The Best Kept Village Competition

The Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village Competition, now in its 55th year, is organised by the Bucks Association of Local Councils and is sponsored by Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe District Councils, Bucks County Council and Mott Coaches.

The 2012 competition will be open for entries in March. Register your interest with balc@bucksalc.gov.uk   The closing date is 30 April.

The object of the competition is to encourage residents to improve their local environment by keeping their villages clean and well cared for and involving the whole of the community in taking a pride in the villages’ upkeep. The judges’ checklist includes:
- absence of litter
- condition of village greens, playing fields,
- condition of village halls and public buildings
- condition of churchyards, cemeteries and war memorials
- condition of hedges and verges
- condition of bus shelters, notice boards, toilets
- condition of areas surrounding pubs and shops
- evidence of community effort

The competition is judged in 6 categories: past winners (Tindall Cup), very small (Gurney Cup), small (Morris Cup), medium (DeFraine Cup) and large villages (Pushman Cup) and small towns (Michaelis Cup). A Sword of Excellence is awarded to the cup winner with the highest marks.

The 2011 winners were: Cuddington (Tindall Cup), Fulmer (Gurney Cup), Great Brickhill (Morris Cup), Stewkley (DeFraine Cup), Chalfont St Peter (Pushman Cup) and Buckingham (Michaelis Cup). The winners were presented with their trophies by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and President of the Association of Local Councils Sir Henry Aubrey Fletcher.

The competition awards are for BEST KEPT villages, NOT beautiful villages.  Care, cleanliness, maintenance and community effort are what the judges are looking for.