Chairman’s Report Spring 2013 The thing the British do best is to complain about the weather but on the Friends of the whole, in our part of the country, we’ve fared better than most. To look on the bright side, the evenings are drawing out and we have the Spring to look forward to. I’m sure it will stop raining soon. Tamar Valley 2012 was not the happiest of years when it came to members of the Committee, with the loss of David Hodgkinson in July and then the very sudden loss of Brian Spencer in October. We shall miss them both. On a lighter note, I am pleased to say that interest in the Friends of the Tamar Valley remains fairly constant. Some people leave, of course, for all sorts of reasons but, more importantly, we have a lot of new faces and they are very welcome. The attraction, I believe, is the promotion of everything about the Valley and local and areas that encourages an interest in their richness, whether that’s in their history, the archaeology, the geology, the environment or their many other aspects. You will see from the programme in this Newsletter what a magnificent job Jane has done in giving us a wide and varied programme, fulfilling the ideals of the “Friends” to touch on as many aspects as possible concerning the Valley and its surrounding areas. The 34th edition of Tamar was issued just in time to meet the 2012 deadline and, as always, it is packed full of fascinating articles about those different aspects of the Tamar Valley and gives a much wider platform to the information that could be provided in a newsletter. I’m sure you found this edition as interesting as ever. It was only made possible by Clive Charlton stepping in as Editor at very short notice following the death of David Hodgkinson. What a fine job he made of it too. If you have article within you that you feel might be suitable for inclusion in Tamar then please contact Clive, the Editor. His contact information, as with all the Committee, is included within this Newsletter. As we did last year, some of us will be showcasing the Friends at various local shows during the summer. One such event will be the open day at Churchtown Farm at in July. This site was wonderfully described by Peter Kent in his February talk to the Friends on East Cornwall Wildlife Reserves. If you have never been to Churchdown Farm Nature Reserve I can thoroughly recommend it for its stunning views over the River Lyner. Running an organisation such as the Friends takes quite a bit of work and a lot of commitment from the Committee. There will, however, be some Newsletter Front cover: Weir Head from the Duke’s Drive along the . The front cover of the Autumn 2012 Newsletter showed the dovecote at Antony House.

Spring 2013 2 changes this year when I step down as Chairman and Jane Kiely will be In Memoriam seeking election to that position. Clive, our Editor, will need to be elected to Brian Spencer died at the end of October 2012, suddenly and without the Committee as he was co-opted at short notice. Peter Hunkin has kindly warning. A member of the Friends of the Tamar Valley from its inception, offered himself for election to the Committee to replace Brian. The election th Brian had also previously been a long term member of the Friends of process will take place at the AGM on 5 April commencing at 7:00 p.m. Morwellham. He served on the committee of both those organisations and his You can probably appreciate that the programme, the accounts, managing help over the years has been immeasurable. Anyone who knew him knew of the membership renewals and applications, editing and organising the his abiding interest and in-depth knowledge of the Tamar Valley, especially printing of Tamar and the production of the Newsletter, all take considerable the and areas. voluntary effort. We do need more help keep up with these activities. If you Born and bred in Devon, he managed to slip into Cornwall in 1982. As he was think you can lend a hand then, prior to the AGM, this is your opportunity to prone to say, that was whilst nobody was looking. After 30 years living in his put yourself forward or nominate someone who is willing to stand. Nomination small cottage in Gunnislake he thought of the Tamar Valley as his true home. forms, which require a proposer and a seconder, are included with this Newsletter or will be available from me at the March meeting. No particular Out of many occupations, he regarded his years at the Land Registry in experience is necessary as we will ease you in gently. as the most interesting. Working with old deeds and plans fed his interest in geography and history. It was by living in the Tamar Valley, Funding the Friends organisation is always a problem, which we have however, that he was able to explore the landscape to fully understand how managed to overcome in previous years through your subscriptions and by the two subjects came together and this gave him an abiding interest in the the AONB covering the cost of