Archived press release

Date Published: 26/01/07

The Queen’s Head in Wing has been crowned the overall winner in Aylesbury Vale’s Village Pub of the Year competition. The popular pub, located on Wing High Street, beat off strong competition to scoop the top prize in the eighth annua...

The Queen’s Head in Wing has been crowned the overall winner in Aylesbury Vale’s Village Pub of the Year competition.

The popular pub, located on Wing High Street, beat off strong competition to scoop the top prize in the eighth annual awards.

The competition, set up in memory of ex district councillor Ted Payne and organised by AVDC, marks the important role a village pub plays in the local community, particularly where there are few other meeting places in the village, such as a shop or post office. 

A panel of judges, which was chaired by Councillor Pam Pearce, Cabinet Member for Community Matters at AVDC, had the pleasure of visiting a number of the nominated pubs in the district. They looked at a range of criteria including the friendliness of the welcome, examples of community involvement and the quality of food and drink on offer.

Councillor Pearce was impressed with the standard of contenders for this year’s awards. “The standard of entries for this year’s competition was very high. We received more than 140 nominations for 36 pubs across the district and the judges felt that many of the pubs were worthy of recognition,” she said.

“One of the most important aspects of a village pub is the welcome it gives to its visitors, and all of the judges were impressed with the warmth of the welcome given at The Queen’s Head,” she added.

A hand-crafted trophy will be presented by Chairman of the Council, Councillor Sue Polhill, to the landlord of the Queen’s Head, Denise Redding, on 29 January at 7.30pm. Denise, who has run The

Queen’s Head for the past two years, said: “I would like to thank my customers and my dedicated staff who make this pub what it is. We try to make sure that everyone who visits receives a warm welcome, whether they are regular customers or first time visitors to the village.”

She added: “The pub is used by many community groups in Wing, and we have aimed to maintain a strong community spirit whilst developing the food offering.”

The Queen’s Head will appear in a guide of the recommended village pubs of Aylesbury Vale, along with all the other award winners and finalists. Copies of this guide will be available shortly from Tourist Information Centres across Aylesbury Vale.

The other award winners were:
• Best Community Pub – The Unicorn, Cublington
• One to Watch – The Chandos Arms, Weston Turville
• Highly Commended – The Wheatsheaf, Maids Moreton

A further nine pubs were commended, including the Buckingham Arms in Maids Moreton, The Old Thatched Inn in Adstock, the Partridge Arms in Aston Clinton, the Old Swan in Cheddington, the Churchill Arms in Long Crendon, the Plough Inn in Marsh Gibbon, the White Hart in Preston Bissett, the Royal Oak in Tingewick and the Five Elms in Weedon.