WOODLAND in Denbighshire has taken a top award at the Royal Welsh Show.

This year's event marked the 100th anniversary of the Royal Welsh Show and also the final round of the Welsh National Woodlands Competition 2015-2019.

The woodlands competition gives awards in nine different categories, covering young and established woodlands of broadleaf and coniferous trees.

One of these categories is for a community woodland with public access.

In 2016, the woodland competitions were held in North Wales and Warren Woods in Bodfari, home of the Woodland Skills Centre, won the gold medal and first prize for community woodlands.

In 2017, the competitions were held in Mid Wales and in 2018 they took place in South Wales.

This year, all of the regional winners of the last three years went head-to-head to decide the outright national winners.

The winner in the community woodland category was the Woodland Skills Centre as the best community woodland in Wales.

There was then a further award, sponsored by the Royal Forestry Society of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, when all the national winners were considered and one woodland was selected as the best entry of all.

This award went to Woodland Skills Centre and Warren Woods.

The Woodland Skills Centre site is in the heart of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB, and comprises of 40 acres of the Warren Woods, which are managed for people, wildlife and profit.

The site also includes a further 10 acres with an arboretum, vineyard, allotments, a medicinal herb garden, a heritage orchard, wildflower meadows, an apiary, polytunnels, a tree nursery, workshops and energy-efficient timber-frame buildings.

The centre is run by a community-owned, not-for-profit social enterprise company and holds around 70 courses a year in traditional crafts, art, countryside management and mindfulness.

The centre also runs live music, poetry and drama events and events for children and families.

During the week, the centre runs a wide-ranging social prescribing programme, working with people of all ages with various learning and physical and mental health challenges.

The centre welcomes the awards as a strong indication that woodlands are not just about timber production, but have a big role to play in carbon capture, wildlife, air and water quality, tourism, social events and health and well-being.