BOLTON School old girl and celebrity gardener went back to her roots when she officially opened the fifth RHS Garden this week.

TV gardener Carol Klein was invited to open the £35 M RHS Garden Bridgewater on the border of Walkden and Worsley, near to where she grew up, in her capacity as RHS Ambassador.

It is the first RHS garden in the North West.

Carol said: "I’m thrilled that RHS Garden Bridgewater is opening its gates. This garden represents not only the spirit of the RHS, but that of the North West, pioneering and looking to the future. It also reflects the spirit of the area and its two cities and shows what can be achieved when communities work together.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be Ambassador for RHS Garden Bridgewater.”

Carol has a special connection to the site as her grandfather’s first job was as a garden boy on the Worsley New Hall estate, where RHS Garden Bridgewater now stands.

Four years in the making and a quarter of a million plants in the ground, the RHS’s fifth garden and first urban garden finally opened its gates to the public after a year delay due to the pandemic.

The garden stretches over 154 acres. Visitors can discover areas including the 11-acre Weston Walled Garden, the jewel in the crown of RHS Garden Bridgewater, believed to be the largest publicly-accessible working walled garden in the UK.

It is home to the spectacular Paradise Garden by Tom Stuart-Smith.

The nearby Kitchen Garden by award-winning Harris Bugg Studio showcases a cornucopia of productive growing techniques and both familiar and more unusual edibles.

Sue Biggs, RHS Director General, said: "We feel that the opening of RHS Garden Bridgewater, our fifth garden, could not be more timely after the terrible time everyone has endured over the last year. We have been looking forward to this day for more than six years, during which time so many people have come together and enabled us to create a stunning new garden."