Best Kept Village Competition

To celebrate the privilege that we all enjoy, living in the beautiful village of Astwood, our Village Hall team has entered us into the Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition! The competition has been running since 1957, promoting:

• The community working together;
• An opportunity for groups of all ages to participate;
• Our picturesque villages in the County, making them more attractive for residents and visitors alike.

The focus is not simply on "pretty" - the competition seeks to celebrate community involvement, making the best of our assets, and the diversity of the place we call home.

The theme that the Village Hall team is promoting is "wilding" - recognising our relationship with our rural setting, showing how we enjoy the blurred lines between our homes, and the stunning environment within which Astwood is set. We have a plethora of environments - open fields, woodlands, mature hedgerows, aquatic settings and our own gardens, and we are incredibly fortunate to share out setting with the wildlife and plantlife that that diversity attracts. Who doesn't smile when they hear the keening of the Red Kites, or the nocturnal "hooing" of our Barn Owls? And when have you not had your hearts lifted when you see our swatches of golden daffodils lining Main and Cranfield Road.

So how can you help? There are lots of initiatives underway - hosting a retired wheelbarrow, crammed with a crowd of bedding plants, building a bug hotel (a "Bee 'n' Bee), creating a safe haven by giving a home to a log pile, or encouraging more of our feathered families to call Astwood home by buiding bird and bat boxes. These are only a few of the activities that the Village Hall team are running (keep your eyes peeled - the village WhatsApp will be sharing more shortly, including a talk about raptors and owls, and possibly a twilight bat walk!).

Want to know more? Pop in on the drop-in session on 3rd May in the Village Hall - come along and Go Wild! 🤣🤣🙏🏻