Best Kept Village 2023 – Presentation Day Report

On Sunday 24th September the Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Trounghton, the Chief Executive Officer of CCm Technologies, Pawel Kisielewski, the Chairman of Wiltshire Council, Councillor James Sheppard, and the Chairman of CPRE Wiltshire, Anne Henshaw, led the presentation team to the winning villages in this year’s Wiltshire Best Kept Village Competition.  CPRE Wiltshire’s Countryside Ambassador, international soprano Carly Paoli, joined the team to make a personal presentation to the “Winner of Winners” village.

This year’s Competition saw some familiar names in the list of winners but also one completely new winner.  Bratton, Urchfont and Rushall have all won their size category (Large, Medium or Small) and/or the Laurence Kitching Winner of Winners Award at least once in the last four competitions.  Meanwhile Tockenham, near Lyneham, entered for the first time and won the Small Village category, mirroring Castle Eaton two years ago.  So while some villages are clearly using their experience to maintain a high standard, it is still possible for a brand new entrant to succeed.  It is also important to remember that success depends almost entirely upon the work that villagers carry out to present their community, and not on prettiness or architectural beauty.

For the second year running the Competition was sponsored by CCm Technologies of Swindon, an award-winning clean tech company established in 2011 and based in Swindon, who produce unique ultra-low Carbon fertilisers from organic waste streams.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Trounghton, unveiled the four coveted Best Kept Village standards in Tockenham, Urchfont, Bratton and Rushall.  The Chief Executive Officer of CCm Technologies, Pawel Kisielewski, presented his company’s plaques and Councillor James Sheppard, Chairman of Wiltshire Council, presented the Council’s plaques at each village.  CPRE’s certificates were presented by Anne Henshaw, our Chairman, at the winning villages.  As usual the community spirit of villagers, which is one of the criteria included in judging, was very obvious amongst the large numbers who turned out to see the presentations.

As well as their plaques and certificates, winning villages each received £200 and those in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the second (County) round received £100, £60 and £30 respecively.

Tockenham

The Presentation Day started at Tockenham, who had won the Small Village category (population up to 300).  The judges had been particularly impressed by the allotments, play area, well-tended gardens and absence of litter.

Recipients of these presentations were either members of the parish council or vilagers who had worked hard to prepare the village for judging.  Diane Kirby, Chair of Tockenham Parish Council, gave a vote of thanks to villagers, the presentation team and the sponsors.

Urchfont

Urchfont was judged not only as the Best Kept Medium Village (population 300 to 1,000) but also received the Merit Award for consistent high performance over six years. This year the judges felt that “Urchfont has a feeling of a community all working together to make it a very attractive place to live”. They commented favourably on many aspects including the “fantastic allotments”, the churchyard and cemetery, the village green and pond, the conservation area and the village’s community shop.

Rushall

Rushall was presented with the Laurence Kitching “Winner of Winners” Award, for being the best kept village amongst the six winners in the past two competitions.  As one would expect, the standard was high across the board and they pipped Tilshead by just one point and Whiteparish by three points out of a possible 98 maximum.  They are the first village to win this three times since this award was first made in 2000.  As well as a BKVC standard, plaques and certificates, they received an oak tree which was both donated and presented by international soprano Carly Paoli, the Countryside Ambassador for CPRE Wiltshire.

Mr Colin Gale, Chairman of the parish council, gave a vote of thanks.

Bratton

At Bratton, the Large Village winners, the presentation team and about 40 villagers present were welcomed by Bratton’s Town Crier, Mr Ray Davies, who after the presentations also gave a vote of thanks to all those present.  In their report on Bratton the judges said that “The Tidy Bratton Group obviously do an excellent job and we saw evidence of this on our visit.” They also commented very favourably many aspects including the footpaths, the Church and Chapel surrounds, the recreation ground, the village green, the new website and the orchard.

Other Awards

Over the course of the autumn, certificates are also being presented by CPRE Trustees to villages that won at district level in the Competition.  Mannington will also receive the Best Newcomer Award for villages which have not entered the Best Kept Village Competition for at least the previous five years. It comes with a £150 cash prize and a certificate.