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Whatfield is a located around two miles north of Hadleigh and is part of Babergh district. The Calves Wood, a County Wldlife Site (CWS) in the north of the parish is classed as Ancient Woodland, whilst the parish's south-western border is delineated by the River Brett. The Parish Council holds two meadows and a piece of rough woodland in trust for the villagers. The woodland is on the left-hand side of a pleasant walk down to the river Brett.
'Sense of community wins it for Whatfield'
Whatfield residents can be very proud of the village they live in - after scooping the top spot in Babergh's Village of the Year competition 2014.
Entrants to Babergh District Council's competition, which had to have up to 500 residents on the electoral roll to be eligible, were told the results recently with Whatfield narrowly beating previous winners Tattingstone in to second place.
The winner of this round receives the Cosford Trophy, framed certificate and £500 towards a community project.
District finalists are then entered into the semi-final round, with three villages then reaching the final stage with the overall winner receiving £1,000, a plaque, a certificate and becoming Suffolk Village of the Year.
Councillor Jennie Jenkins, Chairman of Babergh's Strategy Committee, said: "Whatfield thoroughly deserves the district accolade. It is a small but immensely vibrant village.
"Whatfield impressed on the feeling of community spirit and the way the school is integrated with the village, the building of a new play area and the depth of knowledge and interest of the conservation areas. "Now it's fingers crossed for the county round.”
Jo Beever, Babergh and Mid Suffolk's Community Grants Officer, said: “Babergh is delighted to announce Whatfield's success in this round of the competition
“It was a close contest and left the judges with a hard decision but this village very much impressed the judges with the feeling of everyone in the community being involved here."
Babergh's judging panel was made up of four district councillors who marked villages on their community spirit, general appearance, how well its parish council is run and the special activities happening in the village.
Whatfield now goes forward to the next round of the Suffolk Village of the Year competition, which is being judged during July so watch this space for results and we will be giving details of the Presentation Ceremony in due course!