Dismissal from TV contest a pie in the face
The man behind one of the world’s biggest food fights says Coxheath should be proud, despite losing its bid to win Village of the Year.
On Thursday, the village appeared on the Channel 4 competition, presented by Dame Penelope Keith, as it looked to appear in the next round.
But the village’s renowned custard pie-throwing championships, which celebrated its 50th year during filming, was not enough to put Coxheath through.
The event was described as “laugh out loud funny”, but judges failed to see past the event, and it was the first to be dropped, before the panel eventually selected Findon, much to the dismay of custard pie championship chairman Mike Fitzgerald, whose brother is from the West Sussex village.
He joked: “All they’ve got is hills and nature, Coxheath doesn’t have lambing to offer, it has a history of highwaymen.”
Three Kent villages had appeared in the competition, with Penshurst and Goudhurst both failing to beat top competition.
Mr Fitzgerald said: “We did a great job, to be one of 76 entrants across the country is a great achievement.
“I thought it was a pity they didn’t pick up on the fact that the custard pies helped raise money to build the village hall and brings the community together each year.
“In that sense, people didn’t get the full picture of what the village had to offer, but that’s not the point, we still did very well to selected.
“Of course, we should have made the final.”