Myerscough landscaping duo are tops

Myerscough World Skills Matthew Wood and Sam Gordon at the finals, along with Nick Atkinson Assistant head Apprenticeships and Skills, and work-based tutor, James Fare

Myerscough College apprentice Matthew Wood was crowned champion in landscaping at a prestigious award ceremony.

The Level 3 landscaping apprentice is currently undertaking his work-based learning at Helmrig in  Leyland.

He competed alongside other finalists from across the country to be crowned the UK’s best young landscaper.

Meanwhile fellow Myerscough apprentice Sam Gordon, took home the silver, to complete a double for Myerscough College, in a six-person national final, which was held at WorldSkills UK Live (formerly The Skills Show), at the NEC Birmingham.

Matthew, 24, and Sam competed in front of more than 100,000 visitors over the three-day event.

The first of four days was a training and familiarisation day.

Then the competitors had 16 hours to individually build a garden from scratch designed by head judge and APL general manager, Phil Tremayne.

They were marked on various elements such as paving with recessed drainage.

Both Matthew and Sam made it through to the semi-final in August, where they had to take part in industry led training sessions, alongside building test pieces to showcase their skills.

The thre- day task was held at both Myerscough and J A Jones in Southport.

The pair were also competing to be considered to represent the nation at WorldSkills, the largest international skills competition, in Austria in 2020, and Shanghai in 2021