Edition 104 - October 2006
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Oliver Ivan, Lucy Fairchild and Henry Dallyn  EDITORIAL Whilst there have been some very heavy [but tree and plant needed] showers over the last few days, and the evenings are drawing in, we have had a good summer and a lovely September with the many village events benefiting in the main from the good weather. As part of the Horticultural and Craft Show, pupils at the Primary School produced artwork on the theme of Brunel 200. The wonderful colourful winning entries make up the delightful covers of this issue. A very big thank you to all the children for their participation - both winners and non-winners because the task of judging them all was extremely difficult. Christmas is creeping up on us again with some shops already decorated for the event! Although it may seem a little premature, please do make a note of the coming Christmas Fairs and Bazaars detailed later, as the December issue may be too late! The Manor Hall Committee will be running their usual village Christmas Card delivery service, however, it was suggested last year that people might like to give a donation to the Manor Hall funds and send their greetings to friends and neighbours via the Newsletter. This you would be very welcome to do. Such messages and donations, together with articles, and especially Festive items, will need to be at the Shop or Chicane as early as possible and by Monday 113th November at the very latest please. Haven't YOU something YOU could contribute? Don't always leave it up to someone else - in the words of Mr. Tesco, 'every little helps'!
Judie - Ed 1  BERRYNARBOR W.I. After
the August break, it was nice to resume meetings and on 5th September a member
of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust gave an interesting talk. There are now two helicopters operating from Middlemoor and Great Torrington, which means a helicopter
can reach 50% of Devon within five minutes, and the remaining 50% within
ten. The competition for an aerial
photograph was won by Maureen Wonnacott and the raffle by Ethel Tidbury. At
our meeting on the 3rd October, Michael Hesman, from
Ilfracombe, showed slides of Around Great Britain which illustrated what a
beautiful country we live in. The
competition for a souvenir of Exmoor was won by Maureen Wonnacott and the
raffle by Inge Richardson. As usual,
the meeting began with the business section and ended with tea, biscuits and a
chat! This
year, the Autumn Group Meeting will be hosted by Loxhore W.I. on the 17th
October. The Annual Meeting takes place
on the 7th November, when new committee members and officers will be elected. How the year has flown by! The competition is for a photograph of a
member as a baby. We
hope to arrange a minibus to go to the W.I. Carol Service in Exeter Cathedral
on 5th December. There may be a few
spare seats, so if anyone is interested in joining us for shopping, please
'phone either Marion Carter on 882206 or myself,
Doreen, on 589234. The meeting on the
7th December will be a Christmas Party, when we shall be entertained by Norma
and Tony Holland. Please note this date
is the first THURSDAY, due to the Carol Service on the 5th. Visitors
are always welcome at our meetings. Doreen Prater 2  ST. PETER'S CHURCH The
Summer Fayre was a great success with £1,024.75 being raised in a short
space of time. Our thanks to everyone
who helped in any way and to those who gave donations, being unable to attend
on the day. The performances by Puppet
Power and the Hand-bell Ringers were much appreciated and added to the
enjoyment of the evening. Items not
sold on the china and bric-a-brac stalls have been passed on to the North Devon
Hospice shops. Thank you to the stall-holders who packed
everything away so tidily at the end.
One plea: Please do not give
electrical goods in future - we are not allowed to sell them second-hand. The final total for Gift Day came
to £1,090 and all the money will go to the upkeep and running of the church. A
steady flow of visitors made their way up to the church for the Holiday
Festival on Bank Holiday Monday.
There was something for everyone to enjoy and the atmosphere was so
relaxed and friendly. The Village Shop
was well represented with local and specialist foods to sample and the
wine-tasting was very popular. Doreen
and Janet kept us supplied with refreshments - the home-made cakes were delicious! Then there was the music, the spinning and
flower arranging; the Newsletter
display, the model railway and the stalls.
There was even a team of visiting bell-ringers. Altogether a good team effort, co-ordinated
by Stuart, which made some £320 for the church. The
Manor Hall has been booked for an Autumn Bazaar on the afternoon of
Saturday, 4th November, from 2.00 p.m.
There will be racks of nearly-new clothes plus the usual stalls and a
raffle. Items for the various stalls
will be most welcome. Please contact
Mary Tucker [883881] if you have gifts to be collected. It is also hoped to have a stall selling
Christmas items and there will, of course, be refreshments. Following
the Harvest, our next special service will be on Sunday, 29th October, at
3.00 p.m. when candles will be lit and placed on the altar in memory of
loved ones. This simple service of
hymns and prayers is open to everyone and affords an opportunity for quiet
remembrance at All Souls tide. The
afternoon ends with tea and biscuits. Remembrance
Sunday falls on 12th November this year, and together with the Parish
Council we shall gather in church at 10.45 a.m. ready for the laying of wreaths
followed by the special service. Friendship
Lunches continue at The Globe and will be on Wednesdays 25th October and
22nd November, from 12.00 noon onwards.
Mary
Tucker 3 A BIBLICAL PUZZLE - HERE IS THE SOLUTION! This is a most remarkable
puzzle. It was found in an airplane seat pocket by a gentleman on a
flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu
keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much that he
passed it on to some friends.
One friend from Illinois worked on this while in the john. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a
columnist friend was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly
newspaper column. Another friend judges
the job of solving this
puzzle so involved, she brews
a cup of tea to help her nerves. There
will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book
names are not necessarily capitalised. Truthfully, from answers we get we are forced to admit it usually
takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in
our genes is responsible for
the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fundraising event which
featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi
Lemonade booth set a new sales record. The local paper, the Chronicle, surveyed over 200
patrons who reported that this puzzle was the most difficult they had ever
seen. As Daniel Hamana humbly puts it, "The books
are right there in plain view, hidden from sight." Those
able to find them all hear great lamentations
from those who have to be shown. One revelation
that may help is that books like Timothy
and Samuel may occur
without their numbers.
