Rewards for Best Kept Village winners

Proud parish councillors from winning villages have gathered to receive their South Kesteven Best Kept Village commemorative certificates.

Ropsley and Welby took top marks in their respective large and small village categories, each also presented with a gold coloured litter bin.

Allington was second in the large village category, with Barrowby third. Stubton took second place in the small village awards with Witham on the Hill third.

Winning villages will receive £400 for the top award, £300 for second and £200 for third.

Welby parish clerk Roel van Aken confirmed that villagers had used judges’ comments from the 2021 competition to improve their village, placed third last year.

He said: “We are delighted to win this year. We asked for the judging assessment from 2021 to help us, took note of comments made on different aspects and it clearly worked.”

In Ropsley, the win was down to collective effort, according to parish councillor Jenny Leslie. She said: “We have a lot of people who care about how Ropsley looks, and it shows. Our gold bin will look absolutely great near the village seat installed for the Golden Jubilee.”

The Ropsley representation included villager Barry Buxton, awarded the British Empire medal for his own work in the community.

Awards were presented by SKDC Assistant Director of Culture and Leisure Karen Whitfield, and Steffie Shields, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Gardens Trust, who helped judge the final stages.

Judges assessed more than 100 villages, reporting that the condition of most villages was exceptionally high and posed a real challenge to judges to determine winners. Judging criteria included facilities, grounds maintenance and street scene, front gardens and evidence of community pride.

The two competition categories are judged on large villages with 501 – 5000 residents and small villages with populations between 100 – 500 residents.