Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition

Winners 2021

The Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition held its 62nd Annual Awards Ceremony at the Eaves Hall in West Bradford on Monday 11th October at which 120 guests including 9 Mayors representing many Lancashire towns and villages were present. Vice-Chair Kelly Wood thanked the judges and villages for all the hard work through a difficult year, especially after the disappointment of having to cancel the competition in 2020. Whilst the numbers of entrants was understandably down, it was great to be involved and to see the care and work put in by villages across Lancashire - we can all be very proud of the difference and local improvement that villages looking their best and being part of this competition makes. Kelly hoped that moving forward we could build up the number of entrants to the competition.

An overview of the competition and its history is given at the Presentation event, with an explanation of the judging stages and process over the summer months from June until the end of August. As usual the final stage judging is done by an invited external judge - this year we were pleased to have the services of The Hon. Ralph Christopher Assheton, who in 2020 was High Sherriff of Lancashire, and he joined us at the Presentation to present the awards. All the results are a closely guarded secret until revealed during the Awards Ceremony.

The 9 villages who through to Final Judging this year were:
Grindleton | Halsall | Pilling | Barton | Blacko | Little Eccleston | Whitechapel | Barley | Wiswell.

The winner of the 2021 Champion Village Class was Blacko. They received a commemorative plaque, along with a trophy, a framed certificate and an oil painting of the Recreation Ground in Blacko commissioned by Lancashire Life Magazine. The artist chosen by Lancashire Life was the winner of their Artist of the Year Competition, Ken Roberts who lives in Lytham.

Other major Whole Village Class awards went to Halsall (Large Village), Barton (Medium Village), Whitechapel (Small Village) and Barley (Hamlets).

There were 15 'Outstanding Features' Awards for features nominated by the villages themselves. This year most entries (27) were for War Memorials & Public Monuments won by Blacko War Memorial (runner-up Freckleton Cenotaph), showing that Lancashire still remembers and honours the men and women who never returned to their villages after war. A popular category was Public Houses (26 entries) won by Moor Hall in Town Green. Featuring highly in nominated categories: Places of Worship & Grounds (23 entries) won by St. James’ in Whitechapel, and Schools (24 entries) won by Ashbridge School in Hutton.

Competition Winners (2021)   [class entrants]

• Champion Village - Blacko (Runner-up - Grindleton; Highly Commended - Higham, Elswick, Sabden). [13]
• Large Village - Halsall (Runner-up - Pilling). [12]
• Medium Village - Barton (Runner-up - Heapey). [4]
• Small Village - Whitechapel (Runner-up - Little Eccleston; Highly Commended - Haskanye). [7]
• Hamlet - Barley (Runner-up - Wiswell; Highly Commended - Roughlee, Inglewhite). [10]

Outstanding Features (2021)

1. Place of Worship and Grounds [23]
   Winner: Whitechapel - St. James' Church
   Runner-up: Barton - St. Lawrence Church
   Highly Commended: Sabden - St. Nicholas Church
2. Schools [24]
   Winner: Hutton - Ashbridge School
   Runner-up: Halsall - St. Cuthbert's
   Highly Commended: Mawdesley - St. Peter & St. Paul
3. Public Houses [26]
   Winner: Town Green - Moor Hall
   Runner-up: Little Eccleston - Cartford Inn
   Highly Commended: Lower Adlington - The Retreat, Barley - The Pendle Inn, Bretherton - Blue Anchor, Halsall - The Saracen's Head
4. Hotel / Guest House [2]
   Winners: West Bradford - Eaves Hall
   Highly Commended: Barton - Barton Lodge
5. Public Building [23]
   Winner: Grindleton - Pavilion
   Runner-up: Higham - Village Hall Roughlee - Village Centre
   Highly Commended: Mawdesley - Village Hall, Croston - Heritage Centre
6. Public Playing Field [19]
   Winner: Town Green - William Arnold Silcock Field
   Runner-up: Whitechapel - M.U.G.A. (Multi-use Games Area)
   Highly Commended: Elswick - Village Hall site, Hambleton - Bob Williamson Park
7. Children's Play Area [18]
   Winner: Grindleton - Playground Blacko - Recreation Ground; Freckleton - Memorial Park
   Runner-up: Croston - Recreation Ground, Hambleton - Bob Williamson Park
   Highly Commended: Haskayne - Jubilee
8. Industrial / Commercial Premises [7]
   Winners: Bilsborrow - Barton Grange Garden Centre, Sabden - Specialised Automotive Services
   Highly Commended: Walmer Bridge - William Loughran, Freckleton - Threlfall's Transport
9. Shops [21]
   Winner: Barton - Kopper Kettle
   Runner-up: Blacko - The Hairdresser's
   Highly Commended: Mawdesley - Post Office
10. Sheltered Accommodation [11]
    Winner: Grindleton - Almshoues
    Runner-up: Blacko - Hillview, Mawdesley - Stocks Hall
11. Community Notice Board [15]
    Winner: Little Eccleston - inside Bus Shelter
    Runners-up: Blacko - Gisburn Rd/Hollin Fold, Mawdesley - Spar
    Highly Commended: Grindleton - Village Hall, Higham - Hall Rd/Kiln Hill
12. War Memorial [27]
    Winner: Blacko - War Memorial
    Runner-up: Freckleton - Cenotaph
    Highly Commended: Whitechapel, Sabden, Wiswell, Higham
13. Bowling Green [12]
    Winner: Bretherton
    Runners-up: Sabden - Sabden Crown Green Bowling Club
    Highly Commended: Mawdesley, Hambleton
14. Cricket Grounds [7]
    Winner: Mawdesley
    Runner-up: Edgworth
    Highly Commended: New Longton
15. Accessible Public Garden [16]
    Winners: Elswick - Village Hall
    Runner-up: Shirdley - Hill Village Green
    Highly Commended: New Longton

Download Lancashire Best Kept Village Full Results 2021.

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Previous Years' Results

The 2020 Competition was cancelled due to Covid and Lockdowns.

Results 2019 (PDF Download).

Results 2018 (PDF Download).

Results 2017.