Also keep in mind that the punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude
helps you compete really well
against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need
for a mass exodus, there
really are thirty books of the Bible lurking
somewhere in these paragraphs. Thanks
to Patsy and Alan - it seems many of you have had great fun finding the books,
with varying degrees of success! 4  MANOR HALL NEWS Many
thanks to everyone for all your help and support with the August Berry Revels,
which were a great success weather-wise and financially - just over £1,500 - a
big help towards meeting the requirements of the Disabled Discrimination
Act. The porch ramp and handrail are in
place, the door frame in the Bassett Room removed to enable wheelchairs to
reach the fire exit and the outside path widened for a speedier and easier
exit. We have also acquired an
induction loop and two chairs with arms. On
the 23rd September, the Hearts of Oak gave a great performance as well as very
generously donating their fee to our funds - £300 raised. As announced, they are disbanding but not
before giving their final concert at the Roundswell Community Hall, Barnstaple,
on Saturday, 28th October, 7.30 p.m. to 12.00
midnight. Proceeds for the North Devon
Hospice [01271-344248], tickets £5.00 and take your own supper and beverages. Thinking
ahead, the village Christmas Card Collection and Delivery, with the help of the
Community Shop, will be operating again this year. With a 10p per card donation, put your cards
in the 'special box' provided at the shop.
Cards will be sorted and delivery arranged at the Manor Hall Christmas
Coffee Morning on Saturday, 16th December.
Thank
you for your support. Margaret Weller - Secretary, Manor Hall
Committee 5 SINGING THE PRAISES My long awaited and much looked forward
to trip to take part in the Songs of Praise Big Sing in the Royal Albert Hall
on 10th September was a wonderful experience and one that will last a
lifetime. My hotel was only a 7 minute
walk from the Hall and when I got there at about 5.00 p.m. already there were
queues of people waiting outside the various entrance doors which was printed
on their ticket. Mine was door Number
3. While I and a group of people were
looking at the advertising boards reading about future events at the Hall, Pam
Rhodes came along and asked us all to go to the stage door and queue to make it
look as if we were queuing to get in.
She explained that she was making a programme to be screened on 22nd
October about how The Big Sing is made.
We dutifully queued up while she did 3 takes and then she interviewed
various people in the queue asking why they had come. Then we all returned to queue at our
allocated door, and following a bag search were let in. I had never been to the Hall before and
when I got to my seat in a box on the 2nd tier, to look around at all the other
boxes and the enormous size of the Hall was breathtaking. The seats were filling up very quickly and
the orchestra tuning up. Aled Jones introduced the evening and two programmes were recorded - The Big Sing to be screened on
the 29th October and
The Big Party which viewers can see on New Year's Eve. The orchestra, conducted by Paul Leddington-Wright, began by playing the Songs of Praise
signature tune and then through the evening, we sang 13 hymns and songs to make
up the programmes, interspersed by solos from Hayley Westenra and Katherine
Jenkins, plus Cantamus and supported by the Royal
Choral Society, Sketchley Hill Primary School and
High School. With the congregation, there were 6,000
voices. There were several hymns we had
to sing twice because the floor manager considered they were not quite right. I never realised the amount of effort and hard work which
goes in to making a programme - men with shoulder held cameras everywhere being
followed by support people trailing wires, others with massive long boom
cameras to get shots of people in the congregation and
those in the Choir. Behind the scenes
were scanners and sound people to ensure that it was all suitable for
inclusion in the programmes. It did seem funny though when Aled Jones was talking about the New Year of 2007 in a few
hours time, as if he was actually doing the programme on New Year's Eve! It was very hot and people were using their programmes as fans but the ones in the front row were asked
to stop fanning themselves when the 'smoke' was used to create 'Autumn mist'
for the soloists as the breeze would make it go everywhere. It was a lovely
evening and Aled Jones a very able presenter.
The next day, I visited the
Queen's Gallery, the Royal Mews and the State Apartments at Buckingham
Palace. Bag searches once again and no
bottled water to be taken in but left in a special area and labeled with a draw
ticket with the other half given to the owner, to be collected on leaving. The Queen's Gallery had one room just full
of a selection of 80th birthday cards sent to the Queen, mainly from children,
schools, playgroups, Brownies, day care centres,
Women's Institutes and Mothers' Unions.
Some were very amusing and others had obviously had a lot of thought put
into them - cross stitched with corgis and horses, 80 numerals and personalised with her name. Schools had sent scrapbooks and some good
wishes were even sent on ribbons from Beavers.
In other rooms, watercolours were displayed,
items of furniture, paintings by Gainsborough and Reubens,
to name but a few, and beautiful tableware used at the Coronation of King
George V, hundreds of years old. Jewellery belonging to Queen Victoria was also on display,
which was stunning. Then to the Royal
Mews to see some of the horses (some were on holiday), the Rolls Royce Phantom
and the Coaches, including the Glass Coach used for Royal Weddings, the Irish
State Coach used for the State Opening of Parliament and the Gold Coach used
for the Queen's Coronation. Needless to say, they were all beautiful and in
pristine condition.
