Everything in the garden is lovely - and you can see for yourself

There are some very beautiful gardens and allotments in Cefn Cribwr - and their proud creators are eager to show them off. They are taking part in the National Garden Scheme on June 22, when members of the public are invited to come and take a look around. Reporter Abbie Wightwick enjoyed a preview and spoke to members of the Cefn Cribwr Gardening Club

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YOU could drive through Cefn Cribwr and almost miss it. The village five miles from Bridgend, once home to an industrial ironworks, is spread out with a road running through it.

People driving through might pass with barely a backward glance. But behind the unassuming houses and side roads are the hidden jewels in Cefn Cribwr's crown - the carefully tended and beautiful gardens of the village community and members of the thriving gardening club.

The club's founder member and now vice-chair John Loveluck proudly ushers us into his garden.

Stepping into the lovingly tended space is like entering a green Tardis. John’s garden opens out into new sections and sub-plots just as you're admiring the last.

At nearly 80 the retired stonemason is fit as a fiddle, something he thanks his love of gardening for. He’s out every day in the garden behind his house as well as looking after his vegetable patch at the community allotments in the centre of the village.

John is a leading light in Cefn Cribwr Gardening Club, something that grew from an idea he had one night in the now-closed village pub, the White Lion.

The club launched in 2008 and is now at the centre of village life, with members ranging in age from their twenties to their eighties.

Some are busy getting their gardens ready to open to the public next month, keen to show off their labours of love. The biggest annual event for the club, and probably the village, is Open Gardens Day when the members open their gardens to the public in conjunction with the National Garden Scheme to raise funds for charities including Marie Curie and Macmillan.

The event on June 22, like the allotments, fosters some healthy competitive spirit as well as camaraderie in the village, John says. He's all for gardening as hobby and competition, saying it keeps people physically and mentally fit and brings the community together.