Crickhowell has been engulfed in ‘civic pride and community spirit’ as locals flock to social media in a major effort to crown the town as one of Britain’s best.

The bid to win a Great British High Street award has swelled social media support, with Crickhowell outdoing Altrincham and its 50,000 people, and leading the UK in the #GBHSCrickhowell hashtag count on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tim Jones, from the Corn Exchange Crickhowell team, said, “Crickhowell’s effort so far has been truly heroic—there’s been a real buzz around. To think that a small town like ours can beat huge cities to the popular vote is amazing and what’s even better is that the final count will be based on population size. ??We just need people to keep on voting, you can vote as often as you like so please keep going.”??Sports commentator John Inverdale, broadcaster Jamie Owen and cast members and the writer of Keeping Faith posed with posters urging people to Vote Crickhowell.

Local shops and businesses have been coming up with the most inventive ways of writing #GBHSCrickhowell into goods, Tim said.

Preparations are well underway for the day when the Great British High Street judges visit the town. Crickhowell Cubs have been making bunting and volunteers are being recruited to hang it and to decorate the town on Sunday, October 21, from 2-5pm.

Andrew Jenkins, assistant cub leader said, “The High Street traders do so much for us. They are always willing to help out. It’s great to have a chance to give something back."

Tim Jones and Corn Exchange MD, Dean Christy will tour the town with the judges for two hours.

“We want to show them Crickhowell’s unique high street which is completely full of independent and family-run businesses. But we also want to show them other aspects of the town which make it so special – like the work done by volunteers. ??“We want to capture that community spirit by inviting individuals and teams of local people to help us prepare the High Street for the judges this Sunday.

“There will be free tea, coffee and Shortlisted High Street cake provided by Book-ish of Crickhowell. We will be photographing the whole event so that we can show the judges how the community comes together.  For that reason, we are inviting people to wear T-shirts or jackets showing the names of their organisations.

“And we need everyone who has a social media account to vote for Crickhowell by posting #GBHSCrickhowell #MyHighStreet on social media. We could win up to £15,000 to spend in the community. But just being named the Best High Street in Wales or even in Britain would be a prize beyond compare.” said Tim. ?