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Parish Magazine Ashprington May 2021

Away with the Fairies in 1917. My three year old granddaughter Lily loves fairy stories and so, apparently, did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. He totally believed in the Cottingley Fairies. In 1917 two talented cousins, Elsie Wright (16) and Frances Griffiths (9), borrowed their father's camera and went down through the bottom of the garden to Cottingley Beck, a stream near Bradford in Yorkshire. There Elsie took five photographs, beautifully composed, showing her cousin Frances watching with a rapt expression a group of fairy folk dancing in front of her. Other photographs showed fairies flying around and a gnome on the grass. The whole process took about half an hour. Such was the skill of the girls' composition that Elsie's mother believed that the little figures really were fairies. Her father, who developed the images, did not believe they were real and considered that the girls had used cardboard cut outs of fairies in the photographs. He refused to lend them his camera again. Elsie's mother Polly was a Theosophist. She went to a meeting in Bradford which happened to be about fairies. She told the president of the Harrogate Theosophists, Edward Gardner, about the photographs and he examined them. Having pronounced them genuine he later contacted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a well known Spiritualist, who was writing a piece on fairies for the 1920 Christmas edition of the Strand Magazine. Doyle was totally convinced that the images were real and asked permission to use them in his article. In 1983 both Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths. in their 80s, publicly admitted that the photographs were fakes. The girls had cut out dancing figures from an old copy of 'Princess Mary's Gift Book', published in 1914, coloured them, mounted them on cardboard, and added wings. They then posed them with hatpins and Elsie took the photographs. What had stated as a prank grew out of control; neither girl dared to admit what they had done. In a 1985 interview onY orkshire television Frances said: “Two village kids and a brilliant man like Conan Doyle – well, we could only keep quiet.” She went on to say: “I never even thought of it as being a fraud – it was just Elsie and I having a bit of fun and I can't understand why they were taken in – they wanted to be taken in.” Despite Kodak saying that they couldn't rule out fakery and Ilford saying that the photos were faked and the eminent scientist and psychic researcher Sir Oliver Lodge stating that he did not consider them genuine, other eminent people believed in them because they wanted to. Today's world is haunted by conspiracy theories and fantasy science. Many people are convinced that huge black moggies stalk Bodmin Moor, that the 1969 moon landing was filmed in a hanger in Arizona, that Elvis Presley and Adolf Hitler are shacked up somewhere in the Americas, and that the anti-Covid vaccinations contain Russian microchips and weird hormones. All these theories contain not a shred of scientific evidence. Why are these theories constantly evolving and being re-invented? Who gains from them? Are they just huge ego trips? There is no scientific evidence to prove the existence of God. If there were then what would be the point of faith? Neither is there anything in science that disproves the existence of God. There has never been a conspiracy theory that lasted for over two thousand years and elements of Christianity share the creation stories of older religions in all parts of the world from the isolated antipodes to the far reaches of Asia. Neither is there any valid clash between science and Christianity. God has given us the intelligence and critical faculty to examine outlandish theories and judge them valid or otherwise. But however much we want to believe in fairies we will struggle to prove that they exist. Laurence Green irls ?

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more real than the g About the Magazine Subscription Time

If you would like to receive the Parish Magazine please contact the distribution organiser for your village:  Ashprington: Mr. G Gillespie 01803 731071 Payment for the magazine subscription will now run from April  Cornworthy: Mrs. S. Stevenson 01803 732301 2021-April 2022 rather than as previously January-January of  Dittisham: Mrs. P. Bennett 01803 722307 the next year. If printing costs and number of subscribers to the paper copy and online copy allow then the charges will continue If you would like to contribute any article, as: announcement, anounce an event or sell household articles please contact the editors:  Kathi and Laurence Green £10 per year paper copy  8 Holly Villas Ashprington TQ9 7UU (black & white)  Telephone 01803 732437  Email [email protected] £ 5 per year online copy (colour) Rates for advertisement: Small ad: £10/ one month If you are already an online subscriber (pre-pandemic) £25/ three months then I will be sending you an email with bank details and £40/ six months instructions asking for your payment of £5 online. If you £75/ one year subscribe to a paper copy would you please pay £10 to your Large ad: £12/ one month distributor. If you subscribe to both online and paper copies then   £30/ three months please just pay £10 to your distributor. £50/ six months  £85/ one year Subscribers from Ashprington and Dittisham Extra-large ad: £150/year please make cheques payable to Ashprington Parish If you would like to place an ad in the magazine Magazine. please contact Henry Trollope for further details Subscribers from Cornworthy and please and payment. Design your own ad or send the make cheques payable to Cornworthy PCC. required text by email or post to: Henry, 6 Jaspers Cottages,Cornworthy, TQ9 7EY. If you are a new subscriber or if you are not sure about Email: [email protected] your subscription status please email [email protected] or Telephone: 01803 732 267 telephone 01803 732 437 and ask for Kathi and we will help.

If you would like to switch from receiving a paper copy May Magazine: to an online copy then please email this request to [email protected] including information on the village Please try to have all copy to the where you live and I will let your distributor know. production editors by the 20th of As a result of not printing three issues during the first May for the magazine in June . lockdown and another three issues during the third lockdown Thank you. there should be a moderate excess of funds in the magazine account once the 2021 subscription have been collected. Because Church funds have been greatly reduced during the Thank you ... Pandemic, the Parish Magazine will be able to make a donation from this excess to each of the three Churches.

