The hanging baskets were primped, the shop windows polished and it was a tooth-and-nail contest among Bedfordshire’s finest towns and villages. But your votes in the inaugural Muddy ‘Best Places to Live’ competition have now been counted and…*drumroll*…. we’re delighted to announce that the worthy winner is:

Ampthill!

Ampthill was voted as the most popular place to live and it’s easy to see why. The pretty riverside market town has oodles of character, with charming red-brick houses. It also has loads of great independents – in fact, it has one of the highest proportions of indies of any town in the UK. You can’t move for pubs, and as for shops, some of them could have been airlifted from Shoreditch. There’s also plenty of great schools, while the commute into London is just 48 minutes. Add this to the nearby attractions – including Ampthill Great Park (160 acres of parkland and woodland) and Hitchin Lavender – and you’ve got yourself a Muddy Award-winning manor.

Here, read our full Best Places to Live guide to A mpthill to get a 360 on what makes it so special, and check out the final voting results below.

1/ Ampthill
2/ Woburn
3/ Ickwell
4/ Bedford
5/ Henlow
6/ Sandy
7/ Pavenham
8/ Arlesey

Want a peek over the border at the best places to live in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire, or maybe plot the location for your next break or dream holiday home? Check out the full list of winners across 25 counties.

Don’t agree with the verdict? Let us know in the comments below if you have a gem we’ve missed out and we’ll hotfoot it down there to see if can make the cut for next time.

And the Best Place to Live in Bedfordshire is…

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