Flood-hit community bounces back with '˜best village' award

A flood-hit community is celebrating some good news at last, after winning a Best Kept Village award.
St Michaels during the floods in DecemberSt Michaels during the floods in December
St Michaels during the floods in December

Nine months ago, large parts of St Michaels on Wyre were under water after Storm Desmond and Storm Eva caused terrible damage.

Now the dried-out village has been named sixth in the Champion Villages of the Lancashire Best Kept Village competition.

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Prince Harry even visited the village in the aftermath of the floods to see how residents were coping and how the clean-up operation was going.

Second in the Champion Village section was Freckleton.

Another village hit by the December floods, Croston, near Chorley, topped the Large Village category, just pipping Preesall and Knott End to second place.

In the medium village category Elswick was named champion with Great Eccleston in fifth place, while in the Small Village category, Bilsborrow was fifth and Weeton with Preese was named sixth.

Elswick also scooped a certificate of merit for its children’s play area, and St Michaels was further honoured with a ‘best noticeboard’ award.

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Gary Wright, landlord of The Grapes pub in St Michaels, said: “People in the village work hard keeping the place looking nice.

“A lot of time and effort goes into it.

“We all do our bit.

“We spend a lot of money on flowers and planters and other businesses do the same.

“I think it’s an achievement because we have all been focusing on making things straight again after the floods so extra effort has to go into making everything back to normal.”

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