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CPRE welcomes Times survey highlighting Chalke Valley as the best place to live in the South West

lucyrouse
By lucyrouse
12th April 2022

The Wiltshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has welcomed a survey by The Sunday Times newspaper which found the picturesque Chalke Valley is the best place to live in the South West.

CPRE Wiltshire chair Anne Henshaw said, “The Sunday Times is right to confirm the loveliness of Wiltshire and to highlight our delightful Chalke Valley as the best place to live in the South West. This demonstrates the importance of keeping our county free from unnecessary development and infrastructure projects. Villages in the Chalke Valley are thriving hubs of community life and the reason why our Best Kept Village Competition is so vital and popular.”

From the community run Chalke Valley Stores in Broad Chalke, known locally as The Hub, to the Queen’s Head pub and the 13-mile chalk escarpment running from Salisbury to Shaftesbury, the Chalke Valley was highlighted by the paper as reflecting “the best of 21st-century rural communities”.

The Sunday Times article continued, “The dash to the country over the past two years has attracted more young families, but it’s the broad generational mix that [Chalke Valley] residents have always appreciated and the area is a special favourite with medical staff working at (the conveniently placed) Salisbury District Hospital. Each village has its own charm and a jam-packed social schedule.”

The Sunday Times report can be read here.

Stoke Farthing outside Broad Chalke Alamy