July/August 2020

The Cam Vale Ministry Team

Rector: Vacant Associate Vicar: The Revd. Prebendary Rose Hoskins (01963 440026) Day off: Saturday Readers: Mrs Yolanda White (01963 440835) Mrs Rosemary Rymer (01963 351057) Mrs Julie Ebsworth (01963 440842) Email: [email protected] Benefice Administrator: Mrs Rosemary Rymer (01963 441595) Email: [email protected] Post: Cam Vale Benefice Office, G4/5 Woodside Court, Sparkford, BA22 7LH

Churchwardens

Queen Camel: Mr Paul Davis (01935 850139) Mrs Morwenna Ford (01935 850300)

West Camel: Mrs Jenny Clothier (01935 850281)

Queen Camel website: www.queen-camel.co.uk Queen Camel Email: [email protected] West Camel website: www.westcamel.org.uk West Camel Email: [email protected]

St Barnabas Church Website: www.stbarnabasqueencamel.org.uk

Cam Vale Benefice Website: www.camvalebenefice.org.uk For the latest information on services and events at all our local churches, details of how to book weddings and baptisms, and advice on funerals.

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Community & Carers Agents are in your communities across Somerset. They help to bridge the gap between isolated, excluded, vulnerable and lonely individuals and statutory and/or voluntary organisations which offer specific solutions to identified needs. We can offer advice and support to find local groups and activities available in your community and help you with any queries you may have or situations that you need advice and support with. Please visit www.ccslovesomerset.org.uk and www.somersetcarers.org or contact me, Cath, on [email protected], Tel: 07968 521746, to find out who can advise you.

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Magazine Editor: Mrs Vanla Oxley, Queen Camel House, High Street, Queen Camel BA22 7NF Email: [email protected] Copy by noon on 20th of the previous month, please 1

MESSAGE FROM THE REVD. KATHERINE HAWKSLEY

Greetings to you all!

It is such a joy to be licensed to the Benefice of Cam Vale as Priest in Charge. It was a moving occasion but also rather unusual as it was conducted virtually via Zoom. I will be licensed as Rector at a later date once this can take place in Church. It was, however, wonderful to see those of you who were able to be there and to be so warmly welcomed to the benefice.

A little bit about me… I have spent much of my life in South Somerset and so I am a local girl. I grew up in the beautiful Blackdown Hills and have a deep connection with both the countryside and the rural church. I completed a psychology degree and spent ten years working for the Civil Service in Taunton before following God’s call to ordained ministry. My discernment journey took me to various places including a chaplaincy placement at Keele University and a placement teaching English in Laos, South East Asia. I finally landed at Ripon College Cuddesdon, which is situated just outside Oxford, in September 2014 in order to begin my training for ministry.

I was ordained in July 2016 at Wells Cathedral and I have served my curacy in the benefice of St Mary’s Chard with Combe St Nicholas, Wambrook and Whitestaunton for the past four years. This was a wonderful opportunity to minister in both a rural and urban context and it was also a time of blessing, development, and growth. I have always felt a call and a yearning to return to my rural roots and so it is wonderful to take up this appointment and to come and live in such a beautiful part of Somerset.

And so here I am amongst you all! I have arrived in Cam Vale with my two cats, Merry and Pippin, and am settling in well. My interests include a love of crochet, walking along the coast and in the countryside, catching up with friends in cafes (when we are able to again!) and spending time in the garden.

I am very much looking forward to meeting you all in due course – at a social distance for the time being – and getting to know you over the coming weeks and months.

I wish you every blessing during this challenging time.

Reverend Katharine Hawksley

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QUEEN CAMEL CARES & THE CORONAVIRUS

Whilst it would appear that everyone in the village is being helped as and when the need support, if you or anyone you know who is self-isolating requires any assistance or reassurance, please give either Paul Davis (850139) or Morwenna Ford (850300) a call. We have a wonderful group of people who are willing and able to help.

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CAM VALE COMINGS AND GOINGS

First a BIG welcome to the Revd Katharine Hawksley as our new Rector. Katharine is moving into the Rectory at the end of June and after taking a bit of time to move in and get to know the place will be taking up her ministry duties during July.

We live in very strange times and I know for Katharine and for all of us it seems an age since her appointment was announced at the beginning of the year. But all good things come to those who wait, and we really look forward to welcoming Katharine together with her cats, Merry and Pippin, and getting to each other.

On the ‘going’ front one of positives about the virus is that Katharine and I will be able to work together for a short while before I step down from my role here at the end of August. I thought I would be finishing at the end of May but ‘circumstances’ as they say intervened.

