From : Michael Bromley Gardner

Here is the feedback from the judges who visited recently :

We began our tour of the village online, looking at the village activities, and were impressed by the number of things happening in such a small village. The Parish magazine was very interesting and engaging.

Arriving at the village (and avoiding the activities of Wessex Water!), we felt that the centre of the village was the church and churchyard. The approach along Church Lane was very well tended and gave us a good introduction to the church. The area around the church was excellently kept, the grass well under control around the gravestones, and the fringes left for conservation. Most of the gravestones were clean, but those within palisades were covered in ivy and it would have been nice to see them more clearly. The fringing area planted with flowering betony in front of the war memorial plaque was absolutely lovely. It was interesting to see that the inside of the church was sometimes used as a village hall – a great idea.

At the other end of the village, the area of small businesses was very neat and litter-free, but inactive on our visit. In Follyfield, we found that while gardens were mostly neat, the pavements and verges could do with some tidying and weeding, and brambles made some of the pavements slightly hazardous. We explored some of the footpaths, and while they were all passable, some clearance would have been a good idea.

The use of the telephone box as a site for the defibrillator is very sensible and appropriate, and the whole area around it was very neat and tidy – no litter at all, and that applied to the whole village. So, well done on the litter-picking.

Many of the gardens were extremely well kept, so the village is to be congratulated on that. Some did have unsightly trimmings of conifers, and we noticed one area behind security fences that seemed overgrown. Overall, the village has shown great community spirit and is to be congratulated on achieving so much with so few inhabitants! We gave it a high mark but rated it second in the Laurence Kitching competition.