Thank you to all those who have paid their Producing a monthly magazine without the usual subscriptions for the 2021 magazine; encouragement content of planned events, meetings, weddings, etc. has been a to those who have yet to pay either their distributor or challenge. A greater challenge was trying to distribute online by online arrangement. Instructions for payment are copies to all subscribers. Thank you to those who have helped in on this page. this distribution and apologies to those who missed out on receiving their copies. There were many fine articles, poems Thank you to husband, Laurence, for his fairy storey and pictures sent in during this year and if you would like any and the internet for the less than convincing pictures. past online copies please email to the above.

In this month we may hopefully begin to make plans for Thank you to all subscribers. Without your dedicated summer events - please send for publication the turning of these pages the Parish Magazine could not exist. Best information that we are all looking forward to. wishes for a happy summer - freer and wiser. Below is an excerpt from Fr. Jim’s Advent 2020 letter to the Mission Community. At the time of his writing Christmas was coming, we were heading for our third lockdown and communication was limited to online. Today the thoughts expressed below seem even more relevant as we watch many countries sliding back into restrictions after enjoying their brief moments of freedom. Does our future teeter in the balance?

From ‘Thought for the Week’ December 2020

I was thinking last week that, both as individuals and as societies, we tend to sleepwalk into things and also through our daily lives. The universe is so ordered that things will generally take their course and, often, we just feel like passengers. It doesn’t seem to matter if we daydream or drift or think only of how to make our time here as comfortable and convenient as possible, regardless of any impact on other beings.

Yet, through Advent, we have been reflecting on the giant WAKE UP call that both this season and also the whole gospel message represents. Right now, it feels like the wake-up sirens are blaring out across the whole globe. In the Bible this is usually associated with trumpets blown by angels.

But an angel also says to Mary, ’do not be afraid’, and the trumpet call sounds rather different if it is ‘Hark the Herald Angels’ that you are hearing. Veiled in flesh, in a mortal, vulnerable body, all too easily subject to suffering, pain and violence, the divine becomes manifest and makes everything holy. God is with us, whatever happens next. As St Paul might have said: ‘I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor COVID19, nor Brexit, nor the climate emergency, nor anything else in either the visible or the invisible realms can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. Nothing can separate us from that love. The only question is: are we going to open the door and invite in this strangest of guests, who is both a baby child and older than the oldest thing alive?

Are we going to open the door and say, “these lodgings are cheap, shabby and lacking a lot in terms of love, but you, O most beautiful, most beloved, you are welcome to take up residence here, in the poor chamber of my heart”? And he will place his wounded hand in ours, and looking on us with nothing but love, will say: “I was waiting so long for you to notice me but now, Here I am”.

I hope and pray that you too feel the call of this indescribable beauty. A beauty that longs to be at the centre of our lives. So, in the next day or two, let us pause for a moment, lift our eyes and heart and resolve to embody beauty, love and goodness in this world and the next, whatever 2021 continues to bring.

God Bless, Fr. Jim

Blessing and laughter and loving be yours. The love of a Great God who names you and holds you while the earth turns and the flowers grow, this day this night this moment and forever.

Ruth Burgess Living in hope… As the first part of the year turns into real spring, April and May are times of renewed optimism for many as the days lengthen, temperatures rise (it has taken a while this year!), and nature bounces back into fresh green life once again. Hopefulness is a gift, and spring is a time when most of us feel ready to receive it. After a difficult year of mortality, disease, physical and emotional suffering, and the going into hibernation of so much of daily life which the world naturally takes for granted, this time is probably more welcome in 2021 than ever. Just now, the extraordinary achievement of the vaccination programme is giving hope that the pandemic will be increasingly under control before too long, though the new normal will look different from the old. Another hopeful sign in these weeks has been the public response to the Duke of Edinburgh's death. Sadness for his loss to the Royal Family and the country has been matched by a widespread valuing of what he stood for, in so many areas ahead of its time—not least in encouraging the stewardship of human potential and of the integrity of creation. The deep appreciation of him on the part of so many, especially younger people, promises much for the future. International days this month for the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Christian Aid remind us of how our care for one another and for God's creation can be expressed in what we say and do. This year as so often, May also includes the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, on which we celebrate the outpouring of God's Spirit upon the church. Christ promised his disciples that when he left them to go to his Father, he would not leave them alone. The gift of the Spirit was and is the fulfilment of that promise. As days lengthen and nature is clothed in spring, this gives us hope of a future beyond what our minds could conceive or our hearts desire—no earthly summer, but the glory of God—and more immediately, hope of God's presence with us in our striving to reflect God's glory in the way we live our lives. As the Church in this land prays specially this month as at all times, 'Thy Kingdom come.' Douglas Dettmer Archdeacon of Totnes

VILLAGE WORSHIP at ST DAVID'S CHURCH SUNDAY, 9th MAY 2021 at 11.15am

All very welcome to this informal service when our theme will be 'Dealing with Hurt'