producing Tamar. The cost of speakers for local wildlife and mining history of the area. monthly meetings has been increasing slowly over recent years and the AONB is no longer in a position to meet the full cost of Tamar. Regretfully, the A quiet man who could get on with everybody he met, he will be sadly Committee will be proposing at the AGM to increase the annual subscription missed. to £12 per person or £20 per couple with effect from 2014. th The Newsletter welcomes contributions from any ‘Friend’. If you have a short AGM 5 April 2013 and pithy snippet of local information that you would like to share and which Election of Officers and Proposals: would be suitable for future issues of the Newsletter then please contact 1. To elect Jane Kiely to the position of Chair of the Friends of the Tamar Anthony Lewis or myself. Valley. Your continued support of the Friends is welcomed. It really does make a 2. To elect Clive Charlton to the Committee and to the position of Editor of difference. the Tamar. Best regards 3. To elect Peter Hunkin to the Committee. John Chilvers Chairman Reports of Meetings and Events Committee 2012-2013 Following on from the format used in recent Newsletters we include reports of Chairman John Chilvers 01752 339637 [email protected] our monthly meetings up to and including February 2013. Tamar Editor Clive Charlton 01822 840497 [email protected] Dr Patrick O’Sullivan – and William Morris (7 Hon Secretary Cliff Lambert 01822 834964 [email protected] September 2012) by Jane Kiely Hon Treasurer Anthony Lewis 01752 671356 [email protected] Membership Secretary Anthony Lewis 01752 671356 [email protected] What an interesting evening we had with Patrick O’Sullivan! Having been an Programme Secretary Jane Kiely 01822 834964 [email protected] admirer of William Morris and ‘The Firm’ for so long, it was strange to hear of Newsletter Editor Anthony Lewis 01752 671356 [email protected] another side of him – and where his money came from, especially as it was Committee Members Glyn Berrington 01822 840418 [email protected] linked so closely with Devon Great Consols, and therefore very much in the Peter Hunkin 01752 844993 [email protected] Tamar Valley. This is not a full report on the talk as Patrick has written the

3 4 first of two articles in the current edition of Tamar, and has argued the case defences merely shift the problem elsewhere and the NT would prefer to far more eloquently than I ever could. So do read his article: Environmentalist engage in a more holistic approach to the problem. There are problems along or Hypocrite? William Morris and Arsenic – Guilty or not proven? Part 1: the the river with increased sediment entering the water, and the lack of case for the prosecution, on page 49… enjoy! maintenance of river edges, with trees and other debris causing a build-up of water. In the future there Two Walks as Part of the Tamar Valley Spring Trails Festival could be a greater problem of trees falling Thursday 28 March 2013 at 10:00 am into the river because of Meet at Bedford Sawmills visitor centre for a 6 mile walk on the new footpath erosion. One possible below Bedford Sawmills, walking on both sides to visit Clitters and Skinners solution in the long term industrial areas. One steep path up the incline plane. is to remove the existing defence banks upstream Thursday 4 April 2013 at 10:00 am of the Quay, so that the Meet at Bedford Sawmills visitor centre for a 9 mile walk to Morwellham river can expand into Quay using the new Canal Tunnel Trail and Sheepridge Trail. what were natural floodplains. Please bring picnic lunch and drinks for both walks and well behaved dogs are welcome. Contact Jane Kiely on 01822 834964. There was some discussion of dredging around the Quay but Joe River Tamar Downstream from Amy Netley – Projected Flooding in the Tamar Valley (5 October 2012) explained that what can by Helen Wilson be done on the Quay itself is very limited and that, in the event of a serious flood, only the Edgcumbe Arms would be protected. The problem of flooding In the absence of Amy Netley, a PhD student from Exeter University who has now succeeded in obtaining work, Joe Lawrence from the National Trust (NT) extends to the recent nature conservation work at Haye Farm, downstream of and our own Jane Kiely presented a pilot talk that will be given to interested the Quay, where the newly-created freshwater scrapes may become saline if the banks that protect them fail. groups around the Tamar Valley. The idea of studying the potential for flooding at Cotehele Quay came about two years ago, when a steering Joe urged anyone with an interest in flooding in the Tamar Valley to contact committee was set up with the NT, Natural and the Environment him at: [email protected] or on 01579 352720. Agency. Funding was obtained for a postgraduate student to work on building A Walk in the Tamar Valley (21 October 2012) by Jane Kiely a virtual model of the River Tamar that