Illustrations by: Paul Swailes Buckingham Palace was, as expected, very
opulent, sumptuous and ornate. A lot of
gilded things, gold and silver everywhere, thick carpets and heavy
curtains. The Throne Room was smaller
than I expected but very grand just the same, as was the dining room with a
huge table for State Banquets. You'd
have a hard job to pass the salt to the person on the other side of that
one! The Ballroom, too, was lovely and
where all the Insignia was on display to celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday
year. Also on display to celebrate this
was some of her beautiful and fantastic jewellery -
tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and brooches in aquamarine, diamonds,
rubies and emeralds, all carefully described as to whom and from which Country
had given them as a gift. A selection
of the Queen's Evening Gowns from the 1940's to the present day was also
displayed and grouped in colours - all the pinks together, the whites, creams,
greens, oranges, yellows, blues including the outfit she wore for Princess
Margaret's Wedding. It was interesting
to see how the styles had changed over the years and again, each dress was
carefully catalogued with the designer, the year and the occasion when it was
worn. There
were gift shops at each location selling the most exquisite bone china - £30
alone for a cup and saucer which you would be afraid to use; £40 for a cushion
with either Queen, King, Prince or Princess on it; £8 for 2 tea towels with the Royal cipher,
expensive jewellery; books, postcards,
a set of 4 collectable spoons £20; CDs,
DVDs, tins of biscuits and tea, calendars, t-shirts and fun things in the
children's section. The last event of the day was coming back
on the train, when a fire alarm alerted the train manager. It seems there was a fire in the back
power-house car and we had a delay of over an hour on the track between Maidenhead
and Reading. When that was isolated, if
was found that the brakes had stuck on so pressure had to be built up to
release them and then because
someone had pulled the communication cord, that had to be reset. We finally got going but after a short time
we heard a terrible 'clunk' and it was announced that due to a mechanical
problem, the train would terminate at Reading and we all had to get off and get
on the next train from Paddington, which itself had been delayed because of the
problem with our train. Once we
were all settled in the new train, I have to say I have never, ever been in a
train which has travelled at such a high speed! The
countryside was whizzing by and we went through stations in a split second,
absolutely impossible to even try and read the name of it. People were walking to and from the buffet
car as if they were drunk or on a rough sea.
We got to Taunton approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes after leaving
Reading and because of the delay of more than an hour, all the passengers were
entitled to claim the cost of their ticket back, so a free trip home. It was a marvellous couple of days but very good to see the "Welcome to Devon"
sign near Junction 27 on the M5, and later on the lights of Bratton - back home
again safe and sound. Sue Squire 6
Issy Barten, Miles Rees and Alfie Moore 7  BERRYNARBOR HORTICULTURAL & CRAFT SHOW Saturday,
2nd September, saw another enjoyable and successful event in our busy
village. The annual Horticultural and
Craft Show attracted over 400 entries from more than 80 entrants, of which 75
were entered by 15 youngsters all under the age of 14. The afternoon Show of exhibits drew in
villagers, other locals and visitors - as well as the entrants - to admire the
displays and enjoy tea and home-made cakes and the prizes were presented by Ron
Toms. The
displays ranged from beautiful floral art to mouth-watering cakes, flans, fudge
and sloe gin! The colourful and skilled
needlework and handicraft items were eclipsed by a 3 foot carved wooden hare,
whilst the art, particularly from the youngsters, showed imagination and
mastery of various mediums. In spite of
first the long drawn out winter, the hot dry summer and latterly wind and rain,
the excellent horticultural efforts - cut flowers, fruit and vegetables -
defied the elements. No such problems,
however, for the array of potted plants.
A beautiful, pale mauve orchid exhibited by Pip Summers, won her not
only the Best in Section award but also the Best in Show award for a
Horticultural item. The
Globe Cup for Floral Art, for the second year running, went to Linda Dovell with Jasmine Pearce taking the junior prize. Linda Brown's Bakewell
Tart took the Walls Cup for Home Cooking and Megan Jones' 4 fairy cakes gave her the junior
award. The Davies Cup was won by Eileen
Hobson for her tapestry weaving and the Watermouth Cup went to Laura Matthews's
magnificent hare. Sisters Olivia and
Sarah Prentice took the junior prizes and Sarah also won the junior Art Section. The George Hippisley
Cup for Art was won, also for the second year, by Lisa
Shelley whose picture of a rowing boat on the shore was also voted by the
judges to be the Best in Show for a non-horticultural item. Tony Summers certainly knows his onions -
for the third year running, the Derrick Kingdon Cup for Fruit and Vegetables
will be adorning his mantelpiece!
Martin Oliver's marrow secured him the junior award. There were no junior entries in the Cut
Flower section but the Manor Stores Rose Bowl was awarded
to Maureen Jones for a vase of beautiful dahlias. Slightly down on photographic entries this
year, the Vi Kingdon Award went to Colin Harding for his charming depiction of
'Helping Hands', and Jasmine Pearce took her second prize of the day for the
'Sport for All' entry.
The Men's Institute Cup, Manor Hall Cup and Mayflower Dish [awarded to
pupils at the Primary School] were won by Oliver Ivan [Class 1], Lucy Fairchild
[Class 2] and Henry Dallyn [Class 3] for art work on
the theme of Brunel 200. Finally, the
Rose Bowl for the Junior Entrant with the Highest Cumulative Score was awarded
to Sarah Prentice, with Olivia Prentice second and Martin Oliver third. Yvonne,
Vi, Janet, Pip, Tony and Judie would like to thank all the entrants for their
participation and enthusiasm; the judges
for all their hard, and often difficult, appraisals; everyone who came in the afternoon to the
Show itself, and to the many people who contributed in so many ways to the
success of the event. 8 MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Across the fields beneath the trees
Oh dear, oh dear, now what to do
He was in shadow and obscure
My neighbour snorted "What a farce Lisa Shelley and illustrated by
her Yes, to my shame it really happened! 9  BERRYNARBOR SCHOOL Our
new academic year has got off to an excellent start with eager and happy
learners ready for another exciting term.
We
have improved storage inside the school over the summer to give children more
space in their classrooms. Our
playground is now complete and this also offers more space for children to work
and play. We
have our usual Christian celebrations this term, including Harvest Festival and
Christmas events to look forward to.
Mr. Fletcher and his team have already entertained us and supported our
worship programme with their engaging puppet shows in the church. We look forward to further visits from this
local group. Another
exciting local connection is a new initiative we are trialling called 'Forest
Schools' with South West Forests. This
is a cross-curricular programme of outdoor learning based in local
woodlands. John and Fenella Boxall are
kindly allowing us to use their woodlands in the Sterridge Valley for this
venture and Fenella is also volunteering an afternoon a week to come and join
in with these activities with the children.