Dealing with hurt A selection of appropriate poetry, music, readings and prayers to encourage us to think All of us have experienced anger, resentment or grudges more deeply about our relationships with family, towards people who have hurt us. We know that being in this friends and within our community. state has a negative effect on us and those around us. We also know that when we are hurt by those close to us it is especially painful and often difficult to resolve. How many of us have tried to forgive but never sure we have suceeded. How many of us try to apologise but it is not received as such or we receive an apology that does not seem sincere. So what can we do about it? During the next few months there is an invitation to share your thoughts and enthusiasm about why you believe in doing or joining those activities that are important to you. As well as hobbies there are a huge number of village and nationwide groups and activities that we will soon be “getting back into” involving church, village halls, sport clubs, bridge groups, gardening, reading ...... and this is your chance to reflect and go public about your own enthusiasm. The next in this series is “Why Do I Garden?” .Please send contributions to [email protected]

Why do I garden? The one thing above anything else that I’ve loved doing all my life is digging, sowing and eating what I’ve grown. This all started very early in toddlerhood. I am forever reminded by family that as a small child I had ‘rescued’ earthworms from death by my mother’s spade and kept them alive in my sister’s dolly’s pram. A tomato ripening has always been the stuff of life. Today these wizened hands begin to tremble if too long out of the earth - no gardening gloves in my shed, thank you. Flowering plants are lovely in someone else’s garden. Just give me a handful of purple sprouting on a cold February teatime. My life gardening in a temperate climate stands witness to climate change. It’s harder now and a great deal more uncertain. No season is safe. Hard frost in May, tempest is August and one named storm following another when we need to be putting the garden to bed. Frozen peas could do the job, but the inner drive to grow for the table keeps us out of the frozen food aisle and detours us from the veg aisle in the summer. The garden is a space full of promise. Every year is different for what might do best. New varieties pledging less blight, stronger growth, higher yields, longer harvest times. The joyful promise of longer days, warmer nights, the apples that follow the blossoms - every season holds a promise. Mindfulness, that’s the modern word for weeding, pricking out, cleaning pots, digging, picking; just being suspended in the completeness of the moment. Not just good therapy, a row of flowering new potato plants ready for lifting is a lifetime’s achievement.

God’s Garden The Lord God planted a garden In the first white days of the world, And He set there an angel warden In a garment of light enfurled. So near to the peace of Heaven, That the hawk might nest with the wren, For there in the cool of the even God walked with the first of men. And I dream that these garden-closes With their shade and their sun-flecked sod And their lilies and bowers of roses, Were laid by the hand of God. The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth,– One is nearer God’s heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth. For He broke it for us in a garden Under the olive-trees Where the angel of strength was the warden And the soul of the world found ease. Dorothy Frances Gurney Ashprington News

It's wonderful being back in church for services at last! Services are settling down to a regular pattern and, although we still have to wear masks and have to be socially distanced (could that phrase be an oxymoron?) and cannot yet sing the hymns and settings, we are alive and well. We do sing the last hymn in the churchyard, a witness to everyone. Jill has run two successful Toddler Groups on Tuesday mornings and a do-it-yourself coffee morning has been set up on Thursday mornings in Ash Meadow. We said a temporary goodbye to Gill George, our ordinand, who is going to for three months. She has been a great help and very encouraging to us all. We had an adult baptism recently and two weddings are on the horizon. I have been up the church tower several times recently, rather like a monkey up a stick. I was about to take the flag down after Easter when the sad news came that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh had died, so the flag flew at half mast. More recently the flag flew for St George's Day. Many thanks to Kathi for rebuilding the flag from the vertical red cross to the leading edge. Sylvester, our amazing stone mason, has done an outstanding job on the repointing of the outside south wall of the sanctuary. He uncovered two deep putlog holes (square Mediaeval scaffolding sockets) and a large void above the point of the Victorian window. It took three buckets of lime mortar to fill it. He has restored the cracked Mediaeval head at the north end of the hooding on the blocked window. A mediaevalist could tell us the date of this window from the hair style on the head. Having a dry wall will stop any deterioration of the iron clamps that hold the four monuments in place inside and prevent a repeat the catastrophic event of 1961 when a huge monument on the north sanctuary wall fell and demolished the altar early one Sunday morning. With the church open from 10 am to 4 pm every day and the seats in place in the rewilding churchyard many people are visiting us and enjoying the church interior and the view from the churchyard. Many thanks to the rewilding team for planting and watering the native species that will soon burgeon and for regularly cutting the path. We are becoming so popular that we need yet more benches. All offers gratefully received. Laurence, Churchwarden. Michael Zahara. Michael's unexpected death has taken away a deeply caring and humane man who lived, with his wife and family, in Ashprington House for over forty years. He was born in Kew, a section of Melbourne, Victoria. Practising law in Australia and Papua-New Guinea he had to re-qualify in English law when he moved to with Mrs Zahara and worked as a solicitor until retirement for Woolcombe Beer Watts. Among other things he defended people he described as 'his Crims' with whom he often had a great rapport. Michael suffered from very poor health for a number of years before his death but his sense of humour never wavered. We used to have long conversations in the kitchen of Ashprington House about almost everything. He was a very well read and cultured man who was interested in everything that mattered. He used to lend me books and recommend authors to me as well as giving me bottles of good wine for very small favours. His keen sense of the ridiculous extended to politics and all other directions. Never judgmental, he could still exercise his trenchant wit in a kindly manner. He helped found and sang with the Community Choir for many years and loved music. He also loved cricket. He always supported Australia in the Test Matches. He was a man of great charm, integrity and impeccable manners. Although he did not get out very much in recent years many people will remember him with great fondness and will miss him very much .