Whilst looking forward to a new chapter in ministry, (not a retirement), along with spending more time with family and friends I also look forward to helping Katharine settle in and get to know her way around the parishes.

Katharine will be licensed ‘virtually’ on June 16th by Bishop Peter and we really look forward to the time when we can celebrate her arrival in true Cam Vale benefice style with a good party! ------

From Monday 15th June we are delighted to announce that our churches across the benefice are now able to be open for private prayer.

For ease of cleaning our churches will be open on the following days.

Mondays: Sparkford from 9.00am to 4.30pm Tuesdays: Corton Denham from 2.00pm to 4.00pm Sutton Montis from 8.00am to 6.30pm Wednesday: Weston Bampfylde from 10.00am to 4.00pm West Camel from 9.00am to 6.00pm Thursday: Sutton Montis from 8.00am to 6.30pm Sparkford from 9.00am to 4.30pm Saturday: Weston Bampfylde from 10.00am to 4.00pm Sunday: Sutton Montis from 8.00am to 6.30pm West Camel from 9.00am to 6.00pm

Queen Camel is open any day, but please contact a churchwarden first either Paul Davis 01935 850139, Morwenna Ford 01935 850300.

These days and times will be reviewed regularly. Unfortunately we are not able to open for any form of worship except small funerals at this time. The Revd. Rose 3

QUEEN CAMEL MEDICAL CENTRE

Thank you to all our patients for the support they have given us as we adapted to a new way of working as a result of the pandemic. We have made many changes in the practice since March to help keep our patients and staff safe.

Following patient feedback we have changed the e-consultation system we were using to a new system called askmyGP which enables patients to send a request directly to the surgery. This system is more user friendly, very convenient and enables us to use one system for all patients. The GP’s will view patient requests and will call patients or message them if more convenient. Patients can express a preference for how they are contacted. Patients who need to be seen will have a face to face appointment made for them after the triage is carried out. We are asking patients to set up askmyGP accounts, and the link can be found on our website www.queencamelmedicalcentre.co.uk. This will help free up the phone lines for patients who don’t have internet access. Patients who don’t have internet access can call the surgery as usual and the receptionists will set up the request for them.

We are trying to limit the number of people entering the building and therefore ask that patients wait 5 working days before coming to collect their medication, unless they have received a text message to say the medication is ready. For general enquiries please use askmyGP or call the surgery. We are also asking all patients to wear a face covering when coming in to the surgery to collect medication or to attend a pre booked appointment.

Many thanks Queen Camel Medical Centre Team

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MARGARET RUSHWORTH

A simple private farewell took place for Margaret on Friday June 12th at Yeovil Crematorium with 3 family members present. Margaret was known and loved by many in the village and in a short tribute Helen (her daughter) spoke of her love for her family, her skill as a cook, especially when it came to making casseroles and traditional English puddings ,( Margaret’s sticky toffee pudding was second to none), she was also a gifted needlewoman.

We look forward to the time when we can celebrate and give thanks for Margaret’s life with a service in church. In the meantime, Philip has asked me to include the following:

I would like to thank everyone who has shown their sympathy and given support to myself and my family following Margaret’s death. It is impossible to hold a normal funeral at this time, but I will arrange a memorial service as soon as circumstances permit.”

The Revd. Rose 4

WEST CAMEL CHURCHES TOGETHER

“VIRTUAL” HOLIDAY CLUB

At the time of writing it is looking unlikely that we shall be able to have our planned children’s Holiday Club at the Church this summer. However, as an alternative, we are preparing a “virtual” Holiday Club.

The theme will be “God’s Story”, and will take the form of a daily email, with links to online content and attachments, including craft activities, songs, videos, Bible stories, quizzes and worksheets. This will cover 3 days, Tuesday-Thursday 25th-27th August. It will be aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 12, completely free, and open to all families wherever they live.

If you would like to be included, please contact Geoff Chapman on 01935 850838 or email [email protected]

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WEST CAMEL METHODISTS

Meeting at All Saints Church Minister: The Rev. Craig Manley (01963 351598) Local contacts: Geoff and Elizabeth Chapman (01935 850838)

SUNDAY SERVICES: At the moment we don’t know when church services and events will resume. Please look for details on the notice boards and our Facebook page, where you can also find links to streamed and recorded services, and other helpful resources. www.facebook.com/westcamelchurches

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WEATHER RECORDS FROM MEAD FARM, DOWNHEAD

MAY 2020

Maximum temperature: 27.1 C (81 F) on the 27th Minimum temperature —2.1 C (28 F) on the 12th Grass level minimum —4.5 C (24 F) on the 12th & 14th Total rainfall: 2.8 mm (0.11 in.)