Year 5 pupils are following an eight-week programme of learning in the
woods this term.
We hope to send all our staff and volunteers on training courses if this
trial programme proves worthwhile and beneficial to learning. We'll let you know how this goes and our
great thanks to Fenella and John. Each year we ask the children what they
think of their school. Here are some of
their thoughts. Mrs. Karen Crutchfield [Head
Teacher]
10 
LETTER FROM THE RECTOR The
Rectory Dear Friends The
other day I came across the story of the cave.
Do you know it? It goes
something like this: There
was once a dark cave, deep down in the ground, underneath the earth and hidden
away from view. Because it was so deep
in the earth, the light had never been there.
The cave had never seen the light.
The word 'light' meant nothing to the cave, who couldn't imagine what
'light' might be. Then
one day the sun sent an invitation to the cave, inviting it to come up and
visit. When the cave came up to visit
the sun it was amazed and delighted because the cave had never seen light before,
and it was dazzled by the wonder of the experience. Feeling
so grateful to the sun for inviting it to visit, the cave wanted to return the
kindness and so it invited the sun to come down to visit it some time, because
the sun had never seen darkness. So
the day came and the sun went down and was courteously shown into the
cave. As it entered, it looked around
with great interest, wondering what 'darkness' would be like. Then it became puzzled and asked the cave,
"Where is the darkness?" It
seems to me that that is exactly the same response God makes when he enters our
inner hearts and selves. Jesus the
light and love of the world, dispels the darkness, fear and hurt in our lives
when we invite him in. With all
good wishes, Your
Friend and Rector Keith Wyer 11 LOOKING BACK From
1939 to the end of 1945, my life went through an enormous change. In 1939 I was just a ten year old, but by
the end of 1945 I was a young adult. I
had left my young friends in Upminster to live in Berrynarbor for the next six
and a half years and when I returned after the War, most of them had gone their
ways and I had lost touch with them.
Just one or two were still about. As
I started school in Ilfracombe I made new friends and before long I was
accepted by the locals. After a while,
things got better and we all got along fine, I even picked up the local lingo,
though I don't think this fooled local people! Life
was quite quiet in Berrynarbor and the school holidays were great. Cycling to Woolacombe, Barnstaple,
Ilfracombe or Combe Martin was the norm.
Buses didn't always come though the village but took the coast road and
because of this we walked either from Sandy Cove or Sawmills - when Sawmills
were really just that. If
I was dropped off at Sandy Cove, I would walk home in almost total
darkness. A sheep might bleat in the
field the other side of the hedge and you would jump out of your skin. Very dim torches were allowed if you could
remember them and could get the batteries.
Cars and buses were only allowed slit fittings in their headlamps. If you took a bus journey you would have to
try and see where you were at each stop, sometimes having to 'count down' to
your own stop or risk getting off at the wrong place. Some 'clippies' would call out the stops and
that was a great help. Then
there were the school concerts. Ted
Manley would be up there on the stage playing his accordion; Freddie Somerville would play his clarinet; Mr. Evans, the woodwork master, would always
sing 'Little Sir Echo' and Mr. Trickett on the piano
would accompany a lad who played the saw.
I was never involved and went through the period when your voice is
breaking and you speak high and low. As
the War wore on, quite a few relatives and friends stayed with us, but most were
committed to jobs or families in the London area, and soon went home. My family gave servicemen a 'home from home'
and they were always grateful.
Sometimes they would 'borrow' a bit of camp or station butter to help
out with cooking [rabbit friend with onions, etc.]. Other times we would cycle to Beaumont's in
Combe Martin, bringing back a large punnet of
strawberries [at 121/2p] to have with our home-made clotted cream. Food
was always a priority and the odd rabbit helped out as did herrings sold, at a
penny or tuppence, straight from the boat on the
beach at Combe Martin. Having a sweet tooth, I found that visits
to Miss Cooper's village shop for sweets were often disappointing. You only had a small ration and you had to
have what she had or you went without, there was no choice. Life
for me for most of those years in North Devon was pretty good, but there were,
of course, sad times. Combe
Martin's Barbara Berry's brother, known as Dick, was on The Repulse when it was
sunk. Luckily, he was picked up by a
destroyer, but Barbara had another brother who was a prisoner of war. On
a personal note, I had two cousins - Kenneth and Peter Jefferies. Kenneth, shown in the photograph, was a
rear gunner in a Mark 3 Wellington twin-engine bomber. On a very large bombing raid on the Krupp Steelworks, Kenneth was
unfortunately shot down and killed.
Peter, however, survived the war, but only just! He was a 'desert rat' in the Alamein
Campaign, a crew member on a Matilda Mark II tank when it was hit and caught
fire. Although badly burned, he managed
to get out of the tank but was badly
effected for some time. So
then in 1945 the War came to an end.
What jubilation in Ilfracombe and everywhere! Contemporaries who had come and gone as
evacuees came down for holidays from their different parts of the country that
summer and it was so good to meet them again. My
thanks to Margaret and Laurie Piper and Ron Hawkins for their help. Tony Beauclerk - Colchester 12
Miah Kenna, Verity Noall 13  BERRY IN BLOOM & BEST KEPT VILLAGE September is proving to be another
glorious month weather-wise. This last
spring and summer has been difficult for all gardeners and no less so for Berry
in Bloomers. Despite this we managed to
win Silver Gilt for the Berry in Bloom award and came second in the Best kept
Village competition. Britain in Bloom
is not a competition as such, but awards are made on the merit of planting,
quality of flowers, involvement of the village etc. As in the Chelsea flower show, Gold is the
top award. then Silver Gilt, Silver and Bronze. In the Best kept Village we only lost by one
point. No shame in that when the judges
admitted the village was near perfect.
But the whole point of our involvement in these competitions is not just
to win but also to keep our village a clean and attractive place for us all to
live in. Therefore, once again we must
thank all the good folks who help in whatever way.
Later this month we shall be emptying the summer bedding and planting up
the containers with bulbs and spring bedding.