THURSDAY COFFEE Starting Again !

St David’s Coffee Morning on Ash Meadow Every Thursday starting: 29th April. Bring your own chair and refreshments. Boules available for those who would like to play amongst natter and catch up. Covid compliant and subject to the weather. Dittisham News

St George’s Church This is my final submission for the magazine as I pass the pen on to my pal , Nicky, who I am sure will have lots of things to talk about in the coming months. This last month has been dominated by some lovely, positive news and also some sad but not unexpected news. The congregation erupted into spontaneous applause when the announcement was made naming The Rev. Dr. Andrew Langley as the new vicar of the United Benefice of Dartmouth and Dittisham. We have been so lucky to have Andrew as our curate during the interregnum, he has worked tirelessly and we were thrilled when he felt that he was being called to apply for the job of vicar. Despite competition from two other candidates, Andrew clearly stood out from the rest. We send Andrew, Gemma, Noah, Joshua and Hannah our love and congratulations. We have been blessed with some really inspiring visiting preachers including Diana Crook and James Francis, the Chaplain from BRNC who talked movingly about the life of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and we look forward to welcoming the Rev’d. Canon Chris Palmer from Exeter Cathedral . For the eight days of mourning following the sad death of HRH Prince Philip the Union flag was flown at half mast. Today it is flying in recognition of our patron saint, Saint George. Our flag captain has been extremely busy as Wednesday was the birthday of Her Majesty The Queen and again the flag was hoisted - thank you Gil. The village is getting busier now with lots of visitors now permitted to travel and stay in their cottages, and the FBI and the Anchorstone are open once again as additions to the Red Lion which has been sustaining the village throughout the lockdowns. Spring flowers seem to have been particularly vibrant this year and as the blossoms burst on the trees and the birds are singing ever louder, peoples's spirits are being lifted by the easing of some of the lockdown rules and there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. However, we mustn't become complacent, let's continue to stay safe and follow those guidelines. With my warmest wishes to you all for a healthy and happy summer. Charlotte

Gardening for Wildlife: The daffodils are almost over but the primroses are still beautiful and I am delighted to see so many have self-sown in rocky places where you would never be able to plant them! The quince and veronica are flowering well and all the herbaceous plants are greening up and filling out. Deadheading debris is left on the garden to be consumed by insects and worms. This is also the case with many prunings as they may well be sheltering eggs, larvae and mature insects. If the dead matter is left in a pile in an out of the way place or composted then the insect population will thrive and the birds, hedgehogs and bats will have some tasty food. If it is burnt then the wildlife is depleted. It would be great if no–one had 'garden waste' bonfires – great for the wildlife and great for the environment (no acrid smoke billowing into the air and across the landscape) In April Sustainable Dittisham had 'Gardening for Wildlife' as the topic for their monthly zoom meeting. The two guest speakers – Jennifer Lauruol and Steevie Rogers – had great information to impart. Jennifer is a wildlife garden designer and Steevie is a driving force for Dartmouth Green Partnership. Their talks can be accessed here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI9Kyi89Xg0 Steevie preferred the term 'lazy' gardener to 'untidy' gardener – sit on your hands and do the minimum! In last month's article a bit about 'NO MOW MAY' was featured – so, be lazy and enjoy the diversity of wild flowers that will flourish and the bees, butterflies and other insects that visit. Pesticides are a killer - Remember – no caterpillars – no butterflies! Need we say more?Y ES! If you find 'pests' on your plants, then don't use pesticides as they also kill the useful insects, like ladybirds. All insects and grubs are a good food source for birds so if the natural predators have not arrived, and your plants are beginning to suffer, then either wash off the 'pests' or spray them with diluted washing up liquid. Once the natural predators realise the source of a good feed, they'll do the job for you! Slugs can be a nuisance but we are pleased that the outdoor use of metaldehyde, a pesticide used in slug pellets is set to be banned in Great Britain from the end of March 2022 in order to better protect wildlife and the environment (www.gov.uk) However you can act now - Look out for the ferrous phosphate based pellets which should be on sale and if you have any metaldehyde pellets left from last year please don't use them. The hedgehog is still visiting the feeding station but not the hedgehog house. It has created it's own nest in the stand of bamboo. Cornworthy News

The good news is that we shall be open for services from Sunday 2nd May ...... at last! At the usual time of 9.15 am. It will be good to be back in church. Despite not being open for an Easter Sunday Service, St Peter's was awash with flowers and we did receive a number of visitors and messages in our Visitors' Book. Thank you everyone who contributed to this joyous celebration of this momentous time in the church calendar. The Parish Council purchased a Flag Pole and Flag for the Church so we were able to acknowledge the death of the Duke of Edinburgh appropriately. Sadly, because of restrictions, we were not able to set up a Book of Condolence in the church. Online details were left as to how this could be done remotely on the table in the church, the Village Noticeboard and Sue's Gate. I should like to welcome Paula Pitman on board as the new churchwarden. Anyone interested in joining the PCC please contact either of us - 732828 or 732626. We have a lively and active committee. As the restrictions start to ease up - may we be true to our traditions but a blessing to all others (from Chaplaincy Conference 2018). So let us, too, enjoy the blessings and comfort of this exceptional Spring time. Caroline Our Motoring Correspondent - Paul Jolly

