51AVÊÓÆµ

Yorkshire Vet to help pick Downing Street's Christmas tree at South Yorkshire farm

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association will hold the event at Billingley Christmas Tree 51AVÊÓÆµin Barnsley with Peter Wright confirmed as a judge

Chris Brayford
clock • 2 min read
A prestigious competition to decide who supplies this year’s Christmas tree for Downing Street will be held in South Yorkshire next month, hosted by special guest Peter Wright, star of Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet
Image:

A prestigious competition to decide who supplies this year’s Christmas tree for Downing Street will be held in South Yorkshire next month, hosted by special guest Peter Wright, star of Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet

A celebrity vet familiar for his work helping animals in need on the Yorkshire Dales has been tasked as a special judge in a competition to pick this year's Christmas tree for the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

Peter Wright, famous for his appearances on Channel 5's The Yorkshire Vet, has been confirmed as a judge to pick the best Christmas tree and wreath - at Billingley Christmas Tree 51AVÊÓÆµin South Yorkshire - on October 19.Ìý

View this post on Instagram

The competition has been organised by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA) which has over 300 members who plant, grow and sell around six million trees per year.

BCTGA - who have arranged the event since 1999 - said one overall winner will take the title of champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year 2023 to provide the Downing Street Christmas tree this December, while the winner of the champion festive wreath category will supply the wreath for the door of the PM Rishi Sunak's residence at Number 10.

See also: Kelvin Fletcher to transform Peak District farm into Santa's Village wonderland forÌýChristmas

Billingley Christmas Tree 51AVÊÓÆµ- third generation farmers who are tenants of the Wentworth Fitzwilliam Estate - said they diversified the farm to sell Christmas Trees in 2001 after the Foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.

Heather Parry, managing agent for BCTGA, said the event demonstrated the resilience of farmers and growers to produce strong Christmas trees despite ‘climatic challenges' earlier in the year.

See also: Cannon Hall farmers set to appear on new show celebrating harvest

"The best Christmas trees in Britain will be brought together in Barnsley for this annual competition and it's a spectacle to behold, with the judges given an especially tough task to pick a winner," Ms Parry added.

"It is a wonderful occasion which celebrates the hard work and skill of growers across the UK ahead of their busiest time of the year, and it really does demonstrate the unrivalled quality of local sustainably grown Christmas trees."

See also:ÌýAlex James, The Big Feastival and the success of his diversification - 'he has completely thrown his hat into farming'

More on Entertainment

Opinion: BBC Farmwatch: Celebrating the people behind England's farming industry

Opinion: BBC Farmwatch: Celebrating the people behind England's farming industry

From Chris Burns, head of local audio commissioning, BBC Local

Chris Burns
clock 30 July 2026 • 3 min read
Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Farmers Choir announce plans to release first album

Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Farmers Choir announce plans to release first album

Britain's Got Talent-winners say life is a 'whirlwind' as they try to balance farming with new-found success

Jane Thynne
clock 20 July 2026 • 2 min read
Chris Packham and Jeremy Clarkson row escalates after Gogglebox criticism

Chris Packham and Jeremy Clarkson row escalates after Gogglebox criticism

TV presenter Chris Packham took aim at Clarkson’s 51AVÊÓÆµduring an episode of Gogglebox claiming it showed an ‘idealistic view’ of farming

Alex Black
clock 17 July 2026 • 1 min read