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A REFLECTION FROM GEOFF CHAPMAN

Recently the news has been dominated by worldwide anti-racism protests following tragic events in the USA. Why does racism still rear its ugly head? Racism is actually built upon a lie — the lie that there are different races of people on earth. Science and the Bible both agree that there is only one race — the human race. In the beginning “God created mankind in his own image.” (Genesis 1: 27). Preaching in Athens, Paul declared: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” (Acts 17: 26). All are equal before God. So, we need to stop talking about “races”!

The Bible not only refutes the false notion that there are different races, it also tells us the solution to racism and other forms of division. First of all, it tells us that the human race is a fallen race, and that we are all equally guilty: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3: 23). Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came to earth willingly to die for our sins, and “not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2: 2). In the words of the late Dr Billy Graham: “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.” Methodist hymn-writer Charles Wesley wrote: Jesus comes with all his grace; Comes to save a fallen race.

The secret of reconciliation is, first of all to be reconciled to God. The apostle Paul wrote about the way that Jews and Gentiles, traditionally at enmity with one another, had been reconciled through faith in Christ. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14). The Gospel provides the greatest hope of reconciliation, and the only real cure for the sin of racism. It is good and right that there are laws against racial discrimination, but these can’t change the human heart. Only Jesus Christ can.

On the Day of Pentecost, people “from every nation under heaven” heard and responded to the apostles’ preaching, and were welcomed into the fellowship of the Church (Acts chapter 2). Within the family of believers, people from all cultural groups and ethnic backgrounds should find a secure home. Sadly, the Church has not always been as welcoming, and racist attitudes have marred its witness.

In his vision of heaven, John wrote: “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7: 9). Heaven will be really multi- cultural! By sharing the good news of the peace and reconciliation found in Jesus Christ, we can create a little bit of heaven on earth, since he is still able to remove “the dividing wall of hostility.” Let’s pray for an end to the violence and hatred, and for more and more people to discover the unity that comes through faith in Jesus, the great Reconciler! The famous Prayer of St Francis is very relevant today:

Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring your love. Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord. And where there's doubt, true faith in you. 6

THE NEW BREAST CANCER UNIT APPEAL AT YEOVIL HOSPITAL

Unfortunately as with lots of charities our fund raising events have been cancelled. So far we have raised over £1,380,000 of our needed £2 million. Therefore to help the appeal we are asking people if they might like to look in their jewellery boxes for unwanted jewellery and broken pieces of jewellery that they might like to donate to the appeal while we have this enforced rest.

We had hoped to have this much needed Breast Cancer Unit at Yeovil Hospital built by the beginning of next year but now it will be delayed as with many other things. If you feel you would like to support the appeal with unwanted or broken jewellery it would be wonderful. Just contact the number below and we will collect when hopefully everything is more normal. Contact Maggie Hague appeal committee member Tel: 01963 250108.

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QUEEN CAMEL PARISH COUNCIL

There has been an important development in the progress of our Neighbourhood Plan towards our goal of it becoming part of the statutory development plan for the area and ensuring that our wishes for future development have real weight.

The Independent Examiner, appointed by SSDC, has carried out a very detailed examination of our plan to confirm that it meets the basic conditions and other requirements set out by law. The Examiner has reported to SSDC and recommended modifications which need to be made to the plan in order to meet the basic conditions, before it can proceed to the final Parish referendum. The majority of the proposed modifications are of a minor nature and easily accepted but there is one proposal to ‘remove the settlement boundary’ which has generated considerable concern. However it is the responsibility of the local planning authority (SSDC) to ensure that our plan meets the basic conditions and they will normally follow the Independent Examiner’s recommended modifications so that the plan can move forward to referendum.

Although the Parish Council does not make the final decision on the modifications to our plan, we are fully engaged with SSDC to influence their decision and make sure that the Executive Committee in early August is very clear on our wishes. Of course we do have the option of withdrawing the plan if we are still unhappy with the changes proposed by the local authority but that would be a total disaster as we would have spent many years of hard work and cost thousands of pounds without achieving the local planning security that we seek. The Parish Council wants to retain the settlement boundary in our plan. It provides clarity as to the area where infill development would be appropriate and it was supported by local residents during the preparation of the plan. However we will keep pushing and we will try and find the compromise solution which would provide the alternative control on development in Queen Camel if SSDC decides with the Examiner to remove the settlement boundary to comply with SSDC’s local plan.” Simon Thornewill, PC Chairman 7 Open Pathway Retreat Centre Charity 800412 ~ Tel: 01935 850266

We hope to re-open from 11th July with plenty of space for social distancing!