could be used to project flooding potential. On Sunday 27 October I led a walk on behalf of the Friends of the Tamar Valley as part of the Autumn Tamar Trails Festival. Fourteen people met in Joe and Jane showed a short film entitled ‘Changing Tides at Cotehele Quay’ on a rather damp autumn day – but from my memory that presented a short history of Cotehele, followed by a series of potential most of the autumn was damp, if not very wet! When I say fourteen of us met, flooding scenarios using the virtual model. Flooding is likely to increase and ten of them were my friends from Newbury who had come down for the there is a need to adapt. A 3 mm a year rise in average water level is thought Cotehele Walking Festival, two were Cliff and me and we welcomed Corinna to be the result of climate change. In 1866 the mean river level was 29 cm Woodall from the AONB with her partner, so I am not sure where all of the lower than it is today but by 2050 the river will be 11 cm higher than today Friends had got to that morning! and 92 cm higher by 2100. We walked along the Tavistock canal, looking at the words and poems the Joe and Jane then led a discussion on how people thought the problem could school children had written – their thoughts on what the canal and be tackled. Joe said the NT needs to plan ahead for Cotehele Quay but that surrounding area meant to them, and often in the context of days gone by, as there were wider implications, both upstream and downstream. High rainfall that was of course the raison d’etre for the canal. Having gone under the upstream, combined with sea level rise, means that Cotehele Quay, more so amazing Lumburn Viaduct, we turned to head back towards Tavistock along than places such as Morwellham, will be more vulnerable to flooding. Hard the path that runs parallel to the main road but high above it through all the

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river. Some of the stones in the foreground are dressed and could be Guided Walk in Bere Ferris referring to a limekiln. It is in closer inspection of the middle distance that the with Optional Lunch on the Tamar Belle more surprising elements are revealed. A large building is undoubtedly the Thursday 13 June 2013 at 12:15 for lunch Caledonia granary, later a paper mill, that burnt down in 1826. To the left, on the far side of the road, can be seen gateposts and houses, and to the right Clive Charlton will take us on a guided walk in Bere Ferris after having lunch on the hillside waterwheels, stamps and engine houses. In the detail is an on the Tamar Belle, the preserved and restored train at Bere Ferris Station. industrial landscape and not the idyllic scene at first presented. Much can be See booking form for menu and train times. Booking essential for the meal read into the work and metaphors found, such as the passing from girlhood to on the form provided but just turn up for walk only at 1:45. Contact Jane womanhood of the two figures in the foreground and the idea of miners Kiely for further information on 01822 834964. working beneath the ground, subverting the genre of landscape painting. However it is seen, it remains a beautiful painting with hidden depths that fields, until we finally reached another icon of Tavistock – the old railway line, Dorothy and Diana revealed so well. now a pleasant if drippy walk! This brought us to the old station and a walk Terry Faull – Holy Wells of Devon and Cornwall (7 December 2012) by into Bank Square and back to our starting point – when the heavens did in Jane Kiely fact finally open! We all had a great walk with lots of interest en route and were ready for our lunch. After an evening with Landscape Historian Terry and his wonderful photographs of interesting-looking Holy Wells, we all felt we had a better It would be nice to see some Friends on these walks – there are two more I insight into ancient history and some sense of the emotional life of our am leading for the Spring Tamar Trails Festival and of course an evening 4 ancestors. For thousands of years, those seeking spiritual help, healing and mile walk on 2nd August from Cargreen – perhaps see you on that?! their future, have gone to Holy Wells and springs to seek help and guidance. Dorothy Kirk and Diana Cook – A Virtual Walk with Turner in the Tamar Most of the Holy Wells Terry showed us are in Cornwall, because of the Valley (2 November 2012) by Helen Wilson Celtic connection, with far fewer in Devon. In Ireland there are about 20,000 It is well known that Turner visited the Tamar Valley and painted a number of and in Wales 2,000, named after Celtic Saints. These wells are often in stunning scenic views that served to enhance his reputation as a artist. One amazing places, built where there was a natural spring, often a spiritual place of the most admired of these paintings is entitled Crossing the Brook, a view with a tradition of healing and divination. The wells are of Pagan, Roman, of the Tamar