Welsh Contenders Announced for BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE AWARDS 2018

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE AWARDS 2018

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE WELSH LANDMARKS IN THE 2018 COUNTRYFILE AWARDS

BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE has announced a shortlist of mighty landmarks, outstanding national parks, beautiful nature reserves and finest rural pubs from around the UK, for the seventh BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE AWARDS 2018, which celebrate the best of the British countryside and its people. The shortlist, which includes Welsh locations, is open to the public vote on January 19th.

Wales is well represented on the shortlist. For those who love West Wales, readers can vote for the stunning PEMBROKESHIRE COAST as Holiday Destination of the Year. Or perhaps your heart lies with the amazing BODNANT GARDEN in Conwy, which you can vouch for in Garden of the Year.

Adventurous mountaineers can vote for the impressive peaks of SNOWDONIA in the National Park of the Year category, or the beautiful sands of NEWBOROUGH in Anglesey as Beach of the Year.

This year, the magazine invited readers to send in their suggestions for the greatest places and organisations in the British countryside.

An expert judging panel, including _Countryfile_ presenter JOHN CRAVEN, _BBC Countryfile Magazine_ Editor, FERGUS COLLINS, BBC presenter and naturalist MIRANDA KRESTOVNIKOFF, Editor of _BBC Wildlife_ _Magazine_, SHEENA HARVEY, author and rural affairs journalist MARK ROWE and adventurer PHOEBE SMITH gathered to review all the submissions, whittling down the vast number of nominees down to a shortlist of five contenders in each category.

Panellist John Craven said: “Helping to choose the shortlists meant interacting with you, our readers, in a quite remarkable way. We carefully considered every nomination and some were for places I had never heard of but which you obviously love. That made me determined to check them out, whilst others rekindled many happy memories. What a pleasant way to spend a few hours – discovering your particular favourites in the massive cornucopia that is our countryside.”

Voting opens online at www.countryfile.com/awards [1] from January 19th and will close at midnight on March 5th. Winners will be announced in the May issue of _BBC Countryfile Magazine._

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION;

PANEL QUOTES

FERGUS COLLINS SAID: “It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with such knowledgeable and passionate fellow judges – and we all realised how much joy glorious landscapes and their wildlife bring to so many of you. My only disappointment was how few of the nominated country pubs I’d been to – something to work on in 2018. And now it’s over to readers and website visitors to vote on the 10 shortlists and crown the winners of this wonderful celebration of countryside.”

PHOEBE SMITH SAID: “The BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards are so important. There’s nothing else like them to highlight the incredible landmarks, nature reserves, national parks and conservation initiatives that are so often overlooked but that really make a difference to our lives. Judging was incredibly tough but so much fun – it’s great to give credit to the well-known places and organisations – as well as getting chance to champion the underdogs that we personally know and love so well. Every single nominee should know they had an ardent supporter among us and well deserve their spot in the shortlist.”

MARK ROWE SAID: “The BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards are about celebrating the joy, wonder and care we all share for the landscapes, wildlife and communities of rural Britain. Whittling down the longlists to shortlists of five entrants for each category was a lengthy but hugely enjoyable task and I was really impressed by my fellow judges’

passion, painstaking attention to detail and knowledge. The shortlists comprise some familiar names and locations as well as more than a few underdogs and intriguing nominations – and they come from all corners of the UK.”

SHORTLIST AS FOLLOWS:

HOLIDAY DESTINATION OF THE YEAR 2018

• Forest of Bowland – (http://forestofbowland.com)
• Pembrokeshire Coast – (http://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales)
• Isle of Wight – (https://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk)
• Suffolk –  (https://www.visitsuffolk.com)
• Speyside – (http://www.spiritofspeyside.com)

PUB OF THE YEAR 2018

• The Old Forge, Knoydart, Lochaber (http://www.theoldforge.co.uk)
• The Fox House, Longshaw, South Yorkshire  (https://www.vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/yorkshire/thefoxhouselongshaw)
• The Rugglestone Inn, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon (http://www.rugglestoneinn.co.uk)
• The Lock Keeper, Keynsham, Somerset                  (https://www.lockkeeperbristol.co.uk)
• Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset (http://www.squareandcompasspub.co.uk)

NATURE RESERVE OF THE YEAR 2018

• RSPB Ham Wall, Somerse                                           (https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/ham-wall)
• Rodley NNR, Leeds                                                                                                   (http://www.rodleynaturereserve.org/)
•  RSPB Arne, Dorset                                                  (https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/arne/)
•  Clara Vale, Tyne and Wear                            (https://www.newcastlegateshead.com/things-to-do/clara-vale-local-nature-reserve-p845021)
•  Loch Druidibeg, South Uist                                    (https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/see-and-do/loch-druidibeg-p522161)

LANDMARK OF THE YEAR 2018

• The Dark Hedges, County Antrim                            (https://discovernorthernireland.com/The-Dark-Hedges-Armoy-Ballymoney-P27502/)
• High Force, County Durham                                        (http://www.highforcewaterfall.com/)
• Minack Theatre, Cornwall                                                           (https://www.minack.com/)
• Callanish Stones, Isle of Lewis                               (http://www.callanishvisitorcentre.co.uk/)
• Castell Dinas Bran, Denbighshire                            (http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html)

GARDEN OF THE YEAR 2018

• Bodnant Garden, Conwy – (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden)
• Coleton Fishacre, Devon – (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/coleton-fishacre)
• Rousham Gardens, Oxfordshire – (http://www.rousham.org/)
• Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall -(http://heligan.com/)
• Mount Stewart, County Down – (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mount-stewart)

NATIONAL PARK OF THE YEAR 2018

• New Forest – (https://www.thenewforest.co.uk/)
• The Broads – (http://www.visitthebroads.co.uk/)
• Exmoor – (http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/)
• Northumberland –                                                                       (http://www.nwt.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI94e5_LW52QIVhM0bCh2qaAyFEAAYASAAEgIi-_D_BwE</)
• Snowdonia -( http://www.visitsnowdonia.info/)

COUNTRY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018

• The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
• Islander by Patrick Barkham
• The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young
• Beyond Spring by Matthew Oates
• The Wainwrights in Colour by Andy Beck

BEACH OF THE YEAR 2018

• Luskentyre, Isle of Harris
• Newborough, Anglesey
• Holkham, Norfolk
• Godrevy, Cornwall
• Downhill, County Derry

CONSERVATION SUCCESS OF THE YEAR 2018

• British Divers Marine Life Rescue
• Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project
• Great British Beach Clean
• The Highway England Mitigation Project
• The Flight of the Swans (WWT)

READER PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2018

• Green and Granite by Robert Derrington
• Model Subject by Andrew Fletcher
• Cloud Cover by Chris Garner
• Lively Light by Chris Mole
• Tidal Mirror by Ashley Hemsley
• Golden Feed by Helen Brassington
• Stone Trove by Dave Mason
• Time for Tea by Ray Hutchinson
• Milling Around by Christopher Hill
• Beyond the Bridge by John Dear
• Stormy Spire by Chris Mole
• Voracious Vole by Iain Fazackerley