Meet the wonderful winners of the BBC Countryfile Magazine awards 2019 as voted for by you. After a long and detailed judging process to produce the shortlists followed by a month of voting, you our readers and website visitors have spoken. And it’s a fantastic list of champions this year – all richly deserving of their success.
“Congratulations to each of the winners – and all the people and places who were shortlisted. The aim of our awards is to celebrate the best of the British countryside and shine a light on lesser known places, projects and people who are doing great work. And personally I’m delighted to have a new list of places to explore in the year ahead.”
Editor Fergus Collins
Beach of the Year
Winner: Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight
- Runner-up: Machrihanish Bay, Argyll and Kintyre
- Third place: Seaham, Durham
Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight. (Getty)
Holiday Destination of the Year
Winner: North Yorkshire
- Runner-up: Orkney
- Third place: Forest of Dean
Roseberry Topping, North Yorkshire (Getty)
National Park of the Year
Winner: North York Moors
- Runner-up: Cairngorms
- Third place: Pembrokeshire National Park
Nature reserve of the Year
Winner: Falls of Clyde Scottish Wildlife Trust
This achingly beautiful wild haven is famous for its spectacular salmon leap waterfalls and scenic woodland walks along the river. Over 100 bird species have been recorded, including ravens, dippers and kingfishers along with bats, otters and badgers.
- Runner-up: Seaton Wetlands LNR, Devon, East Devon District Council
- Third place: Suffolk Wildlife Trust Carlton Marshes, Suffolk
Landmark of the Year
Winner: Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland
World famous Roman boundary and fortification running 141 miles from Bowness in the west to Newcastle in the east. With museums and historic sites along its entire length.
"Hadrian's Wall isn't just one of the most important historical structures in Britain, it's also the one with the most stunning natural setting," judge Eleanor Barraclough
- Runner-up: Huer's Hut, Cornwall
- Third place: Pakenham Water Mill, Suffolk
Garden of the Year
Winner: The Gertrude Jekyll Garden, Lindisfarne
A small yet cleverly planted walled garden that provide an oasis of warmth, colour and beauty all year round on a windswept and otherwise stark island. Once a vegetable patch that provided food for the soldiers of Lindisfarne Castle, this walled garden is an unexpected explosion of colour on the windswept shores of Holy Island.
- Runners-up: Coleton Fishacre, Devon
- Third place: Bodnant, Conway
Village of the Year
Winner: Bembridge, Isle of Wight
Wonderful coastal setting with a pier and lifeboat station, plus a busy village community with independent shops, cafés and restaurants. With three great beaches and the white cliffs of Culver Down on the doorstep, the village is a perfect base for exploring.
- Runner-up: Ingleton, North Yorkshire
- Third place: Cartmel, Cumbria
Country Pub of the Year
Winner: The Dolaucothi Arms, Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire
A coaching inn at the heart of its small community serving Welsh ales and great pub food and a large beer garden with views over the valley. Set in the heart of the National Trust’s Dolaucothi Estate with great walking routes and even a goldmine nearby.
- Runner-up: The Chequers, Retford, Nottinghamshire
- Third place: Crown Inn, Crowntown, Cornwall
Wildlife Success Story of the Year
Winner: Beavers in the Forest of Dean
A strong partnership between local people and the Forestry Commission to trial using beavers as a thrifty and effective way to prevent flooding as well as improve wildlife habitat for woodland and wetland flora and fauna.
"This is a really brave project – where a natural solution has been favoured over hard engineering – and it appears to be working well,” judge Fergus Collins
- Runner-up: Water vole reintroduction on Exmoor
- Third place: Caledonian Forest Restoration Project
Reader Photo of the Year
Winner: Hello, hare by Ben Hartley
BBC Countryfile Magazine Picture Editor Hilary Clothier, said: "Wildlife photography needs great patience to capture that exact shot. Ben Hartley has managed this by his impressive image of the hare taken in the perfect composition, catching it as it stares directly into the camera lens and using a good understanding of natural light which bounces off the eyes and defines the fine delicate outline of the fur on its coat. A worthy winner!"
- Runner-up: Standing tall by Iain Fazackerley
- Third place: Highland view by Malcolm Gray
How voting for the awards works
Reader nominations
Reader nominations were gathered from BBC Countryfile Magazine readers online and via a form in the print magazine.
Judging
A panel of six judges examined the nominations and whittled them down to a shortlist of five in each category. The judges assessed the quality of the nominations against a series of criteria.
Readers vote online or via a postal form in the print magazine. Voting closes on Sunday 17th February at 11:59pm.
The judges:
- Charlotte Smith, BBC presenter of Countryfile and Farming Today
- Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough, historian and TV and radio presenter
- Mark Rowe, travel writer and environmental newswriter
- Phoebe Smith, explorer and travel writer
- Fergus Collins, editor of BBC Countryfile Magazine
- Carys Matthews, BBC Countryfile Magazine digital editor
Public voting
Readers vote online or via a postal form in the print magazine.
Winners announced - March 2019