Valley and river towards New Bridge near Gunnislake. Dorothy Celtic Christian and medieval origin, but often they were sacred Pagan sites and Diana have studied this painting in great detail and produced a well- that were later Christianised. received book on the subject, that enables modern day readers to see what For Pagans there was a strong belief in a life after death in which people lived Turner saw and recorded almost 200 years ago. In doing so, they uncover in a delightful land. The well at Holywell Bay near lies in a cave and explain the Valley’s industrial past, hidden away in the landscape. accessible only at low tide. The multi-coloured rock is formed into a series of Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in 1775 in Chelsea, the son of a pools, through which the water falls. An early well in West Cornwall was barber from South Molton, Devon. Turner became a student at the Royal constructed so that people had to walk down steps to the source of the spring Academy of Art school when he was 14 years old and went on to become a and into the ‘other’ world. member at only 28. In 1802 he travelled around Europe and later England, There is no strong evidence of Roman wells as such, other than St Martin’s sketching scenes that he later transformed into paintings. Turner visited the Well in Exeter, now covered by a coffee house! The ‘Roman’ well in Browns Tamar Valley in 1811 and 1813 and possibly 1814. On the second visit he in Tavistock isn’t in fact Roman, but is associated with an early Celtic chapel. was accompanied by Cyrus Redding and Charles Eastlake and they toured When the Christian church was formed in Britain in the early years of the 4th Mount Edgcumbe, Trematon Castle, Pentillie Castle, Cotehele, Weir Head, century, it tried to move people away from paganism. By 561 it had not Newbridge, Horsebridge, Endsleigh and Werrington Park. succeeded and tried to forbid the making of vows among trees and springs, In Crossing the Brook, painted in 1815, in the middle distance is a bridge but the spirit of nature and the earth was more meaningful to the Celtic identifiable as Gunnislake Newbridge, while on the ridge in the background peoples. In a village near there is a very small plaque which is the stand Tavistock Church Tower and at Cotehele. In the symbol of the Christian Church developed during the 3rd and 4th centuries. foreground, probably constructed in the studio, two girls are crossing the Men and women were considered equal during this time and many of the

7 8 chapels were named after females, a good example being St Helen’s at Cape some to be a magic well and unless the well wants you to find it, you will not Cornwall. find it! On that note Terry ended his talk and I think we will all look at these St Morwenna at Moorestown built a small chapel and holy well in the 5th wells in a new light in future. century, which is an early example of Celtic Christianity. Madron Well was Tom Greeves – Tavistock Abbey and the Isles of Scilly (4 January 2013) visited up to 1850 to seek healing and today the spring well can still clearly be by Jane Kiely seen. At Golant near , St Sampson’s Well, which is early Celtic Tom started his talk by explaining that we would be exploring the link Christian, can be seen on what is now part of the Saints Way. between Tavistock Abbey and the Isles of Scilly and gave us the background In 1102 the medieval church allowed people to keep their Holy Wells but they history as far as is known. Tavistock Abbey was founded in about AD 970 had to be approved by the Bishops, who expected to be paid for allowing the and in 1120 was leased the chapels and churches on the Isles of Scilly. It is practice to continue! Around this time pilgrimages became popular, and those thought that Tavistock Abbey resembled Sherborne Abbey in design and was who could afford it went to Jerusalem or St James of Compostella in Spain. one of the richest abbeys in the country. The Isles of Scilly are 28 miles from On the pilgrim’s route across Devon and Cornwall, which was used to avoid Lands End and on important shipping lanes. A priory was established on the dangerous sea voyage around Land’s End, there are many churches Tresco where the famous 'Abbey Gardens' are now, and it was required “to dedicated to St James. maintain a firm peace”! Nearer to home, the chapel-like It is likely that the wellhouse at Dupath Well was monks would have built around 1510 by the started their journey Augustinian canons of the from Tavistock via nearby priory of St Germans Morwellham, along over the site of a much earlier the coast to Sennen, well. It is the only well owned by and then past the Government, being given to Longships and on the Ministry of Works, and is towards the Isles of managed by Cornwall Heritage Scilly. Two Spanish Trust on behalf of the Secretary bishops were exiled of State. St John’s Well in to Scilly in AD 384. A Tavistock can be seen near the chapel had been