Speyside village takes the top prize at national awards

Dufftown strikes gold
Dufftown strikes gold at national awards

EFFORTS IN DUFFTOWN to enhance their community for residents and visitors alike has paid off in major fashion with a gold medal in the Beautiful Scotland Awards.

Hard working members of Dufftown in Bloom where in Perth this week to hear their village being named as gold medal and overall winners in the large village category.

Recognition for the Moray village as a scenic ‘hot-spot’ in Scotland is little more than the group deserve for their efforts, of which the chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, Derek Robertson, said Dufftown had “excelled”.

He said: “I would like to congratulate the group and its supporters for their efforts to make Scotland a cleaner, greener place for us all to enjoy.”

Six members of Dufftown in Bloom travelled to Perth for the awards announcement, with Secretary Anne Fraser saying it was a “thrill” to know that their work had been recognised as a high level.

She said: “When our chairman, Alistair MacDonald, got on the stage to accept the award he was absolutely ecstatic.”

Entrants in the annual contest were decided earlier this summer when Keep Scotland Beautiful judges visited each town and village, with the key for Dufftown coming in August when an inspection of the floral displays in Dufftown took place.