Return of the giant lilies

The monster lilies at an Old Town pub are back - and bigger than ever.

The beautiful blooms at the Wheatsheaf Ale House in Newport Street were a talking point for regulars even in the midst of the coronavirus shutdown.

Landlord and landlady Jon Webb and Kayleigh Hughes kept people up to date with the lilies' progress via social media before pubs were allowed to reopen earlier this month.

The plants are not only taller this year but have more flowers, many of them the size of dinner plates.

Kayleigh said: "They're called sky lilies. We've been growing them for a couple of years now - we were given the bulbs by a local of ours. 

"He had established bulbs for about 15 years. They come up every year. Last year they came to six feet and this year they're just shy of eight feet.

"We've had a lot of people asking about the lilies. They've been seeing the pictures on Facebook that I've been putting up.

"We've just left them to their own devices and for nature to take its course."

The number of plants increases as the original bulbs sprout new ones, so next year's display is likely to be better still.

The pub's Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/wheatsheafswindon/