We are also helping the school by providing money and plants for their
gardening club. Litter picks followed by
tea and cakes are, of course, ongoing.
The next one will be on Sunday, 15th October, 2.30 p.m. at Middle
Lee Farm. Any help would be
welcome. For future 'Picks' look out
for our blooming posters! And once
again well done Berrynarbor! Wendy 14  NEWS FROM OUR COMMUNITY SHOP & POST OFFICE How time flies . . . and so do our
summer visitors! Along the way,
however, they enjoyed buying our new
lines from the Fudge Tree Company, Fosters Traditional Foods and Redmoors. If you've
not yet
seen them it's worth a visit. You'll
find gift boxes of jams, biscuits, fudge and a wide range of competitively
priced herbs, spices, nibbles and dried fruits, all useful either as gifts or
for Christmas baking. Some of you visited our stand and tasted
some of the goodies at the Holiday Festival held in St Peter's Church on Monday
August 28th. Thanks to Ursula's
magnificent Spode kettle, cup and saucer, Fenella's
artistic talents and eleven of our suppliers giving samples of their products
for display and tasting, the stand looked very good and raised the profile of
our shop. We were also delighted to
hand over £72 to the church from our raffle. Sadly some of our volunteers have had
health problems over the last months.
These include Janet Gammon, Hedy Belka and more recently Mike Lane and Jill Jost. We thank them
for all they have done for our shop and wish them a full recovery. This, however, together with holidays means
that we have need of volunteers to fill the gaps. Our regulars are brilliant but we don't want
to overwork them! Any 'stand bys' would
be welcome, but particularly difficult are Saturday afternoons and Fridays
5.30-7pm. Any offers? Please 'phone Jackie on 883215 Happy Hour [plus a half!] By now you should have received a copy of
the 'Autumn Flyer - Use it or Lose it',
so I will just remind you that we are now open on Fridays until 7.00 pm which
will continue if there is a demand [and we get staff - see above!]. I hope you accepted the invitation to come
to the shop to celebrate its 2nd Birthday on Friday October 6th and saw all the
new goodies and sampled a few of them. Hope to see you in our Shop . . .all for
now. PP of DC 15 NORTH DEVON HOSPICE GINGERBREAD HOUSE Details
of the gingerbread house appeared in the August issue and Ethel [Tidbury] has been busy knitting ever since! Knitting
from both the given patterns [copies of which are available - call 883544] and
her own inspired ideas, butterflies, pots of flowers, dishes of liquorice
all-sorts, doughnuts, gingerbread men, iced cakes and other goodies have
slipped off her needles. Some of her
offerings are shown on the inside rear cover of this Newsletter. The
gingerbread house [the size of an average room] will be set in a knitted garden
with three large knitted trees. From
squares [bricks, walls and the lawn] to sweets, there is something for everyone
to knit. Everyone
taking part will have their name in the Gingerbread Cookery Book, together with
any recipe that includes ginger that you can contribute. So
why not start knitting now and help raise money for Great Ormond Street
Children's Hospital and the North Devon Hospice.
16 RURAL REFLECTIONS - 29 Last year I began carrying out monthly
wildflower surveys. My choice of
locations, the Cairn and the lane running through Score Valley, were for very
different reasons; whilst the former was
an official record for the Cairn Conservation
Carers group, the latter was for purely personal pleasure. Come autumn I then discovered a third
beneficiary. It came to light during a telephone
conversation with a friend who is an art teacher. Wanting her pupils to practice with colour
toning, she had set them the task of painting four seasonal countryside
scenes. The exercise was a great
success, her class enjoying their experiments with various shades of colour: the reds, pinks and whites of spring blossoms; the greens of summer grasses; the gold of autumn
leaves and the greys and browns of winter barks. Pleased with the work they had produced,
my friend then set her charges a harder assignment: to produce four further
seasonal paintings, this time WITHOUT the colours they had previously
used. At this point in our conversation
I sensed a shade of panic in her voice.
My friend, you see, is a "townie" through and through. Not that she hadn't
planned to do some rural homework of her own in order to advise her class on
what they should paint. Pressure
of work, however, meant time was fast running out. Cue the phone call to me. "After all," she pleaded, "You must know all about rural
colours. Don't you do a regular article
down there called 'Rural Refractions', or something similar?" Having put her straight, I then consulted my
autumn wildflower surveys and proceeded to suggest the various subjects that
could be included in her pupils' orange-and-gold-free paintings. White is still around at this time of year
courtesy of a variety of wild flowers, including Enchanter's Nightshade,
Yarrow, Hogweed and Bindweed. Old Man's
Beard offers a subtle cream colour too.
The stinging nettle is still just about hanging on to its green
catkin-like flowers whilst the stalked, paler green flowers of Greater Plantain
are still proudly standing to attention.
Meanwhile the yellow-green heads of Ivy are just appearing. Both the Smooth and Common Cat's Ear and the
stalked flowers of Goldenrod also provide yellow. All three have been flowering throughout the
summer - unlike gorse, which according to my Cairn survey, began sporadically
appearing in early November. As for the colour blue, my friend's pupils
will no doubt use it to create various shades of mauve and purple to provide
their landscapes with patches of heather - a flower that is still evident in
early autumn. They will also have no
problem using their red paint pots, as there are numerous wild flowers of this
colour still in evidence, including Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Valerian
and Red Campion. Hemp Agrimony is also still out, the tops of its flowers
boasting the most subtle shade of pink; one which I suggested my friend's class
might particularly want to practice painting. As
for the fruits of autumn, the banning of orange would of course limit their
choice. There are, however, plenty of
alternatives such as blackberries or sloes. 
