Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition

Winners 2024

The Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition held its 2024 Awards Presentation Ceremony at Eaves Hall, West Bradford on Monday, 14th October.

This year's competition saw 45 villages entering across the 6 categories (including Urban Community) with 10 villages making the final round of the traditional village categories…

Grindleton | Sabden | Longton | Higher Adlington | Newburgh
Waddington | Brindle | Roughlee | Little Eccleston | Inglewhite.

All the results are a closely guarded secret until revealed during the Awards Ceremony. The Chair Kelly Wood ran the proceedings giving an overview of the competition and its history, 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 Edwin Booth, Chairman of Booths Supermarkets - not an easy task given the high standards of the competing villages - who presented the awards to the Winning Villages and for Outstanding Features. The Winning Villages got a plaque and certificate; runners-up were presented with a certificate.

This year the winner of the Champion Village Class was Grindleton (pictured); representatives received an engraved commemorative crystal vase/cup along with a plaque and framed certificate. This award is held for a year and then presented to the new Champion Village. This award was presented by Phil Orme from Lancashire Association of Local Councils (LALC), one of the competition's sponsors; Phil is also on the LBKVC Committee.

Other major Whole Village Class awards went to Longton (Large Village), Waddington (Medium Village), Brindle (Small Village) and Little Eccleston (Hamlets).

In its second year the 'Urban Community' class (formerly 'Tidy Town') award was won by Ingol with Tanterton runner-up.

There were 16 'Outstanding Features' Awards for features nominated by the villages themselves. Thre were 247 entries with seven categories having 20 or more entries; largest being War Memorials (22) and Public Houses/Retaurants (22). The former category was won by the War Memorial at Chipping and the latter by The Italian Orchard in Broughton. A newer category, Heritage Feature (15 entries) was won by Grindleton's Commemorative Table. Many of these features add interest and character to Lancashire villages and a worthy of attention if staying or passing through.

Competition Winners (2024)   [class entrants]

• Champion Village - Grindleton (Runner-up - Sabden; Highly Commended - Bretherton, Blacko). [12]
• Large Village - Longton (Runner-up - Higher Adlington; Highly Commended - Hambleton). [9]
• Medium Village - Waddington (Runner-up - Newburgh; Highly Commended - Goosnargh & Whittingham). [6]
• Small Village - Brindle (Runner-up - Roughlee; Highly Commended - Belmont, West Bradford). [11]
• Hamlet - Little Eccleston (Runner-up - Inglewhite; Highly Commended - Cumeragh). [5]
• Urban Community - Ingol (Runner-up - Tanterton). [2]

Outstanding Features (2024)

1. Place of Worship and Grounds [21]
   Winner: Chipping - St. Bartholomew's
   Runner-up: Bilsborrow - St. Hilda's
   Highly Commended: Parbold - The Church of Our Lady & All Saints
2. Schools [20]
   Winners: Bretherton - Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary and Chipping - Brabin's
   Highly Commended: Adlington Higher - St. Paul's Primary and Belmont - Belmont CP School
3. Public Houses & Restaurants [22]
   Winner: Broughton - The Italian Orchard
   Runner-up: Town Green - Solo
   Highly Commended: Barley - The Pendle Inn, Little Eccleston - The Cartford Inn, Sabden - The Pendle Witch Hotel
4. Hotel / Guest House [4]
   Winner: Chipping - Gibbon Bridge
   Runner-up: Town Green - Moor Hall
   Highly Commended: Barton - Barton Manor Hotel
5. Public Building [21]
   Winner: Brindle - Village Hall
   Runner-up: Weeton - Village Hall
   Highly Commended: Grindleton - Pavilion
6. Industrial / Commercial Premises [5]
   Winner: Sabden - Specialised Automotive Services
   Runner-up: Chipping - Bretherton's Garage
   Highly Commended: Adlington Higher - Deighan's Funeral Parlour
7. Shops [21]
   Winner: Barton - Kopper Kettle
   Runner-up: Blacko - Pulse
   Highly Commended: Newburgh - Post Office
8. Sheltered Accommodation [10]
   Winner: Waddington - Alms Houses Winner
   Runners-up: Heapey - Ryefield/Rycroft Bungalows
   Highly Commended: Blacko - Hillview and Broughton - The Watermills
9. Community Notice Board [20]
   Winners: Adlington Higher - Parish and Grindleton - Parish
   Highly Commended: Bretherton - by The Apiary
10. War Memorial [22]
    Winner: Chipping - War Memorial
    Runner-up: Sabden - War Memorial
    Highly Commended: Bilsborrow
11. Heritage Feature [15]
    Winner: Grindleton - Commemorative Table
    Runner-up: Adlington Higher - Model Narrowboat
    Highly Commended: Elswick - Village Plough
12. Public Playing Field [16]
    Winners: Blacko - Beverley Rd Recreation and Hambleton - Bob Williamson Park
    Highly Commended: Chipping - at Village Hall and Goosnargh & Whittingham
13. Children's Play Area [16]
    Winner: Hambleton - Bob Williamson Park
    Runner-up: Bretherton - Recreation Ground
    Highly Commended: Grindleton - Playground
14. Bowling Green [11]
    Winner: Bretherton - Recreation Ground
    Runners-up: Adlington Higher - St. Paul's
    Highly Commended: Sabden - Crown Green Club
15. Cricket Ground/Tennis Club [10]
    Winner: Longton - Tennis Club
    Runner-up: New Longton - Cricket Club
    Highly Commended: Bretherton, Broughton - Broughton & District, Goosnargh & Whittingham and Halsall - Recreation
16. Public Garden [13]
    Winner: Shirdley Hill - Village Green
    Runner-up: Chipping - Wildflower Garden
    Highly Commended: Elswick - Village Green

Download Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition Full Results 2024.

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Previous Years' Results

Results 2023 (PDF Download).

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.