Audlem makes 2005 the award winning year

When Richard Furber, chairman of Audlem Parish Council, told a friend in Market Drayton that the village was in the final five nationally for the Village of the Year competition, the response was "I'm hardly surprised. There's always something going on in Audlem So the news that Audlem went on to win this year's Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) national award for 'Building Community Life' has been greeted locally with huge pleasure but somewhat less than total surprise.
The award was, however, a massive achievement. Villages from every English county were in the running and each had come through their county competitions. Alan Titchmarsh, the gardening broadcaster and writer, presented the award in London to Richard Furber and Parish Council colleague Mike Hill, and commented on just how much goes on in villages like Audlem that go to great lengths to create a vibrant and successful community.

Each July Audlem holds a Proms on the Park event which attracts up to 3,000 people. There's a Transport Festival with over 250 vintage and veteran cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles and aeroplanes parading through or, in the case of the aircraft, over the village. In May there's a Music & Arts Festival which is now bringing in international and national music acts as well as thousands of visitors. And you can add to that a Carnival, the Fun-ky Weekend for kids, an Open Gardens weekend, one of the biggest and best fireworks displays in the region, live music every weekend, and a display of illuminated Christmas treesthroughout the village centre that is second to none. With all this it's easy to see why Audlem picked up such a prestigious national award.

"We're seven miles from anywhere so we have to create our own fun", says Richard Furber. "At the same time we have to attract visitors to build business in our shops, pubs and other businesses. We are lucky that we have one of the best stretches of the Shropshire Union canal, with fifteen locks, passing right through the village. That means we have thousands of narrowboats, plus lots of walkers and cyclists visiting us. But the big events we put on really boost business and provide top quality entertainment for visitors and residents alike".

Most of the annual events are relatively new. While the Audlem Carnival can trace its roots back to 1812, the year Napoleon was having a little trouble outside Moscow and, slightly less well known, the can opener was being invented, the other events have all started in the past decade. Some of the ideas such as the Transport Festival were triggered by the celebration in 1996 of the 700th anniversary of Audlem gaining its Market Charter. Others started after the Millennium Celebrations. The Music & Arts Festival began after a real enthusiast, Paul Moran, moved to the village five years ago.

The Proms on the Park was conceived, like many great ideas, during a pub conversation and was suggested by Paddy Kenshole. His friends all said it was a daft idea but when he persisted, they agreed to help and put up the money in case the event failed to cover its costs. They then happily ripped up their guarantee cheques when the first Proms made a profit. Five years on the money made each year is distributed to local deserving causes.

While most villages have a Parish Council, as Audlem does, fewer have an Amenities Society and hardly any have a team that stages major events. The Audlem District Amenities Society (ADAS) organises all the flower and bulb planting, over 40 illuminated Christmas trees as well as events such as the Open Gardens weekend. The Audlem Special Events Team (ASET) stages the Proms on the Park, Transport Festival and the Fireworks Spectacular and is made up of a group of local enthusiasts, now with a wealth of experience in planning and staging major events. All are volunteers and all are from the village.

While every year now boasts a busy calendar of events, 2005 stood out for a remarkable celebration planned by many village organisations. It was the 60th anniversary of VE and VJ Day and a week of events was organised including the Proms concert, an exhibition, an outdoor service involving Audlem's three churches, a street party and a parade. The most moving moment was the reading of the names of the seventy Audlem residents that did not return to their village after giving their lives for their country. The roll of honour was read by 21-year-old Charlotte Guerin and epitomised the involvement of young and old in this very special week.

Charlotte is a leading member of the village's theatre group, the 5As, which writes and performs productions for many of Audlem's events as well as a pantomime each year. The group is now busy rehearsing for 'Aladdin' which opens in Audlem Public Hall on 25th January and runs for four nights.

When the Minister for Rural Affairs, Jim Knight presented the Defra national 'Building Community Life' award to Audlem earlier this month, he commented on the way the village has developed a real sense of community, not just through its events, but the involvement of so many of its residents. Defra is now producing a special plaque that will be displayed in the centre of the village alongside the other awards Audlem has won in the past few months. As one of the Village of the Year Defra judges said: "Thank you so much for making us feel so welcome. You have a beautiful village with so much going on. We all felt it would be a great place to live in!"

It's a sentiment almost everyone in Audlem would agree with.

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