A BLAST FROM MY PAST The 2021 Formula 1 season has kicked off and already Lewis Hamilton is the guy to beat being one point ahead of Max Verstappen, his obvious rival. Lewis has equalled Michael Schumacher's seven world titles and is set to beat that this year. No one would bet against that. Some years ago, Nikki Lauda said of Schumacher, 'He is a legend, and his record will not be beaten in our lifetime'. Never doubt a determined Brit is all I can say. Early in my automotive career, I met up with an equally determined racer called Bruce McLaren, whose name lives on to this day, not only in the F1 team he created, but also the roadgoing supercars manufactured in Woking at the team headquarters. He started the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in F1 championship history, winning a total of 8 World Constructors' Championships and 12 World Drivers' Championships. Currently the team are in the ascendency and are poised for great things this year. Previous winners include Nikki Lauda, Alan Prost, James Hunt and Ayrton Senna. I had the pleasure to be greeted by him and Piers Courage at the Italian GP in 1969 at the F1 team hotel where Bruce bought me a beer. Sadly, he died within a year while testing a Can Am race car at Goodwood. Perhaps the only other significant F1 team owner of the time who also now manufactures road going supercars was Enzo Ferrari. Not only do both teams compete today but they are the only ones with continuous provenance from the 1970s, both on public roads and track. It was an identified supercar that closed up on me recently as I drove to a Classic Car auction viewing day in Poole, on a deserted A35 stretch between Honiton and Lyme Regis. I was enjoying the unusually empty road but not hanging around myself. Normally this road to Dorchester is a bore and speed is determined by the slowest caravan ahead of you but not today. It made a pleasant change to keep a good pace on while trying to watch the speed limit. Leaving the Lyme Regis roundabout, there is a long straight section ahead and I was up to the speed limit in seconds but Mr Supercar blasted past me like an angry F1 race car at full tilt. I had opened my window in anticipation and the sound was glorious. At the next bend, his air brake deployed in the form of a large rear wing to help stabilise the car and create much needed downforce, and then he was off again into the distance. Did I detect a smirk of satisfaction as the driver flew past and obliterated me? Well not as huge as the grin I had on my face. You see, the name on the front and rear of his car was that of the charming and humble man who bought me a beer all those years ago. I will drink to his ongoing legacy. Cheers Bruce. www.jollycars.co.uk e mail: [email protected] 01803 712990

Our Countryside Correspondent’s Assistant: The cold biting winds and snow flurries of April have not been able to suppress the glory of our spring bulbs and the primroses, doing their best to raise our spirits. The broadleaf trees are emerging into full leaf. The hedges are speckled with white blossom, our gardens are coming alive again! Feeding the birds has been a necessity quite late into the spring, and what a joy in the garden to witness the enthusiasm with which they cluster around the feeders. With lockdown easing we are now seeing more visitors returning to holiday lets, happy faces shopping and eating outside. It is still quite cold and the odd morning frost is playing a game with gardeners and allotment holders alike. We can only look forward and hope that the weather will warm up. Some cows and their calves have been out to grass since the beginning of April and once again it is a feeling of normality creeping back into our lives, driven by the farming calendar that goes on regardless. Crops in the fields are beginning to grow and it is hard to miss the bright yellow of the oilseed growing. Soon the grass will be putting on the extra spurt needed for silage. We have heard, once again, disturbing stories of pet dogs chasing and killing sheep. Please remember to keep your dogs on leads when walking through livestock. And please, remember to take your poo bags with you and use them. There are dog poo bins around the villages but none around the farmland and so please carry those bags home or to the nearest bin. The misery and death to curious youngstock that can be caused by an inconsiderate owner leaving a full poo bag on a gate or just dumped in a hedge could so easily be avoided if you just take it with you. The lockdown has moved a lot of our lives online and, although farming has gone on as usual, TB tests have been carried out and to maintain Red Tractor Assurance status, farmers must have an annual visitation and check of premises and records. This of course is currently online and the “visitation” is virtual with many documents and photos being uploaded – from policies on staffing and cattle husbandry etc., to photos of farmyards and vehicle maintenance schedules- so teaching old farming dogs new tricks about “Portals” “uploads” and “Zoom” has kept a lot of us occupied on these cold winter days.

