SOMERSET features in the shortlists for this year's BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards.

Now in their eighth year, the awards honour landmarks, outstanding national parks, beautiful nature reserves and fine rural pubs from around the UK.

Shortlists for the 10 categories have now been revealed, including several Somerset locations, and are now open to the public vote.

The Somerset nominees are the impressive range of habitats, from wild moors, deep wooded combes, mighty cliffs and a varied coastline of Exmoor National Park, which has been nominated for National Park of the Year, while the water vole reintroduction on Exmoor has made the shortlist for the Wildlife Success Story, and the RSPB Ham Wall reserve in Somerset also receives a nomination, for Nature Reserve of the Year.

An expert judging panel, including Countryfile and Farming Today presenter Charotte Smith, BBC Countryfile Magazine Editor, Fergus Collins, historian and TV and radio presenter Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough; BBC Countryfile Magazine Online Editor Carys Matthews; author and rural affairs journalist Mark Rowe and adventurer Phoebe Smith, gathered to review all the submissions, whittling down the vast number of nominees down to a shortlist of five contenders in each category.

Panelist and Countryfile presenter, Charlotte Smith, said: “It was a joy to sit in a (small) room with some lovely and interesting people and chunter about our favourite places.

"I made notes and will be checking out some of the other judges’ recommendations.

"Actually making decisions on the shortlist was significantly harder, But I hope you agree we’ve found some fantastic parts of the country - now vote, and visit.”

Editor of BBC Countryfile Magazine, Fergus Collins, added: “Congratulations on everyone who has been shortlisted – it was a tough judging process, so they can all justly feel proud at being part of this celebration of the best of the British countryside.

"Now it’s up to readers and website visitors to vote on their favourites in each category and I anticipate some closely fought contests.”

Voting opened on January 18 at www.countryfile.com/awards and will close at midnight on February 17, with winners announced in the May issue of BBC Countryfile Magazine.

The full shortlists are:

Village of the Year 2019

• Cartmel, Cumbria

• Bwlch, Powys

• Ingleton, North Yorkshire

• Drummore, Dumfries and Galloway

• Church Minshull, Cheshire

• Bembridge, Isle of Wight

Holiday Destination of the Year 2019

• Dumfries and Galloway

• Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

• North Yorkshire

• Berwyn Hills, Powys/Denbighshire

• Orkney

National Park of the Year 2019

• Cairngorms

• North York Moors

• Dartmoor

• Pembrokeshire Coast

• Exmoor

Garden of the Year 2019

• Coleton Fishacre, Devon

• Gertrude Jekyll Garden, Lindisfarne, Northumberland

• Bodnant, Conwy

• Benvarden Antrim

• Cottesbrooke, Northants

Pub of the Year 2019

• Crown Inn, Crownton, Cornwall

• Ebrington Arms, Kirkby On Bain, Lincolnshire

• The Dolaucothi Arms, Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire

• The Chequers, Ranby, Nottinghamshire

• Ferry Inn, Orkney

• Clachaig Inn, Glencoe, Highland

Beach of the Year 2019

• Cefn Sidan, Camarthenshire

• White Park Bay, County Antrim

• Sandown Bay, Isle Of Wight

• Seaham, Durham

• Machrihanish Bay, Argyll And Kintyre

• Newborough Warren, Anglesey

Landmark of the Year 2019

• Dunluce Castle, Antrim

• Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland

• Huer’s Hut, Cornwall

• Nine Standards Rigg, Cumbria

• Pakenham Water Mill, Suffolk

Wildlife Success Story 2019

• Beavers in The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

• Caledonian Forest Restoration Project, Highland

• Shiant Isles Seabird Recovery Project, Outer Hebrides

• Water Vole Reintroduction on Exmoor, Somerset

• Reintroduction of Chequered Skipper Butterfly, Northants

Nature Reserve of the Year 2019

• Findhorn Bay LNR, Moray

• Seaton Wetlands LNR, Devon

• Falls of Clyde, Lanarkshire, Scottish Wildlife Trust

• RSPB Ham Wall, Somerset

• Carlton Marshes, Suffolk Wildlife Trust

Reader Photo of the Year 2019

• Merely Frozen by Kenneth Davies

• Hello, Hare by Ben Hartley

• Storm Warning by Ray Hutcheon

• Standing Tall by Iain Fazackerley

• Life on the Ice by John Cuthbert

• Remarkable Rock by Anita Elliot

• Oak Tree in Rape Field by Andrew Fletcher

• Highland View by Malcolm Gray

• Crash Flight by Yvonne Morrison

• Across the Valley by Andrew Fletcher

• Showstopper by Cliff Salt