One community is celebrating success in the Oxfordshire Best Kept Village Competition - for the second year in a row.

The South Oxfordshire village of Goring on the River Thames came top in the Winners' Class of the contest, having won the Large Villages class a year ago.

Goring also scooped the Midland Region award in a similar contest - the National Village of the Year competition - last year.

Areas by the river, lock, and backwaters were highly praised in the Oxfordshire competition along with the Thames Path and the Ridgeway Path. Judges described them all as a good leisure amenities for villagers and visitors.

The large number of seats and notice boards in Goring also impressed judges.

The judges' report said: "It was plain that many voluntary groups within the village are successful in their task of making Goring an environmentally friendly and pleasant place to live." The organiser of the village's entry, Mike Jackson, who is also vice-chairman of Goring Parish Council, said: "We are absolutely delighted.

"I didn't hold out too many hopes as we were up against stiff opposition, as all the Winners' Class entrants are previous winners. Goring has a lot going for it."

He thanked Gill Cranshaw, also from Goring, for her help in the village's entry.

Steventon came second with the village of Checkendon, near Henley, finishing in third equal place with Ardington.

Pride of place in the small villages' class went to Wootton, near Woodstock.

Linda Pencherz, parish clerk, said: "It is a typical small Cotswold village, lovely and very pretty.

"But people look after it well. Their gardens are well kept and there's a pride in keeping everything in good order." The village's picture postcard setting, with traditional stone cottages, is backed up by well-mown verges and a tidy set of allotments in Milford Lane.

At the playing field in Castle Lane residents have recently paid for a new range of children's equipment - even a rabbit-shaped litter bin! Judges were also impressed by the two pubs, The King's Head in Chapel Lane and Killingworth Castle in Glympton Road.

Wootton last won the award in 1991 and the 700 villagers are now looking forward to further improvements, including a Millennium project involving the setting up of a wildlife haven on four acres of water meadow near the River Glyme.

Runners up were Stratton Audley with Alvescot in third place and Cassington fourth.

At Stanton Harcourt, parish council chairman John Faulkner said they were "thrilled" to win the Medium Villages class of the competition. "We last won it in 1993 and this is a real community effort," he added. "A number of gardens in the centre of the village look quite spectacular and must have caught the judges' eyes."

The tidy, well-kept hedges and verges and cemetery were all down to a team of four retired men, Wilf Bayliss, Tom Wickson, Alan Ayres and Basil Hedges.

"The village shop, run by John and Margaret Jones, is a boon to the community and both pubs, the Harcourt Arms and The Fox, are very welcoming and attractive with their floral displays," added Mr Faulkner.

Aston came second with Leafield third.

There was also good reason for villagers in Blewbury to celebrate after it came out on top the first year it entered the large villages' class.

Runners-up were Charlbury with Kennington third.

The late Poet Laureate John Betjeman called Blewbury a beautiful village set among footpaths, cob and thatch, hedges, streams, willows and elms. But as the competition is for the best kept and not necessarily the prettiest village, the criteria for success has more to do with tidiness which, in Blewbury, is largely due to the co-ordinating and cajoling efforts of the Blewbury Society's environmental group.

Chairman Bernardine Shirley-Smith said she was very pleased at their success.

Mrs Shirley-Smith said special credit for their win should go to the Women's Institute which organised weekly street-by-street litter collections.

The environmental group was also concerned about the upkeep of a host of different areas, from the maintenance of public benches to checking out that public areas like Blewbury Hall were kept clean and tidy. It also organised an annual clean-up of The Cleve stream.

Competition judges said they had much to commend - they walked the highways and by-ways and inspected the free-running streams and clean ponds. "They noted the well-kept cottage gardens and newly mown grass surrounding them. The footpaths were equally clear of nettles, thistles and weeds."

The village shop was immaculate. Some litter had blown out of a litter bin and along the street the day the judges called but it was the only litter they could see.

Saxon chalk and thatched walls - including a new cob wall constructed with the same methods used for centuries - were a feature of Blewbury which was previously a regular entry in the medium villages' section before its population crept above 1,500.

The judges' report said: "It is very clear that a great deal of time and effort is put into keeping this village so pleasing to all who live in it and visit."

Parish council chairman Kathy Edmunds congratulated the whole village for the enormous effort in keeping Blewbury clean and tidy. The council is now employing a man to clear litter from public areas like The Pound and the Playclose and to help keep roads and lanes free from weeds and overhanging branches.

Finally, there was delight for residents of Launton, near Bicester, who celebrated success for their village war memorial.

The memorial, built four years ago, has won the Parncutt Cup, awarded by the Royal British Legion for outstanding upkeep of memorials.

Parish councillor Tom Oliver said: "It's not really that surprising because certain people in the village keep it nice all the year round and the parish council makes sure the grass is cut.

"It is pretty tidy and we try to keep it that way."

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