Illustrated by: Paul Swailes Steve McCarthy 17  PARISH COUNCIL REPORT August
and September have been busy months for the Council due to the various issues
concerning our village. BUSES or rather the lack of them! A meeting was held at the Manor Hall on
Wednesday 13th September organised by County Councillor Andrea Davis. The General Manager and Operations Manager
representing First Bus were present, together with 6 Parish Councillors and
about 35 parishioners. Various
proposals were suggested to First Bus, and many complaints were voiced. I spoke with the General Manager Steve Grigg on Thursday. 28th September when he was addressing Combe
Martin residents concerning their problems. I was told that various surveys, etc., had
been carried out, they realised mistakes had been made and were working to
resolve the problem. I shall notify you
as soon as I have anything conclusive to report, but please remember if we do
get a reasonable bus service resumed then use it or we will lose it. YELLOW LINES in The
Council understands the School's concern for the children's safety but does not
agree with the proposals that parking restrictions in WATERMOUTH COVE A
series of meetings have taken place with the new owners of Watermouth Cove and
relevant County Council authorities to discuss the footpaths over the headland.
Congratulations to the Sue
Sussex - Chairman 18  The
The evenings, which are usually on the third Wednesday of the month
[December is always the second], start at A
warm welcome will be given to all new members and if you would like more
information, please contact: Alex Parke
[Chairman] on 883758, Tony Summers [Secretary] on 883600, Jill McCrae
[Treasurer] on 882121 or Tom Bartlett [Publicity] on 883408. The Programme up to Christmas is: 18th
October: Avery's Alternatives -
presentation by John Hood 15th
November: Presentation by Barney Dunstan
of Laithwaites 13th December: Christmas Presentation by Jonathan Coulthard, Domaine Gourdon - vineyard owner and wine maker from the Duras
region, inland from 19  The Pre-School will be holding a
Grand Christmas Fair on the evening of Tuesday,
21st November, in the Family Room at The Globe. More details to
follow so look out for posters. There
will be a selection of different Christmas Gifts to buy, a raffle and mulled
wine refreshments. Make a
note in your diaries now. 20 A DAY IN AUTUMN R.S. Thomas
Leaves adding their decoration
Illustrated by : Paul Swailes R.S. THOMAS Ronald Stuart
Thomas was born in Ordained
in 1936, he was a Vicar in the Born
to non-Welsh speaking parents, his passion was the Welsh language. He did not, however, learn to speak it
himself until he was 30, although his poetry - more than 1500 poems - were
written in English. In
1964 he was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and in 1996 he was
nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Admired
by fellow poet Ted Hughes and widely regarded as the best religious poet of his
time - although his work covered a wide range of themes - Thomas died in 2000
at the age of 87. 21 TRUDI JOANNA ROTHWELL & Lt. JON JAMES BROWETT, R.N. The forecast wasn't great . . . in fact
wind and rain were predicted for the big day, Friday 28th of July. This occasioned a
mild level of concern in certain quarters, for the bride and groom had elected
to have their blessing in the garden at Treetops and Sally had been preparing
it for months, and it was looking wonderful! The optimists and romantics
amongst us understand that the small matter of a gale warning must never
be allowed to get in the way of the perfect wedding day, so plans B, C, D &
E were brought up to condition 'AMBER' . . . Judie's marquee was booked just in
case the rain dance or the offerings to the gods didn't work . . . mostly
we just carried on as if everything was going to be fine . . . don't mention
the weather! The civil ceremony was held in the Registry
Office in Barnstaple on the Thursday
morning which left the afternoon and Friday to dress the Manor Hall and
the studio at Treetops, not to mention
building a stage in the garden and arranging all the necessaries to
accommodate and cater for 120 guests and The Parcel of Rogues . . . it was like
an intensive version of 'Challenge Anneka' . . . we
had just 24 hours! Fortunately
the Whist Club were very understanding and generously allowed us to go on
working at one end of the hall while they 'whisted'
away at the other . . not the first or the last
example of the true So, it was
in the very early hours of Friday morning that the two teams, the Manor Hall
squad and the Treetops lot, finally agreed that all that could be done, had
been done. The Hall looked magnificent
with unbleached cotton drapes around the windows and across the ceiling and the
floral displays that adorned the tables, created by Lynda, Jon's mum and
her team, were simply magnificent, all echoing the theme of sunflowers
that Trudi had requested. Everyone knew their role, nothing, apart
from the weather had been left to chance - a hog had been ordered from Ivan and
the roaster arrived from The Castle Inn in Combe
Martin; a vintage coach, one of King
Harry Coaches' fleet was arriving from Falmouth to ferry the guests and to deliver the
waitresses and waiters - Sally's sisters and nieces and nephews; Carmen's team of caterers had everything
ready; the band was arriving from And
it stayed fine right the way through the day!
Everything worked like clockwork, well almost, but nothing was going to
spoil the day. The bride looked truly
radiant - and
so did the groom! The
blessing was given, the guard of honour paid its respects, the band played, the
happy couple were toasted, the guests were fed and watered ... and that was
just the afternoon's celebrations in the garden at Treetops! The evening was yet
to come and in its turn it too surpassed everyone's expectations.
The meal was delicious, the toasts and speeches short and amusing,
the band thoroughly excellent and the hog was just mouth-wateringly good. We danced the night away with not a thought
to the Herculean task that would confront us in the morning . . . I have never
seen so many happy smiling faces, we had pulled it off and a really
joyous spirit of fun and teamwork had been established between people who 48
hours earlier had never set eyes on each other. It was a triumph for all concerned
especially for Jon and Trudi who were of course the
catalyst that brought us all together. Their friendship, their love, had been
recognised and celebrated by everyone but we all went away the
richer for having been a part of their special day. So,
finally, Sally and I should like to express our sincere thanks to Gren and Lynda, to all our friends and families for all
their help and unstinting hard work, and to all those in the village who, with
their generosity and kindness helped in a very real way to make the occasion
truly memorable. Peter & Sally
Trudi and
Jon: We send you both our
congratulations and verybest wishes for health andhappiness in the many years to
come. Thank you Peter and Sally for
sharing with us such a wonderful day - how goodour
Manor Hall looks! 22 MOVER AND SHAKERS NO.5 JOHN HANNING SPEKE
1827-
1864 West
Country Explorer and reputed discoverer of the source of the An item in the Saturday Travel section of
the Daily Telegraph last April and a chance walk a few days later taking in
Speke's Mill Mouth on Hartland's rugged coastline, triggered a sudden interest
in John Hanning Speke. In The
Telegraph, travel writer Lisa Grainger joined and wrote about a pioneering
expedition by an Englishman, Neil McGrigor, and two
New Zealanders, Cam McLeay and Garth MacIntyre. By the end of March this year they had
reached the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda, and were
nearing the end of their approximately 4,200 mile journey up the entire length
of the Nile to its longest source - a feat they believe that no man has done
before. Now having registered the
results of their expedition with the National Geographical Society, they hope
to prove that the All this was
done at a cost. During their journey,
they survived crocodile charges, rebel attacks [in which one of their aides was
killed], massive rapids and serious tropical diseases - many of which would
have been familiar to John Hanning Speke.
