West Lindsey is Home to Lincolnshire's Best Kept Village

Residents and parish councillors gathered in Nettleham this week for the unveiling of a bench recognising the village as one of the best kept in Lincolnshire.



Photo: M. Leaning

Nettleham was named as joint winner of the Best Kept Village 50th Anniversary award, organised by Community Lincs. Sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund, this special award was given to Nettleham - and also to Tealby - for having the most consistent scores in the past 50 years of the competition.
Pennells Garden Centres, which sponsor the annual award and donate trees to the winning villages each year, donated a bench to both of the overall winners. Managing director Richard Pennell said:

“These two villages over the years have been consistently good. The enthusiasm of the people involved and the care that they take is great.”

The Lincolnshire Best Kept Village competition has been run by Community Lincs since 1962. In that time Nettleham has won its category (for villages between 2,001 and 7,000 residents) 11 times, most recently in 2010. Tealby has won its category eight times, coming second on 10 occasions.

Speaking at the presentation of the bench on Nettleham village green, chairman of Nettleham Parish Council Cllr Terry Williams said: “This was very much a tri-partite effort. It was an effort on the part of our residents, businesses and the parish council.

“I thank the residents all for their contribution over a 50 year period, for making sure our gardens are kept neat and tidy.

“I also thank the businesses around the village for making sure their premises are neat and tidy and making sure they have flower displays.

“The contribution of the parish council has been making sure the verges are tidy and cut.”

Co-ordinator of the awards for Community Lincs, Teresa Palmer, said villages were judged on their presentation, including whether there was any litter, how memorials and churchyards were kept, whether wildlife is catered for, and community spirit. She said:

“One of the strong points of Nettleham is there are so many different groups and so much going on for all age groups.”

West Lindsey District Council has supported the competition for many years and both Nettleham district councillors, Cllr. Giles McNeill, Conservative and Cllr Malcolm Leaning, Liberal Democrat, attended the presentation. Cllr. Malcolm Leaning said:

 “I am delighted my home village of Nettleham, where I was born, has come equal first over the past 50 years in the ‘Best Kept Village in Lincolnshire’ competition.

“Having been a member of Nettleham Parish Council for 48 years I can remember the first time we voted to enter the competition in 1967 – which was also the first time we won it!

“The award of a seat will ‘sit’ and be well used on Nettleham village green.”

For more information go to http://lincolnshirebestkeptvillages.co.uk

Nettleham is Best Kept Village - Again!

Nettleham residents will be feeling mighty pleased to once again have been award first place in the Lincolnshire Best Kept Village and Small Towns Competition 2010.

The competition, entered into by Nettleham Parish Council, has a number of categories and the village compete is the third category for villages with a population of between 2,001 - 7,000 residents.

Writing to the Parish Clerk the organisers said:

"Congratulations to your community on winning your class in this year's competition again.  The marks have been very close which is the hall mark of a high standard of competition and you can with justification feel very proud of the achievement of your community.  The residents of Nettleham obviously pull together to make it a nice place to be."

The Parish Council will receive a plaque to erect marking the achievement, a certificate and a tree.

Nettleham Parish Councillor, Giles McNeill said:

"I am really proud of how our community works so hard year in year out to be leaders in this competition. I also want to praise the staff of the Parish Council who work hard to remove any grafitti or other detritus swiftly, ensure that fences are readily repaired and that contractors complete grass cutting to the high standards expected of the Council. I must also praise those people in the village who volunteer their time to go litter picking."