Over 120 entries into Buxton alphabet competition

The contest was set up by the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust and the final winning 26 entries were unveiled at a special ceremony at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery last Saturday.

Katie Potter, learning facilitator at the trust, said: “We had 126 entries which is so many more than we thought we would get. We also had a wide age range of people not just school children but lots of adults too which was great.”

The Buxton alphabet was inspired by similar projects in Manchester in 1906 and 2015.

The trust wanted to get a snapshot of what people thought made Buxton special and residents were tasked with creating a drawing or photograph along with a small poem for each letter of the alphabet.

Katie said: “What surprised us the most was how often we kept seeing the same entries like Solomon’s Temple, Pavilion Gardens and Grin Low Woods.

“This just shows how important these places are to the people and the town of Buxton and especially after the past couple of years where people have stayed local I think there really is a true appreciation for the wonderful things right on our doorstep.

“We have had some really creative and inspired ideas.

“What x sums up Buxton? We wondered what we would get for that one but the winner was ‘xtra’ large for the Billerettes which is just so funny.”

Some people entered with multiple letters and Katie said the feedback has been so positive with one applicant saying the contest has reignited his love for poetry.

Katie said there were many entries from school pupils including Fairfield Endowed Junior School, many of whom came to the celebration ceremony at the museum.

Entries were judged by Anonglak Somsrimee from Simply Thai, Andrew Pickup from the Herb Garden and Ros Westwood and Nikki Anderson from Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.

All entries are on display at the museum and the trust would eventually like to create postcards with the winning Buxton alphabet that people can buy.

Katie added: “Thank you to everyone who took part, we’ve loved looking at all the entries.”

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