Shropshire Star Tourism & Leisure Awards - meet the winners
[gallery] More than 10,000 readers cast their votes in the Shropshire Star's inaugural Tourism & Leisure Awards – and yesterday their favourites were revealed as the competition reached its climax at a prize-giving celebration.
James Berresford, chief executive of national tourism association VisitEngland, was guest of honour at the awards lunch, held at Enginuity in the Ironbridge Gorge.
He joined the leading movers and shakers from the Shropshire tourism scene to see 16 winners crowned.
The Shropshire Star launched the awards earlier this year as a platform to showcase best practise across the tourism and leisure sectors.
We joined forces with headline sponsor Telford College of Arts and Technology, the local authorities, Global Freight, Lilleshall National Sports & Conferencing Centre, and 15 other category sponsors.
Shropshire Star editor Martin Wright said the awards had been the most successful in the newspaper's history for reader interaction.
The first six awards handed out yesterday were based on votes cast by Shropshire Star readers.
And readers clearly decided you don't have to spend any money on admission prices for the Best Day Out, because the prize went to the Carding Mill Valley and Long Mynd, near Church Stretton. With nearly 5,000 acres of heather-covered hills and stunning views of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Welsh hills, it beat fellow finalists the Burwarton Show, Severn Valley Railway, and Stokesay Castle.
The award for Best Night Out went to The Buttermarket in Shrewsbury which, after a £2 million refurbishment, is proving it certainly has the X Factor by attracting the top acts from the ITV music show. It took the prize ahead of two other Shrewsbury venues – The Hive and the Old Market Hall – plus Oakengates Theatre in Telford.