canal and is associated with established on Tean Tavistock Abbey, being near the by the 5th century site of a hermitage occupied by and a cemetery of at Isles of Scilly from the one of the canons. least 16 graves has International Space Station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isles_of_Scilly_NASA.jpg Terry then brought us back to been found there. It has also been this century by showing a well at established that there was a church on St Agnes from early times and a holy Sancreed draped in ‘cloughties’, well of St Warna. On St Mary’s there is a remnant of what was a large which are torn bits of clothing, Norman church established at about the time that Tavistock Abbey took doused in holy water, that are control, and also a chapel in Hughtown. On St Martin’s at Chapel Down Dupath Holy Well, Fenten then rubbed on the part of the body that needs healing. At one during the dry summer of 1976 archaeologists discovered the site of a medieval chapel, and it is possible that this was used as a waymark for time there was a well in Calstock, last seen in 1978, but it is now underneath shipping in medieval and later times. a riding school. The wellhouse at Killerton is an early 19th century building about six feet high Augustus Smith took over the lease of Scilly in 1834 and built Abbey House on Tresco. Early Christian graves have been found within what are now the erected by the Acland family over the original spring. It is still thought by

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th Abbey Gardens, as well as a 6 century memorial stone. The ruins of the Visit to Lady Harriet’s Garden at Weir Quay priory church still survive. In prehistory and perhaps well into the medieval period, the islands (other than St Agnes) were connected by a land bridge. At Friday 25 October 2013 at 11:00 am very low tides it is still possible to walk between some of the islands. A visit to Lady Harriet’s Garden at Weir Quay in the hope that the autumn There are links with Cornwall and Brittany and certainly trade between the colour will be at its best. Donations please to St Luke’s Hospice (£3.00 per Isles of Scilly, Brittany and Cornwall, with pottery having been found. person suggested). Booking is essential on the form provided. Optional lunch Medieval records relating to Scilly survive in the Devon Record Office. In afterwards at the Old Plough Inn, Bere Ferris. For further details contact 1501 Tavistock Abbey leased all the churches and chapels on Scilly and it Jane Kiely on 01822 834964. may well be that this is when Tavistock relinquished its direct involvement. Peter Kent, – The East Cornwall Wildlife Tom showed a list of priors from 1120 to 1452, some of whom became Abbots of Tavistock. At Old Town on St Marys are the ruins of the medieval Reserves (1 February 2013) by Jane Kiely castle of Ennor, and part of the medieval quay. A record number of members turned up on a cold evening to hear Peter Kent th from Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT). Peter is responsible for all the CWT Tom suggested that Bishop Rock might be named after the two 4 century nature reserves between the Tamar Valley and , totalling 17 in all, but bishops – this would have been the first rock that people would see coming he concentrated on five in south-east Cornwall, starting with the 60 hectares from the continent. It was also a place of execution in medieval times. There of Churchtown Farm at Saltash. CWT has leased the farm from the Antony is a record of three women being seized by their community to be left on Estate since 2000 and it consists of a mosaic of habitats including arable Bishop Rock with a loaf of bread and some water, for the next tide to decide land, grassland, hedges, quarries, mudflats and rocky shoreline. their fate! From the very beginning, CWT wanted this site to be a community project St Helen’s became a centre of pilgrimage, a place of great superstition, now and were fortunate to get HLF funding from DEFRA for the first four years to uninhabited, and it is thought that the name is a corruption of St Elidius. An improve habitats such as hedgerows and hay meadows, and undertook incendiary bomb was dropped in the Second World War, which burnt a lot of various surveys to see exactly what was there. It was found that at the top of the vegetation and exposed ruins, which have been excavated. Similar the site the grassland was improved, whereas it was only semi-improved layouts of this site can be seen in Ireland and Scotland. In 1460 the site was towards the bottom, probably because of access difficulties. Cattle are vandalised by pirates and the Pope requested money to restore it. brought in to graze the pasture for a short time each summer and this is The medieval Still Tower in Tavistock is where herbs were used for medicinal where the ground nesting birds are found. purposes, and perhaps monks destined for Scilly asked for a seasick remedy The arable fields are