Edingale's history for free

The old water pump in Edingale village has a 'shrine'-look about it, as though the villagers regularly make flower-offerings there.  I'm sure that's just my imagination though...

Edingale is small but has a long history.   The authors (Carmel and Anthony Mason) of the definitive book about Edingale's story kindly donated their whole work to the village website, where it can be read for free by all, which I think is marvellously generous.  Chapter Seven includes a walking-tour round the village's history.

Pub helps win

The Black Horse pub in Edingale, I was told by one inhabitant, could be the one of the reasons that the village picked up the award for Best Kept Small Village (see yesterday’s post).

The pub had closed down, before Matt, the new owner, completely refurbished it last year, and now – like any good pub! – it takes up a rightful position at the centre of the village’s social life. The beer is pretty good too.

I suggest you visit the pub once the Rugby World Cup tournament starts in a fortnight’s time. Matt used to be a professional rugby player; and I guess he’ll be enthusiastically tuning the pub television to events in New Zealand, so it should be a lively atmosphere…
However, the opening times on the website are a bit misleading. Might be worth phoning in advance.

Link: Black Horse at Edingale

Edingale is the best

Congratulations to Edingale, which has won the Best Kept Small Village award for Staffordshire this year.
Personally, I don’t quite understand why: it’s a nice enough village and tidy enough, and people are very friendly, but I can’t see what makes it so special. Perhaps it pulled out all the stops on the day the judges visited, a few weeks ago.

At least it's not an obvious choice (thank goodness), as it's not ostentatiously pretty, being a dormitory village (for Lichfield/Tamworth), with a lot of new build as well as heritage, and a mix of income-classes.

(By the way, Haughton won in the Large Village category).

Link: Staffordshire’s Best Kept Village Competition