Stay safe and Well Friends. xxx

Ivybridge Mobile Library is back on the road

The Mobile Library will be returning to service from the 12th April. Customers will be able to come on board the library van, individually or in their household bubbles, to choose books and other items. To make sure that there are enough books to go around we will be limiting borrowing to 5 items per person for the time being. Face masks to be worn, everyone to use the hand sanitiser and observe social distancing rules when using the mobile library. Returned books will be quarantined for 72 hours. Please note that the return of the mobile library service is subject to the Government's roadmap going forward as planned. Notice Board

Dittisham Village Hall 100 Club

1st Prize £50 Mr M Dampier 2nd Prize £30 Mrs G Mosley 3rd Prize £20 Mr R Sjoberg

Call for donations of cookery books for food boxes

Local recipients of food boxes from Food in Community over the past year have been provided with a wide range of food including a lot of fresh local vegetables, many of which are naturally seasonal. To help people widen their choice of dishes to create with their food boxes, a new scheme has been cooked up by Totnes Rotary Members further to a conversation with the group. Food in Community have been providing an extraordinary service in gleaning and often picking the food from the fields at local farms and then distributing it from Totnes area, Torbay and part of Teignbridge. They have helped people who have been shielding, provided food for some of the cooked meals then distributed by Bob the Bus, they have helped fill up the boxes with fresh food at the Food Bank and responded with speed to anyone who is finding it hard to provide food for themselves and their family. Totnes Rotary Members have suggested that members of the public who would like to add some support to the people needing food boxes, might like to donate a cookery book that can be popped into the food boxes when they are being delivered or collected. Donations of cook books, can be placed in a big lidded box labelled "Cook book donations" on the United Free church forecourt in daytimes - Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There is parking directly opposite. Chantelle Norton from Food in Community said, "It's lovely to be working again with Totnes Rotary Club members, with a scheme of sharing knowledge and resources that is both fun and useful at the same time to open it up to the wider community and have a Totnes wide cook book swap." Cllr. Jacqi Hodgson, who has been supporting this initiative and acting as go-between Rotary and Food in Community for this scheme said, “This is s such an easy scheme to support and is another way for our community to show they care about each other.” Food in Community: Chantelle Norton 07528 665712 ; David Markson 07702 727009 http://www.foodincommunity.org Find us on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Notes from the Monthly Meeting of Dittisham Parish Council held using public Parish Council Meeting Held on 12 August 2004 Present: Councillor 2 members of the public.

Apologies were received from. Planning: No 2998300SI399 videoconferencing on Wednesday 7 April 2021 at 7:00p.m Waste and Recycling Bins Dittisham Parish Council Residents are asked to only leave bins on the street the night before the new collection d a y - We d n e s d a y f o r n e a r l y a l l o f t h e P a r i s h . C h e c k https://www.southhams.gov.uk/recyclingwasteSouth Hams District Council Councillor McKay reported that each council Member has been provided with an extra £3,000 for green projects. Localities has been reviewed and more Officers employed over the holiday period. The existing Joint Local Plan forms a buffer to proposals from central government because the Planning Inspectorate requires compliance with the JLP, however the JLP lacks provision for infrastructure. County Council Councillor Hawkins said that the last full meeting of SHDC allocated just under £600,000 to reopening and regeneration post COVID. A new grant will be available soon to help business reopen and it might be available to small sports clubs. DCC has increased spending for highway drainage and public rights of way. There is a huge concern about mental health because of COVID-19. Dartmouth Town Council is looking at using some Norton fields for overflow parking in July and August. The recycling centres are busy and extended hours have been agreed. Dartmouth has been chosen for the Devon section of the Tour of Britain on 6 September. SHDC Planning Decisions 0275/21/ARC Gurrow Point Riverside Road Dittisham Devon TQ6 0JH. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 3 (roof finish details) for planning application 3669/20/HHO. Discharge of condition Approved. 3001/20/ARC Downton Farm Dittisham TQ6 0JD. Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 10-15 & 18 of planning consent 1461/19/FUL. Conditional Approval. 3002/20/ARC Downton Farm Dittisham TQ6 0JD. Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 5-10 & 13 of listed building consent 1462/19/LBC Discharge of condition Approved. 4237/20/HHO Sherwood Cottage Riverside Road Dittisham Devon TQ6 0HS. Householder application for removal of utility structure and garage with replacement single storey extension. Works include removal of existing conservatory, removal of extension to chimney pot and replacement windows. Conditional Approval.0534/21/TCA Dartside, Manor Street, Dittisham, TQ6 0EX.Proposed works: T1: Lawson Cypress - Fell. G1: Lawson Cypress x2 - Fell. G2: Pittosporum, Cherry Laurel, Portuguese Laurel & Bay - Crown height reduction to 6m from ground level. T2: European Larch - Fell. T3: Leyland Cypress - Fell. Raise no objections. New planning applications.0546/21/FUL Little Coombe Cedar Huts Dittisham TQ6 0JB. Installation of 5 new shepherds huts, relocation of Airstream caravan and associated development. Object Cllr Hawkins will separately look into whether DCC will improve the surface of the road. 0668/21/FUL Dittisham Sailing Club, The Ham Riverside Road Dittisham TQ6 0JH. Replacement of rotting cedar shingles with natural slate. Support. 0989/21/COM Kingston Farm Bungalow Dittisham TQ6 0JB. Notice of intention to install fixed line broadband electronic communications apparatus comprising 2 x 8m wooden pole (6.2m above ground). No comment. 1034/21/PDM Barn at Capton Dittisham Dartmouth TQ6 0JE. Prior approval for proposed change of use of agricultural building to 4 dwellings (Class C3) and associated operational development (Class Qa+b). No comment. Consultations Totnes & South Devon Bus Strategy Survey by Anthony Mangnall MP. Closes 20 May. Torbay Local Plan 2012-30 Update of Housing Supply Policies Regulation 18 Issues and Options, and Call for Evidence. Closes 4 May 2021. The request for removal of Old Chapel Burial Ground maintenance covenant from Sunday School's Title was agreed. A DPC Forward Plan was approved as an evolving document to be posted on the Parish website. It was agreed to take advice to regularise private accesses to The Ham and to ensure the safety of all users of The Ham. The proposal for an English Oak Memorial Tree to be planted on The Ham was agreed. The Dog Fouling Working Group consultation recommendations to ask SHDC to relocate the dog waste bin in The Level car park to Rectory Lane (Manor Street end) was agreed (review after one year), and to relocate the square litter bin by the phone box to the Higher Street turning bay was agreed in principle. The kissing gate at the bottom of Footpath 1 has been removed because it was damaged, unsafe, and no longer served any purpose. Financial Matters The financial report and bank reconciliation showed a balance of £63,138.47 and unearmarked reserves of £14,415.15 on 31 March 2021. Approved Payments · St Georges Church, Grounds Maintenance Grant, £1,000.00 Landscape Construction & Design, maintenance repairs to public footpaths, £489.00 · SHDC, Payroll 20/21, £120.00 Dartmoor Tree Surgeons, Pollarding of Willow on The Ham, £708.00 · Community Heartbeat Trust, Annual Support two defibrillators, 396.00 Devon Communities Together, Membership renewal, £50.00 · Clerk, Expenses Reimbursement CE39, £230.12 Business Rates, The Ham Car Park, £2,844.30 Business Rates, The Level Car Park, £2,694.60 The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council and the ordinary May meeting are scheduled for 5 May 2021 at 7:00 pm using Zoom. A short Annual Parish Meeting will also be held to meet a legal requirement. Meeting link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8444633513 or dial in by phone +44 203 481 5237, Meeting ID: 844 463 3513. Full Minutes, Agendas, Parish Council contact details, and COVID-19 information are available at http://www.dittishamparish.co.uk Contact details also on The Level and Capton noticeboards.