planted with annual and biennial seed plants to attract – long before the NHS came into being! On that note Tom finished his talk finches. As a consequence, chaffinches and goldfinches are doing well and and we all felt we would be looking at what is left in Tavistock with a lot more there are also lots of linnets, which struggle elsewhere because of the demise knowledge, and wishing we could join Tom on his guided holidays around the of arable ‘weeds’. The abundance of small birds and mammals attracts Isles of Scilly. sparrowhawk, kestrel and peregrine falcons. These fields also support plants such as scarlet pimpernel, toadflax and common fumitory. Visit to Plymouth Citadel The hedgerows provide a good number of old and species rich areas. One Friday 12 July 2013 at 10:15 am hedgerow was laid about eight years ago and is now looking very good but Meet for coffee at Valentino’s on the Hoe, just near the Citadel, at 10:15 so others have not yet been done, as it is very labour intensive. Cow parsley, red that we are a group going into the Citadel at 11:00 am for a tour lasting one campion, stitchwort and cut-leaved cranesbill can all be found in the hedges. and a half hours. We will meet our Blue Badge Guide, Janie Dymmock, out- Churchtown Farm is a delight to visit at any time of the year with far reaching side the main Citadel gate where there will be a bag search. The cost will be views over the Lynher, the Tamar and Plymouth Sound. £5.00 a head providing we are a group of 10 people. There are several Peter then moved on to Penlee Battery on the Rame Peninsula, which is a ramps to negotiate and no toilets inside. Booking is essential on the form seven hectare site, part of the network of gun batteries around Plymouth provided. For further details contact Jane Kiely on 01822 834964. Sound. It was de-commissioned in 1957 and in the 1970s was leased by CWT from , because of its nutrient-poor status. The site now

11 12 supports flora, such as chamomile and bee orchid, and a good range of Peter concluded by talking briefly about the Osprey Project. After becoming butterflies, moths and dragonflies. There is a lot of scrub, which attracts extinct in the UK in the early twentieth century, these birds are now doing migrant birds such as ring ouzel, yellow wagtail and on occasions hoopoe. quite well in Scotland as a result of re-colonisation and re-introduction. The This is another site well worth visiting and, depending on the time of the year, Scottish birds often linger on the Tamar and Lynher estuaries on their who knows what you will see! migration to West Africa, and in 2011 one bird was monitored around the Lynher for about three weeks. CWT is now co-ordinating a project to erect Armstrong Wood at Trebullet is another CWT reserve, which is a nine hectare perching poles and artificial nests around the estuary to encourage ospreys to site with grassy meadows, a small wood and a leat, gifted in the 1990s by the Armstrong Evans family. There is evidence of the old strip field system and it re-colonise and nest in the area, as they almost certainly did hundreds of is classified as semi-improved, neutral grassland, with good species diversity. years ago. This is another interesting project to look out for, so watch this space. A hazel coppice supports a dormouse population and in the grassland area can be found pignut, yarrow, sorrel and herb robert. Peter’s talk was full of interest with great photographs. It made us realise just Peter then took us to Sylvia’s how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful area, so rich in wildlife and I am at St Anne’s Chapel, which sure we all vowed to visit these sites at the right times. There were many questions afterwards and we went home having thoroughly enjoyed an is a four hectare site purchased in enlightening evening. 1990 as a species rich grassland that has never been intensively used and was therefore nutrient poor. It was British Museum Acquires View Near Cotehele by William Yeames used as a camp during the D-Day Following on from our talk on Turner in the Tamar Valley we thought you landings and it is thought that the site might be interested to learn that The British Museum has recently acquired was flattened for this purpose and View near Cotehele, a watercolour dated 1868 by the Victorian painter created the habitat that we see William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918). The painting shows a stretch of the today. It is very good for orchids, of River Tamar with the banks shrouded in dense woodland. A heron in the which there are seven species to be foreground and reeds in the middle ground complete an idyllic rural scene. A seen. The best time to visit is the first pale area in the trees high above the river may be the rocky ledge on which two weeks in June to see the heath the chapel is built, although the building is very difficult to discern as it blends spotted, common spotted, and lesser into the vegetation – or maybe it’s just the brush-strokes! and greater butterfly orchids. Later in Both the date and the name of the painting are written on the back of the the year you can also see autumn painting so it seems reasonable to assume that the artist was inspired by the ladies tresses. This is in my diary to river at Cotehele; however, it is apparent that some artistic license may have visit the Reserve in June 2013! been taken. The juxtaposition of the steep wooded bank on the left and the We then moved to the Tamar Estuary sharp bend in the river does not occur that close to Cotehele. It seems that Reserve, 100 hectares of mudflats Yeames may have taken several elements present in the area to construct a stretching from Cargreen to Kingsmill composite, more pleasing and balanced view. Lake at Landulph. The Tamar Yeames specialised in narrative historical painting and Cotehele House was Lesser Butterfly Orchid Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific the setting for another work, The fugitive Jacobite, held by the Royal Borough at Sylvia’s Meadow Interest (SSSI) and the mudflats and of Windsor and Maidenhead, Civic Collection. This work shows the hasty salt marshes support plants such as concealment, in a secret chamber behind the chimney, of a Jacobite common glasswort and greater sea spurrey and attract many species of gentleman by the women of the household. waders and wildfowl. In the Tamar estuary as a whole, winter visitors include dunlin, redshank, black-tailed godwit, greenshank, about 2,000 wigeon and William Yeames is probably best known for his large painting And when did 300-400 avocet, making this a nationally important site. The shoreline can be you last see your father, which portrays an imaginary scene in a Royalist reached from Cargreen or Landulph, and two bird hides overlooking Kingsmill household during the English Civil War. The Parliamentarian soldiers have Lake are accessible from the China Fleet Club at Saltash. commandeered the house and are earnestly questioning a little boy about his

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Programme for 2013 We meet at the Tamar Valley Centre, Cemetery Road, , and we hope to see lots of members attending. Unless otherwise stated, indoor meetings are on the first Friday of the month and start at 7:30 pm. Non-members are welcome at meetings, although a small charge is levied. We hope the events will prove popular and we look forward to welcoming you to as many as possible. Please contact Jane Kiely (01822 834964; [email protected]) or any other Committee member (see page 3 for contact details) if you have any queries about the programme.

Date Speaker and/or Event 1 March Paul Rendell – War Horse: The Story Behind the Dartmoor Locations 28 March and Two walks as part of the Tamar Valley Spring Trails Festival 4 April See page 5 for further details 10:00 am 5 April Annual General Meeting followed by 7:00 pm Nikki Chaplin of Calstock Parish Archives – Drink and Abstinence in Calstock Parish View near Cotehele by William Frederick Yeames 3 May John Parsons – Industrial Activity in the Forder Valley © Trustees of the British Museum 13 June Guided walk in Bere Ferris with optional lunch on the Tamar father. The painting was bought from the artist by the Walker Art Gallery, Thursday Belle in 1878 just a year after it had opened and it became one of the See page 7 for further details Gallery's most popular paintings. 12 July Visit to Plymouth Citadel with English Heritage Women Earn More than Men in West Devon 10:30 am See page 11 for further details (booking is essential) In December 2012 new official figures suggested that the Borough of West 2 August A walk from Cargreen with optional meal at the Cardinals Devon could be the only place in the UK, outside some parts of , 6:00 pm Hatt where women earn more than men. The Guardian’s wages map of Britain, 6 September Helen Wilson – Violet Pinwill: Woodcarver of Ermington and based on figures from the Office for National Statistics, shows the gross Calstock Plymouth annual median average full-time salary for female residents is £24,555 while Village Hall for men it is £22,218. A spokeswoman for West Devon Borough Council suggested this might be because the public sector, retail and hospitality are 4 October Dr Frances Howard – Lady Harriet’s Garden at Weir Quay the largest employers in the area and all these sectors employ a large 25 October A visit to Lady Harriet’s Garden at Weir Quay proportion of women. 11:00 am See page 12 for further details (booking is essential)

The newsletter was edited by Anthony Lewis and Helen Wilson. If you would 1 November Irene and Gerald Williamson – Horse Drawn Carriages in like to write anything for the next newsletter please contact Anthony or any Devon and Cornwall member of the Committee (see page 3 for contact details). 6 December Corinna Woodall – The Tamar Valley AONB

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