Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition

Winners 2023

The Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition held its 2023 Awards Presentation Ceremony at Eaves Hall, West Bradford on Monday, 16th October.

It was our 64th Annual Awards Ceremony and the organising Committee welcomed some 120 guests and dignitaries, including 10 Mayors representing many towns and villages from all over Lancashire. The Chair, Kelly Wood, thanked the judges and villages for all the hard work throughout the year, and hoped that moving forward we could build up the number of entrants to the competition, and increase the number of judges to assess the villages during the months of June and July.

This year's competition saw 47 villages entering across the 5 categories with 10 villages making the final round…

Blacko | Elswick | Hambleton | Sabden | Samlesbury | Town Green | Grindleton | Roughlee | Haighton | Little Eccleston.

All the results are a closely guarded secret until revealed during the Awards Ceremony. The finals Judge this year was Sir Peter Openshaw (The Hon. Mr Justice Openshaw) - not an easy task given the high standards of the competing villages. Peter lives in the Ribble Valley, and he joined us on Monday to present the awards.

This year the winner of the Champion Village Class was Elswick ; representatives received a commemorative plaque along with a trophy and a framed certificate.

Other major Whole Village Class awards went to Sabden (Large Village), Town Green (Medium Village), Grindleton (Small Village) and Little Eccleston (Hamlets).

The inaugural 'Community Class' (Tidy Town) award was won by Ingol; runner-up: Tanterton (The Mayor of Preston receiving both awards on their behalf).

Competition Winners (2023)   [class entrants]

• Champion Village - Elswick (Runner-up - Blacko; Highly Commended - Betherton and West Bradford). [15]
• Large Village - Sabden (Runners-up - Hambleton; Highly Commended - New Longton and Walmer Bridge). [11]
• Medium Village - Town Green (Runner-up - Salmesbury; Highly Commended - Weeton). [8]
• Small Village - Grindleton (Runner-up - Roughlee; Highly Commended - Brindle). [8]
• Hamlet - Little Eccleston (Runner-up - Haighton; Highly Commended - Sabden Fold). [5]

Outstanding Features (2023)

1. Place of Worship and Grounds [29]
   Winner: Parbold - The Church of Our Lady & All Saints
   Runners-up: Bilsborrow - St. Hilda's
   Highly Commended: Bretherton - Congregational, Preesall - St Oswald's, Whitechapel - St. James'
2. Schools [27]
   Winner: Primary - Belmont - Primary School
   Winner: Secondary - Preesall - St. Aiden's
   Highly Commended: Brindle - St. James', Chipping - Brabin's School, Ingol - Primary, Newburgh - C of E Primary
3. Public Houses [31]
   Winner: Elswick - The Ship
   Runners-up: Sabden - The White Hart Inn
   Highly Commended: Waddington - Waddington Arms, Little Eccleston - The Cartford Inn
4. Hotel / Guest House [7]
   Winners: West Bradford - Eaves Hall
   Runner-up: Barton - Barton Lodge
   Highly Commended: Broughton - The Marriot, Chipping - Gibbon Bridge, Town Green - Moor Hall
5. Public Building [24]
   Winners: Elswick - Village Hall and Samlesbury - Memorial Hall
   Runner-up: Roughlee - Village Centre and West Bradford - Village Hall
   Highly Commended: Chipping - Village Hall, Grindleton - Pavilion and Town Green - Village Hall
6. Public Playing Field [17]
   Winner: West Bradford - Village Hall site
   Runner-up: Elswick - Village Hall site
   Highly Commended: Blacko - Beverley Rd Recreation
7. Children's Play Area [19]
   Winner: Elswick - Village Hall
   Runner-up: Freckleton - Memorial Park
   Highly Commended: Blacko - Beverley Rd, Chipping - Village Hall
8. Industrial / Commercial Premises [11]
   Winners: Adlington Higher - Deighan's Funeral Parlour and Stalmine - Moy Vets
   Runners-up: Sabden - Specialised Automotive Services and Walmer Bridge - Loughran's
   Highly Commended: Broughton - The Foot Room
9. Shops [16]
   Winners: Blacko - Pulse and Town Green - Henshaw's
   Runner-up: Chipping - Brabbin's Shop and Halsall - Village Bakery
   Highly Commended: Longton - Blundell's Hardware
10. Sheltered Accommodation [8]
    Winner: Mawdesley - Stocks Hall
    Runners-up: Blacko - Hillview
    Highly Commended: Grindleton - Mary Brown Cottages
11. Community Notice Board [22]
    Winner: Sabden - Junction Stubbins Lane
    Runners-up: Blacko - Gisburn Rd/Hollin Fold
    Highly Commended: Samlesbury - Memorial Hall
12. War Memorial [24]
    Winner: Blacko - Gisburn Rd/Hollins Fold
    Runners-up: Sabden - War Memorial
    Highly Commended: West Bradford - War Memorial and Grimsargh - War Memorial
13. Bowling Green [11]
    Winners: Bretherton - Recreation Ground and Sabden - Crown Green Club
    Runners-up: Elswick
    Highly Commended: Barton - at Village Hall and Preesall - Working Men's Club
14. Cricket Grounds [5]
    Winner: Mawdesley
    Runner-up: Halsall - Recreation
    Highly Commended: Freckleton - Bush Lane
15. Public Garden [15]
    Winners: Shirdley Hill - Village Green
    Runner-up: Samlesbury - Community Garden
    Highly Commended: Chipping - Wildflower Garden and West Bradford - Coronation Gardens
16. Heritage Feature [19]
    Winner: Weeton - Old Village sign
    Runner-up: Belmont - Diamond Jubilee
    Highly Commended: Elswick - Village Plough, Broughton - Pinfold and Freckleton - Memorial to air disaster

Download Lancashire Best Kept Village Full Results 2023.

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Previous Years' Results

Results 2022 (PDF Download).

Results 2021 (PDF Download).

The 2020 Competition was cancelled due to Covid and Lockdowns.

Results 2019 (PDF Download).

Results 2018 (PDF Download).

Results 2017.