Tens of thousands of people packed into the rolling parkland of the Royal Estate on Wednesday as the 129th Sandringham Flower Show was staged.

Tens of thousands of people packed into the rolling parkland of the Royal Estate on Wednesday as the 129th Sandringham Flower Show was staged.

The showground filled up quickly with wave after wave of people from across East Anglia and beyond piling in after Norfolk Brass started the show on the bandstand at 9am.

The Band of RAF Honington then kicked off proceedings in glorious sunshine at the main arena with a spectacular marching display carried out by members of the RAF Regiment.

Station Commander Wing Cmdr Nick Bray addressed the crowd about the regiment’s involvement in recent conflicts and there were constant outbursts of applause as people showed their appreciation.

With the sun disappearing behind dark clouds, the shelter of the marquees beckoned for some who feared being drenched, but for the rest there were the beautiful show gardens to take in.

For the designers of the large and small show gardens, the months of agonising over every inch of their plot came to an end with their entry’s fate in the prestigious show gardens competition in the hands of the judges.

Student Emily Smith, 19, enjoyed her first taste of the show gardens competition, showing off her design called the Artist’s Palette.

She said: “It has been an absolutely brilliant day, but I was surprised by how many people viewed my garden and asked questions about certain aspects. There seemed to be a constant flow of people for pretty much the whole day.”

The afternoon at the showground’s main arena was crammed with fun-packed shows for all the family including the Jamie Squibb Motorcycle Display Team and the Yakovlevs Aerobatic Display Team.

Darren Rust took his daughter Billie, 10, to Sandringham Flower Show for the first time.

Mr Rust, from Middleton, near King’s Lynn, said: “We’ve had a great day and really enjoyed the shows. It’s such a good family day out and it’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be.”

Stephen Pocklington, Sandringham Flower Show secretary, was delighted how the event went.

He said: “We had 20,000 here last year and we must have the same, if not more, this year. We have been helped by the fact it has been dry but I am always impressed by how many people come along each year.”

As the day drew to a close, the large and small show garden designers learnt their fate when TV gardeners Chris Beardshaw and Alan Mason dished out the EDP Best in Show trophy awards.

Paul Welford, from Thistleford Plants and Design, won Best in Show for the small show gardens with his modern take of a cottage garden.

He said: “I am delighted to have won. I really didn’t know what the judges might be looking for, but I was happy with it and I am just glad the judges felt the same way.

“I think the clover wall did it for me and I could tell the judges were impressed because they asked lots of questions about it.”

Gary Morell and Colin Scarborough, from C & G Landscapes, also impressed the judges with their stylish and upmarket garden and won Best in Show for the large show garden.

Gary said: “We are really pleased. We did have doubts over the sails and about whether or not we had a chance, but we are delighted all our hard work has paid off.”