Parish Council Meeting Held on 12 August 2004 Present: Councillor 2 members of the public.

Apologies were received from. Ashprington Parish Council Planning: No 2998300SI399

Thursday April 1st, 2020 at 7.30 pm held virtually on ZOOM.Present; Cllr Stocks {Chair} Cllr Thompson {Vice Chair}, Cllrs K. Throgmorton, B. Lunt, R. Rogers, , N. Paterson. T. Green. Also present Michael Read, Clerk, District Cllr. J. McKay, County Cllr Hawkins, Covid19 It was agreed that the Annual Parish Meeting would take place on Tuesday June 22nd preceded by the Ash Meadow AGM, at 7.30pm. The “regular” June meeting will go ahead on June 3rd at 7.30pm in the Village Hall, The meeting on May 6th and the Annual Meeting {also known as the AGM} will go ahead via Zoom. Grass Verge near Crownley Wood The wooden fence is now finished and Cllr Green is awaiting the arrival of the shrubs from the Woodland Trust Highway Management Update A proposal to manage the parish's roads and paths has been submitted to DCC Highways and an initial response received from Meg Booth, DCC Chief Officer for Highways. Cemetery Update Councillor Paterson reported that he and Cllr Throgmorton had met and have plans to spruce up the Cemetery. It is planned to cut the grass through the unconsecrated area and to place a bench in the corner. Half of this area will be cut to 5 inches each year. The bin area will be tidied up. The logs will be restacked to encourage wildlife and the brambles cut.Ash Meadow An inspection has confirmed that there had been significant wear and tear to the undergrowth and some of the trees in the copse. The committee's management plan, had been to encourage greater access to the copses by opening up paths into them, but additional use during lockdown had not been envisaged. It was felt that the Ash Meadow Committee should continue encouraging access to the copse whilst also protecting their ecology. Planning 0288/21/OPA Farm Activity Centre, Lower Sharpham Barton Farm. READVERTISEMENT, {Amended development description} Outline application for erection of a farm managers dwelling with access, layout and scale being considered. Support. 0174/21/TCA Roberts. Tree works in a Conservation Area. No objection raised, SHDC 0737/21/HHO 5 Church Close. Application for rear extension/internal alterations.Support. District Cllr Report An extra £3000 per ward is to be allocated for the new financial year, for green projects. Grant aid is still available via a new round of funding called the Restart and Community fund. Businesses which might be interested should contact SHDC or District Cllr. McKay. Cllr McKay has met with the Leader and SHDC CEO regarding democracy and the Council. SHDC considering widespread use of solar panels on Council assets. Cllr McKay continues to complain about danger on the A3181 at Harbertonford. County Councillor Report.Cllr Hawkins opined that holiday let owners should have their waste collected as “commercial waste”. So far, £54m out of a total allocated £91m, has been passed on to grantees in Devon. Leisure Centres have been granted £171.000 to reopen including Totnes. Repairs to Bow Hill are imminent. Other Business Dart Harbour Communities Group Cllr Thompson reported on the proposed to Totnes Cycle/Footpath. She urged support of the project via its own website - stokegabrielcyclepath.org.uk The Dart Harbour Community Group are requesting boat owners to attach to boats for security purposes or accidents. A review of water quality flowing into rivers is underway. Information Management Cllr Stocks has met with Joanne Rogers to consider content for our website. Parish Facebook Page The parish is considering setting up its own Facebook page – it will be for “information only” ie. Sending details of events, incidents etc. Cllr Throgmorton is looking into the proposal and will consult with our operator of the Parish Website. The meeting closed at 9.28pm. Next Meeting will be on Thursday May 6th, 2021 at 7.45pm remotely on ZOOM, preceded by the Annual Meeting at 7.30pm. Request access code from the Clerk {email address or telephone below} M.J. Read, Parish Clerk – [email protected]. Tel 01803 732047.