July 11th Yoga & Bones for Life Day 9.30-5.00. £70 lunch/refreshments included. Bones for Life Classes Tuesdays 9.30-11.00am. Sore, stiff and aching? Or just want to free up your spine and joints and enjoy moving? £10.50 per class or £55 for 6 classes Yoga classes Monday 6-7.30pm and Friday 9.30-11am. £6.50 per class or £32.50 for 6 classes.

Ring in to book the pool and visit the gardens or meditation room

And looking ahead

Yoga Retreat Weekend 1st and 2nd August International Peace Day Celebrations September 19th Day retreats & longer~ come and have time away from it all. Self-catering (min.of 2 nights) and B/B or F/B per night

We’d love to see you Christy, Daniel Francis, Fiananda & Nancy

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Dear Neighbours,

It has been a strange summer term for the children at Countess Gytha with the school closing back in March when the country went into lockdown and then reopening for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 at the beginning of June. Although our school looks very different now with one way systems in place in the corridors, 2 metre markers to indicate where to stand and classes reduced to just small groups the children have adapted brilliantly and we are very proud of them!

We are also extremely proud of all our children who cannot currently attend because they are doing an amazing job with their home learning activities provided by their teachers. Here are a few photos to celebrate all of the super activities the children have been doing whilst learning at home.

After two and half very happy years at Countess Gytha I will be leaving at the end of the summer term. It has not been an easy decision but with a long daily journey from Bath it is now time to cut down on my commute. It has been an absolute pleasure leading the school and getting to know the children and families. I would like to say thank you to the whole community for their support and wish you and the school the very best for the future.

Best wishes, Mrs Lisa Goodland, Headteacher, staff and children of Countess Gytha

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CAMELS’ EYE

Lotus eating is all very well but we’re active social animals and it’s good to wake up, smell the coffee and jump back into the water. Not that anyone strayed far from the brink, what with all the surfing, streaming, googling, zooming, skyping and foraging that’s kept us fed, watered, entertained and in touch over the past months. Don’t Worry, Be Happy! The proposal to build two new houses in the field beyond Queen Camel Memorial Hall is still making waves. The Parish Council and the Hall Trustees (+ c.150 folk who signed their petition) are worried about the narrow access road and the safety of pedestrians, especially the many young and old who use the Hall and footpath. But perhaps we shouldn’t fret. If the planners and developers can work out a safe solution acceptable to County Highways, County Rights of Way and the District Council Highways Consultant - the joint guardians of highway safety and the law - then all will be well. And if they can’t the application will be turned down. No worries! Vox populi That’s all well and good but many residents are upset about the very idea of a couple of houses on the edge of the village in the corner of a field where people like to walk, and the District Council has received 120 comments objecting. And how many in favour? …Er, none - unless you count the 5 parish councillors who voted to recommend approval. At 120- 5 it’s pretty obvious who represents ‘the village’. Or is it? Four out of every five Queen Camel electors haven’t bothered to comment at all. Maybe they just don’t care. Or could it be that having just elected Parish Councillors to decide what’s in the best interests of the parish they’re happy to let them get on with it? You might well think that but I couldn’t possibly comment. Cake The map on page 28 of Queen Camel’s draft Neighbourhood Plan (http://queencamelpc.org.uk/parish-plan/) shows a settlement boundary drawn round the main body of the village as tightly as a Victorian corset and for much the same reason, to shape reality to fit an ideal. And just as women eventually cast aside their corsets in favour of growth, freedom and a more natural look, so the confines of the Queen Camel settlement boundary were breached by developments like the Medical Centre, Roman Way, the new School and now the proposal to build 43 houses along West Camel Road. But we can cherish ideals without always living up to them, and when the independent examiner reviewing our Neighbourhood Plan recommended that the fixed settlement boundary be scrapped because it does not comply with the more elastic approach of the South Somerset Local Plan the result was outrage. Some fear that without the discipline of a settlement boundary Queen Camel will lose its shape and its character and then everything will go to pot. The Parish Council accepts that we have to comply with the Local Plan but has asked the District Council to let us keep the settlement boundary anyway. Are we trying to have our cake and eat it? Will the District Council be able to square the circle? And what will happen to our Neighbourhood Plan? Watch this space! P.P-C. 10

The Old School is still closed because as yet our tenants and practitioners have not been able to restart. Together, we are hoping a gradual return to a new normal will start during July and in line with government guidelines.

