PROUD residents of Cheriton Bishop are celebrating after scooping the best kept large village award in a competition which delves beneath the exterior.
It is not about prettiness but pride and passion which scores points in the contest run by the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) and Cheriton Bishop?s thriving community spirit has set it ahead of the game.
The village was selected from 20 hopefuls in the category which saw large villages with populations of 500 to 2,000 take part. Judges made their choice after several visits over a three-month period.
Clerk to Cheriton Bishop Parish Council Peter Flick said it was wonderful news: ?We are very proud of this achievement because it values how we look after our village and the strength of the community here.
?There are villages far more beautiful than Cheriton Bishop in terms of architecture but we keep the village clean and tidy and it has quite a number of clubs and societies.
'The thriving community spirit is down to the fact that we have residents who involve themselves in bringing everyone together.?
He paid particular praise to Jan Mitchell who had been the driving force behind cleaning up the village.
Judges said they found this the most challenging contest to judge so far and it was wonderful to see that villages seemed to work harder each year in order to look their best.
Competition organiser for the Devon CPRE Rosalyn Kriteman said the point of the competition was to find the villages which were doing the best for themselves.
?The judges are not influenced by architecture or beauty of surroundings but are asking whether a village is doing the best for itself given what it has got,? said Mrs Kriteman.
?As well as tidiness, environmental features and general cleanliness, the judges are also looking for community features which are in evidence from the village noticeboard or shop.?
Cheriton Bishop will receive a shield and a special best kept village sign which will be placed at the entrance to the village.
The small village section was won by Offwell near Honiton with the past winners? section won by Sidbury.