Their support equipment included GPS and MarineTrack,
two Zapcats [light-hulled catamarans], a FIB - Flying
Inflatable Boat [a bit like a boat suspended under hang glider wings which took
off from the river], and very occasional help from a helicopter - definitely
not known to Speke! Something else he
wouldn't have dreamt of - you can look up details of the expedition on WWW.ascendthenile.com. Neither can I trace that Fortnum and Mason sponsored Speke -
unlike our modern day heroes. However,
Henry Morton Stanley [of "Dr Livingstone I presume" fame], was co-sponsored for
his So what
of John Hanning Speke? Except for a
possible local connection, at this late date it hardly matters that some
sources state that he was born on Acrimony broke
out between the two men when Despite
receiving great acclaim on his return to As for Speke's
Mill Mouth, in spite of considerable research I've yet to find a connection.
There were several families named Speke and the word crops up in Devon place
names, [for example PP
of DC 23 LOCAL WALK - 98 "Writes to Roam" The
When
access to a beautiful and familiar stretch of coastline is lost, I suppose one
appreciates <it all
the more. So, when we heard that the
path had been repaired, we decided to exercise our 'right to roam' - well,
really just to enjoy the view and do a bit of sea-watching.
Illustrated by: Paul Swailes There was a light drizzle as we made our
way along the finger of land, called the It
is pleasant to see the small boats gently bobbing on the water. Many of the boats which
frequent Watermouth and Ilfracombe harbours have birds' names - wigeon, osprey, sea swallow.
Illustrated by: Peter
Rothwell We
were watching gannets diving, some of the majestic ocean-going birds flying
close to the shore, when the sun came out and with it the holiday makers. It was late August. Some of the visitors had only arrived the
day before and not yet got their bearings.
"Is that We
continued over Big Meadow where Himalayan Balsam growing along the river, burst its seed capsules at the least touch and the
sloes in the hedges had a blue bloom on them like plums. From
here we had a good view down to Small Mouth where a pod of porpoises circled
close to a party of fishermen perched precariously on the rocks. This
stretch of the As
one small boy hauled himself up the steep field, he announced self-importantly,
"That's the trouble with We
had a couple of sightings of a clouded yellow butterfly; bright yellow with a silver figure of
eight pattern on the hind wings and prominent green eyes. 2006 seems to have been quite a good year
for the clouded yellow. It
is a migrant butterfly [breeding around the We
paused above Golden Cove to look at the fulmars, snug on their high cliff
ledges, and returned via Bamant's Wood. In 'Along the
Illustrated by: Paul Swailes In
1905 after a newly arrived land-owner had blocked a coast path and obstructed
access to a Cornish cove, used 'from time immemorial' by the local fishermen an
editorial in the Western Morning News, responding to the ensuring court case,
suggested: ".
. . centuries of use have consecrated these paths in the eyes of the public,
and it would indeed, be a disastrous policy on the part of the land-owners were
they to attempt to oust all public rights over them, and to asset to the
uttermost their private rights of ownership . . . the rights of property can
only be maintained when they are in accordance with the natural feelings of
justice entertained by the people." Fair comment from over a century ago. The opinions expressed by a columnist in The
Cornishman newspaper at the same time, were less restrained. Angry and passionate on the rights to roam,
with warnings of revolution and riot, it is stirring stuff and I am tempted to
quote the article here but even a hundred years on it is still controversial! Sue H 24  OLD BERRYNARBOR - VIEW NO. 103 The Lees, Berrynarbor The
first view of The Lees was published by E.A. Sweetman & Sons Ltd. of
Tunbridge Wells. The photographic
postcard, postmarked the
The
second view was published in both sepia and colour versions by Harvey Barton
around 1955 and in the case of the coloured version, white clouds have been
inserted into the view to enhance it.
The first thing that anyone who knows Berrynarbor will notice is that
there has been very little change in the buildings and scenery shown, and for
that we should all be very thankful. Both
Sweetman and Harvey Barton published postcards depicting villages and towns all
over Sadly,
I had no response to the questions posed by me in the August Newsletter but if
this is an oversight, please do contact me or the Editor. I
finish with the following piece of gossip from over 100 years ago which I found
in the Ilfracombe Chronicle: "The
Ilfracombe Chronicle and income derivable from a certain charity should
have been divided between the Church and the poor, but for the last 60 years
the latter's portion has found its way into coffers of the former. When the Parish Council came on the scene,
Mr. Besley, who was one of its members, continually
pegged away at the charity question, with the object of securing the proper
payment of the amount. The case has
been brought before the Charity Commissioners, who, I hear, have upheld the
view of the Council. The amount is not
a large one; but
nevertheless the result is satisfactory.
Taking all these things together, the Berrynarbor Parish Council has
justified its existence. The parish
rate has not exceeded a halfpenny in the £." Tom Bartlett, Tower Cottage,
September 2006 e-mail: tombartlett40@hotmail.com *Editor's Note: [and with thanks to Jan Gammon for her
confirmation} When
we moved here in 1970, we had the pleasure of meeting Harry Whapple, or 'Whappy' as he was known.
