Villagers up for a battle (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Villagers up for a battle

THE contest is on again for the title of the Calor Wiltshire Best Kept Village. Blunsdon currently holds the award for the best large village in the county after beating off rivals from 29 other communities in that category.

Competition is due to be fierce if 90 villages compete for the large, medium and small classes as they did last year.

Blunsdon put its success last year down to everyone working hard to keep the place clean and the part-time village caretaker pulling out all the stops in his fight against the weeds.

Aldbourne was the runner-up in the large village category, Upper and Lower Seagry won the medium class and Bishopstrow, near Warminster was the best small village.

The competition is run by the Wiltshire Branch of the CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England).

Margaret Armand Smith, the county competition organiser, said a competing village needs to possess more than just good looks to be a hot contender.

"It is not just about photogenic villages, but it celebrates communities that pull together for the benefit of everyone. It's impossible to over-estimate the importance of community spirit.

"A well kept village tells you that it has a caring community, and this is their chance to show how good they are."

Stuart Boyd, the Vice Chair of Blunsdon Parish Council said: "A village can only win if residents enter into the spirit and keep their gardens tidy and pick up rubbish.'"

County winners are auto-matically entered into the Nationwide Calor Village of the Year competition, which offers prize money of up to £10,500.

To date, 52 villages have noted an interest, but further entries are still welcome. To obtain more information, contact Magaret at Wiltshire CPRE on 01380 722157 or e-mail wiltscpre@f2s.com