored Edwardian estate, said she was delighted at the way the festival went.

'Last year we had rain, gales, hail yet we still had a lot of people,' said Sarah.

'This year the sun shone through the two days, we were certainly 50% up on last year and we had lots of really positive feedback, from both visitors and exhibitors.

'The aim is to really make it on the national calendar and we are delighted with the way it's going.

'We had people here from all over — obviously a huge draw from the Westcountry, but I think the visitor from furthest away that I spoke to was from Australia.'

The festival included speakers such as Alys Fowler, photographer Jason Ingram and journalist Angela Linforth.

There were a host of exhibitors drawn from all over the country, from nurseries and furniture makers to artists and beekeepers.

Sarah said: 'We always knew we were going to come up against lots of other Diamond Jubilee events, but we went with a best of British theme and it proved very popular.'

Sarah said she was already getting enquiries from people keen to exhibit at next year's festival, due to be held on Friday May 31 and Saturday June 1.

The garden sculpture exhibition at Coombe Trenchard is due to start tomorrow (Friday) and will run until July.

There are also arts events being staged in the gardens, including an open air performance of Twelfth Night by the Festival Players on June 29. For more information, go to http://www.coombetrenchard.co.uk">www.coombetrenchard.co.uk