He lived in Coventry with his sister but was a regular visitor, spending
all his summers here in Berrynarbor, first with 'Parky
Smith' at Middle Lee Farm and latterly with the Altree
family at Homeleigh.
His last visit here
before his death was in the summer of 1973. 25 CARNIVAL FLOAT
Once again our Carnival Float and its team of hard workers need
congratulating on their wins. 'Never,
26  WEATHER
OR NOT After a slightly cooler start to the
month the temperatures built up again in July. Nationally, with an average day and night
temperature of 17 .8 Deg C, it was the hottest July since1983. Here the
maximum temperature of 32.7 Deg C was
slightly
below July 2003 when we recorded a high of 34.1 Deg C, but if we take
an average of the maximum daily
temperatures, this year with 23.67 Deg C is nearly a degree up on 2003. The minimum of 9.3 Deg C was down on last year's
low of 10.9 Deg C but generally up on previous year's. We recorded slightly more rain in July
than in June but with a total of 42mm (1 5/8") it was still the driest
July since 1999, when we recorded only 27mm ( 11/16"). The barometric pressure was fairly steady
with a high of 1031mb and a low of 1010mb and winds were about average for the
month with a maximum gust of 23 knots.
The
figures for August only go up to the 30th due to our holidays. It was a disappointing month, cooler, breezy
with a bit more drizzle which was probably welcomed by gardeners but not by
holidaymakers. Having said that, it was
still a very dry month with only 37mm (11/2")
of rain in total, which was drier than the previous seven years
apart from 2003 when we had only 23mm (7/8"). The maximum temperature was 25.0 Deg C which was
down on previous years and the average maximum temperature was 20.3 Deg C compared
to 2003 when the average maximum was 25.2 Deg C with a high of 34.5 Deg C. The minimum temperature was 10.5 Deg C which was
up on previous years. The winds were
predominately from the north-west with a maximum gust of 22 knots which was
about average. The sunshine hours for July at 195.95 were
the highest since recording began in 2003 which was the second highest year
with a total of 177.71. However, the
August figure of 166.58 was less than both 2003 and 2005 [each clocking up more
than 182 hours], but more than in 2004 when the total was 160.88. The trees are already beginning to show
signs of their leaves turning and as we write this the weather has an autumnal
feel to it and the nights are drawing in rapidly. Simon
and Sue 27 OF THIS AND THAT . . . North
Devon Branch of Epilepsy Action Do you or a member of your family
have epilepsy? Then you may be
interested in coming along to the North Devon Branch of Epilepsy Action. We are a friendly group who meet
informally between 10.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon on the 2nd Wednesday of every
month at the Henry Williamson Room at Barnstaple
Library. Disabled access is
available. For further information
contact Steve on [01271] 863087. World's
Biggest Coffee Morning Berrynarbor joined this event, in a
small way, on Friday 29th September at Cherry Hinton, Barton Lane. £75.30 was raised for the Macmillan Cancer
Support charity. Yvonne would like to thank
all those who contributed and supported in so many ways. Great fun was had by all. 28 RURAL REFLECTIONS - 29 Last year I began carrying out monthly
wildflower surveys. My choice of
locations, the Cairn and the lane running through Score Valley, were for very
different reasons; whilst the former was
an official record for the Cairn Conservation
Carers group, the latter was for purely personal pleasure. Come autumn I then discovered a third
beneficiary. It came to light during a telephone
conversation with a friend who is an art teacher. Wanting her pupils to practice with colour
toning, she had set them the task of painting four seasonal countryside
scenes. The exercise was a great
success, her class enjoying their experiments with various shades of colour: the reds, pinks and whites of spring blossoms; the greens of summer grasses; the gold of autumn
leaves and the greys and browns of winter barks. Pleased with the work they had produced,
my friend then set her charges a harder assignment: to produce four further
seasonal paintings, this time WITHOUT the colours they had previously
used. At this point in our conversation
I sensed a shade of panic in her voice.
My friend, you see, is a "townie" through and through. Not that she hadn't
planned to do some rural homework of her own in order to advise her class on
what they should paint. Pressure
of work, however, meant time was fast running out. Cue the phone call to me. "After all," she pleaded, "You must know all about rural
colours. Don't you do a regular article
down there called 'Rural Refractions', or something similar?" Having put her straight, I then consulted my
autumn wildflower surveys and proceeded to suggest the various subjects that
could be included in her pupils' orange-and-gold-free paintings. White is still around at this time of year
courtesy of a variety of wild flowers, including Enchanter's Nightshade,
Yarrow, Hogweed and Bindweed. Old Man's
Beard offers a subtle cream colour too.
The stinging nettle is still just about hanging on to its green
catkin-like flowers whilst the stalked, paler green flowers of Greater Plantain
are still proudly standing to attention.
Meanwhile the yellow-green heads of Ivy are just appearing. Both the Smooth and Common Cat's Ear and the
stalked flowers of Goldenrod also provide yellow. All three have been flowering throughout the
summer - unlike gorse, which according to my Cairn survey, began sporadically
appearing in early November. As for the colour blue, my friend's pupils
will no doubt use it to create various shades of mauve and purple to provide
their landscapes with patches of heather - a flower that is still evident in
early autumn. They will also have no
problem using their red paint pots, as there are numerous wild flowers of this
colour still in evidence, including Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Valerian
and Red Campion. Hemp Agrimony is also still out, the tops of its flowers
boasting the most subtle shade of pink; one which I suggested my friend's class
might particularly want to practice painting. As
for the fruits of autumn, the banning of orange would of course limit their
choice. There are, however, plenty of
alternatives such as blackberries or sloes.
Illustrated by: Paul Swailes Steve McCarthy 29
Kyle Chivers, Isobel Moore, Daisy Meads and Oliver Needham 30 | ||||||||||
