TOWNSPEOPLE and civic leaders reacted with delight this week, following the announcement as the Times went to press that Tavistock has reached the shortlist in a hunt to find England?s favourite market town. The search has been organised by the prestigious national magazine, Country Life, which asked readers to nominate their favourite market town in the country. Tavistock is one of three towns in the South West which will now go on to the next stage of the competition ? the others are Sherborne in Dorset and Marlborough in Wiltshire. South West judge Noel Edmonds said: ?Tavistock has wonderful specialist shops, such as the famous N H Creber delicatessen, traditions such as the Dickensian Christmas and a great local paper ? and it is all surrounded by stunning scenery.? ?It?s wonderful news,? said chairman of Tavistock Forward John Taylor. ?Everyone has worked very hard and the success of Tavistock in this competition so far is down to how this town and all its groups works together. ?There are so many fantastic organisations and things going on in Tavistock and we are promoting the town wherever we can.? He said 100,000 people visited the recent Plymouth Food Festival where leaflets about Tavistock were distributed: ?We plugged the farmers? market, the pannier market, the restaurants and the shops. ?We may have won a best market town competition last year but we cannot afford to be complacent. We must work hard to be the best again.? Deputy market reeve Mike Souttar said he sent a presentation to the judges along with Graham Kirkpatrick?s and it was one competition he was very keen to do well in: ?This is the one we want and we are the only town in Devon shortlisted so I guess that means we are the best town in Devon. ?However we want to be the best in England and we have to keep up the momentum. We will be doing more in the market and more on the Square - you never know when the judges will be around. This has put us all in a very good mood.? Tavistock resident Graham Kirkpatrick, who originally urged readers of the Times to cast their votes in the competition, said he was ?absolutely delighted? by the news. ?It?s wonderful news,? said Mr Kirkpatrick. ?I?m very hopeful that Tavistock will go on to become the favourite in the UK ? I?m sure it remains the dominant market town in the South West.? Times editor Colin Brent said: ?We are delighted that the newspaper was singled out for a special mention in the judges? round-up. ?It is a tribute to the paper?s staff in all departments. ?We have been delighted to do all we can to publicise Tavistock?s entry in the competition.? A series of judges, which included such well-known names as Penelope Keith and Ben Fogle in addition to Noel Edmonds, will now be visiting the three South West finalists. They will be considering which of the towns has the charm and beauty, top quality food and goods, friendly and helpful shopkeepers and ample facilities and amenities for both young and old to make it a worthy winner. Once the five regional finalists have been picked, they will go head to head at a special lunch in October, when the judges meet to argue their case for the title.