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Tip the scales in your favour. Choose a reputable trader. DAVE EDWARDS 07713636251 [email protected] Clergy Directory St. David’s Ashprington Team Rector, Totnes Team Ministry Churchwardens: Team Rector : Rev’d Jim Barlow 07775356652 [email protected] Richard Soans, Cox’s Farm, , Dartmouth. 01803 771189. Rev’d. Deborah Parsons, 01803 840113 [email protected] Laurence Green, 8 Holly Villas TQ9 7UU 01803 732437 Licensed Reader, Liz Waterson, 849345, [email protected] Simon Boyes (Churchwarden Emeritus) Woodleigh, Licensed Reader, Tony Gregg, 813885 [email protected] 9 Church Close, Ashprington.TQ9 7UR 01803 732103. Jim’s day off is Saturday and Deborah’s day off is Friday. Treasurer Kathi Green 8 Holly Villas, Ashprington. 01803 732437. The United Benefice of Dartmouth and Dittisham PCC Secretary The Revd. Andrew Langley,22 Church Road,Dartmouth TQ6 9HQ David Davies, Morlanda , Ashprington.TQ9 7UL 01803 732109. 01803 834430 [email protected] Benefice Office: St Saviour’s Church, Dartmouth Mon-Thurs 9:30 -5pm Tel: St Peter’s Cornworthy 835540 Sect. Jill Cawley [email protected] Churchwardens Caroline Hunt 4 Green Close, Cornworthy 01803 732 626 Paula Pitman, Cornworthy 01803 732 828 West Dart Bus Treasurer (Dittisham-Dartmouth, Totnes, N’ton Ab’t) Michael Hasler,15 Priory View,Cornworthy TQ9 7HN [email protected] 01803 732817 . Friday departs Dittisham 9:20 am from Level car park 9:30 from Church. PCC Secretary Return departs Dartmouth 12:00 Fare £2.50 each way. Every last Wed to Marilyn Fry 01803722280 Newton Abbot 9:30 from bus stop. Return departs N. Abbot 1:30 fare [email protected] - preferred contact £3.50 each way. Timetable at Bus stop or contact Tony Hemmings 07776432309 St George’s Dittisham Churchwardens Bob the Bus aka. Totnes and Rural Charlotte Anderson,The Folly 5 Dittisham Ct, Riverside Rd. TQ6 0HS Community Transport 01803 722220 Peter Smyth, 26 Dittisham Court, TQ6 0HS 01803 722424 Times from Cornworthy: 8.55am from Village Hall Treasurer returning 12.45pm opposite Seven Stars and then back to John Wells Lapwing Cottage, Manor Street, 01803 722414 Totnes from Cornworthy 13.15pm PCC Secretary Time from Ashprington: 9.05 from the bus shelter. Patricia Hodson, 22 Dittisham Court,Riverside Road, TQ6 0HS 722447 email [email protected] OAP Bus Pass is valid payment. ALL VILLAGE DEFIBRILLATORS WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY ONLY Remember in a suspected cardiac Calendar for May emergency FIRST CALL 999

St David’s Ashprington ASHPRINGTON & TUCKENHAY website: https://ashpringtonchurch.org/ Public access (unlocked) defibrillators are situated in the Church open daily 10:00 am - 4:00 pm phone kiosk, Ashprington and Maltster's Arms, Tuckenhay. 2 May Sunday 11:15 Eucharist Call the Volunteer Emergency Telephone System 9 May Sunday 11:15 Village Worship (VETS) 01803 500535 16 May Sunday 11:15 Communion by Ext The VETS volunteer will bring the defibrillator (Joint service Cornworthy at Ashprington) and assist with CPR. 23 May Sunday 9:15 Village Worship (Joint service Ashprington at Cornworthy) CORNWORTHY 30 May Sunday 10:30 Team Service Totnes St Mary’s IN YELLOW CABINET ON OUTSIDE WALL of St Peter’s Cornworthy CORNWORTHY VILLAGE HALL Church open daily 9:30am - 4:00 pm A LIST OF TRAINED PARISHIONERS IS WITH THE 2 May Sunday 9:15 Eucharist DEFIBRILLATOR. FREE TRAINING CONTACT: 9 May Sunday 9:15 Village Worship CLLR. KIRKLAND 732877 16 May Sunday 11:15 at Ashprington Com. by Ext. 23 May Sunday 9:15 Village Worship 30 May Sunday 10:30 Team Service Totnes St Mary’s DITTISHAM Public access (unlocked) defibrillators are located outside St George’s Dittisham The Red Lion Inn and The Ferry Boat Inn. 2 May Sunday 9:15 Village Worship All other services in May to be announced. For any maintenance issues with the defibrillators, please Please refer to the notice board. contact Cllr. Richard Bond on 07813171773.