Cornwood and Lutton

Kit Manning

[email protected]

Whilst thousands gathered at StoneHenge for the summer solstice, plans were made here for our own celebration - a Summer Solstice Stomp - following on from the late May, bank holiday Stomp which proved so successful. The idea was for a three hour walk on Dartmoor (starting and ending at the Cornwood Inn) to arrive at the Cornwood Maidens in time to watch the sunset from there, before returning to the Pub for a pint and a pastie.

In the event, the weather intervened; continuous, heavy rain made it unrealistic to follow the original route so, in the circumstances, the seven intrepid stompers who braved the conditions, agreed on a shorter walk and though they didn’t find the sunset, the walkers (whose ages spanned six decades) enjoyed their Stomp and the hot pasties at the end were particularly welcome.

As it so often does, the weather heavily influenced another event here this month - the School’s Sports’ Day. It was scheduled for 14th June but inclement weather meant that it had to be postponed for a week; the School had wisely pencilled in 21st as a second choice for Sports’ Day so this was when it eventually took place. On the day, the pupils were encouraged to attend school wearing their P.E. kit in readiness for the sporting activities they would take part in. Lunch was served to the children where they were - outside on the school field - before many parents joined them at 1:30pm and cheered them on as they took part in sporting activities. It was a warm day so the PTA’s decision to sell ice-cream was much appreciated!

Formed in 1917, the Cornwood branch of the WI is one of the oldest in the country; each year they organise an event to celebrate their anniversary and this year - their 107th - it was a Cream Tea in the Village Hall. 60 or so people availed themselves of the opportunity to enjoy homemade scones with generous helpings of jam and clotted cream and endless refills of cups of tea. There was a raffle, a produce stall and albums of photographs to look at, illustrating the activities of our WI during the decades, the latter painstakingly put together by secretary, Joyce Butcher.

Members of our Art Group enjoyed a visit from local Artist Sue Ifold (back by popular demand) who led this month’s session; she began by demonstrating a simple way of achieving pleasing landscapes using a limited palette of only three, different coloured acrylic paints. At the end of the session, the resulting pictures were laid out at the front of the hall where the 15 participants gathered around as Sue gave a brief critique of each picture, giving encouragement and helpful hints. The group has been going for about 15 months now and provides a supportive setting in which members are encouraged to develop at their own, individual pace.

Aveton Gifford

Rosie Warrillow 07779290653 or email [email protected]

This week sees the Annual General Meeting of the Village Shop Association, which will take place tonight(Thursday) at 7.30pm. The Management Committee of the AGVSA will be seeking to update the legal structure of the organisation at the meeting to bring it in line with other similar organisations. The AGVSA is responsible for maintaining the fabric of the building, maintaining a relationship with the tenant shopkeeper and engaging with the shareholders roughly 480 people .AGVSA would like to welcome as many people as possible to the meeting to hear the news from this year and to hear the projections for next year. The meeting will take place in the village hall at 7.30pm on Thursday June 27th. The Management Committee is proposing to change AGVA's legal structure from an Industrial Provident Society to a Community Benefit Society. Such a change would not impact the day-to-day running of the shop but it could make a huge difference to its long-term resilience. The change would make a difference to the association's ability to access grants and fundraising opportunities. It would also bring new updates to the Model Rules and dictate how the organisation should be run and update data protection rules. The changes need to be put to the shareholders and for that the Association needs a quorum of people to vote on the proposals. Please attend if you are a shareholder or just interested, your village shop needs you!! The Summer Church and Village Fete is fast approaching and draw tickets are available to buy from Church members or from Jo Smith, the Church treasurer or after church services on Sundays. St Andrews will have a Holy Communion service this Sunday starting at the usual time of 11am. This week there will be a Kids Club within the church service with families worker Sarah helping our youngsters to enjoy their time together.

Bigbury

News from Bigbury and Ringmore: bigburynews.com

Bigbury History Society is hosting a guided walk around Totnes.

The guided tour will be around the beautiful and historic town of Totnes.

Everyone is welcome, but numbers are limited to twenty-five so booking is essential.

There will be a £5 charge.

The walk takes place on Thursday, July 4 at 10.30 am.

If you'd like to go, please contact Charles Harrington on 810023 or email [email protected]

Blackawton

News from Blackawton Beacon| [email protected]

Work on the extensive refurbishment of our Village Hall has slowed recently due to involvement in other projects as well as holidays and sickness of many of the volunteers who initially put so much time and effort into getting the project moving when the roof structure was discovered to be failing. The work party has been much reduced in numbers in recent weeks. This project is now at a stage where more volunteers with non-specific skills would be very welcome, general assistance with fetching, carrying, cleaning, decorating etc. The team is on site every Saturday, Sunday and evenings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so if you are able and willing to help in any way please do come along when you can. The Village Hall committee are very, very grateful to all those that have helped and supported this project to date. It is an enormous project for a largely volunteer workforce, and their achievement confirms the community spirit of this parish. The recent call for donations to help further the project has resulted in a little more funding for materials needed before the “grand opening” can be scheduled. Thank you to all those who have donated, we are grateful for your generosity. There is much still to do, so if anyone out there is able to help with even a small donation please do. Every little helps and small donations are as welcome as any other.