Members of the CLT Board have been continuing to clear the site and to do some internal painting. Walkers passing by will surely have noticed a digger last Saturday (13th) – and what a mountain of tangled growth, weeds, metal and concrete boulders were dug out of the front beds (‘thank you’ to Bob Holland for operating the digger and to SSDC staff for removing a truck-load of the rubbish). If any reader has surplus garden tools, also surplus hardy perennial plants that they would like to donate and then see growing as they walked by, e.g. geraniums / hydrangea / azalea / decorative lush grasses / photinea / and bulbs, we would love to accept such offerings.

We have some rooms and shared space in rooms available should you know anyone who is looking for workspace. If so, please contact Rosemary on 01935 850254 or Simon on 01935 850563. RHC

RAINBOWSMILE CARE

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CAROLINE HOLBROOK TUITION

Does your child need extra support to achieve their true potential? Are they lacking in confidence? If you are wondering how you can best support your child with Maths or English, I can offer weekly sessions, giving tailored support to meet their needs. As a very experienced primary school teacher, I would love to help your child gain greater confidence and knowledge to help them progress. Please contact me to arrange a first session: Tel: 07751156180 Email: [email protected]

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HUNTING THE LAST GREAT PIRATE by Michael E.A.Ford, Pen and Sword Books, 2020, pp.234

How well do we really know our neighbours? You might not associate a retired barrister living in Queen Camel with one of the most infamous acts of piracy in the age of sail, but as Mike Ford’s new book shows we can always learn from each other. And he has little time for the romantic view of pirates as daring, independent and resourceful rascals – buccaneers, literally. It is clear from this book that most of them were every bit as vicious and nasty as other violent criminals, and judging by their actions many of them were psychopaths avant la lettre.

The centrepiece of the book is a voyage of the Morning Star carrying teak, coffee, spices, government treasure, convalescent soldiers and other passengers from Ceylon to London in the winter of 1827-8. What happened to her in the South Atlantic caused a public sensation but the author is equally interested in the bigger picture and what came next. Along the way he tells us about the history of Ceylon, Cape Town, St Helena and the hazards and rewards of maritime trade in the early nineteenth century but we end up in the deeper and muddier waters where diplomacy, politics, patronage and the press meet and mingle with corruption and organised crime in high and low places, and where the Honourable East India Company holds sway. Think Patrick O’Brien meets John Grisham meets John Le Carré: it would make a great movie.

Commercial shipping was plagued by piracy at the time and in a nine-month period from the end of 1827 there were eighteen other cases reported to Lloyds of London alone. Four ships suffered even more dreadfully than the Morning Star but her fate stands out for three main reasons: prurient interest in what the women on board endured at the hands of the pirates, the speedy arrest and bringing to trial of the perpetrators, and the publication of a unique and detailed account by one of the major actors, a pirate’s-eye view of everything that had happened. Skilful use of this testimony along with other eye witness accounts, official papers, court records and historical sources gives the story depth and feeling, drawing the reader in.

The author’s approach is scholarly but when he turns from the pirates to the authorities it becomes clear where his sympathies lie. He acknowledges the dilemma facing the commander of a convoy in which the fastest and most valuable ships are racing ahead of a single, lowlier laggard but then he concludes, “The invalids and the wounded men aboard Morning Star meant nothing to someone of Commander Hamilton’s social standing”, and it was simply “greed to maximise profits for himself and the East India Company that caused him to abandon the slow sailing Morning Star”. Really? More persuasive is his account of how the British and Spanish governments and high-placed individuals sought to cover up the truth and obstruct justice in pursuit of national, political, commercial and individual interests. But there are heroes in this story too, notably the presiding judge who resigned rather than oversee a perverted judicial process - though had he seen the claim in the publisher’s blurb that finally “British justice…was vindicated” he might have raised an eyebrow! P.P-C.

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A GARDEN REFLECTION

Many of us have been saying how much we have been enjoying our gardens, tending the plant life and listening to the bird song. A garden can be a place of Rest and Relaxation, also, Reflection and Restoration.

I was reading a book recently and the lady said that everything important had happened in a garden ..... “God created the garden for man and placed him in it. Adam and Eve fell into sin in a garden. Jesus taught in a garden. Our Lord prayed in a garden. He was betrayed in a garden. And He rose in a garden. And someday.....as Christians we will all be reunited in the garden .” …… I had never really thought about the significance of a garden and it has caused me to reflect on these things when out in my own garden. JM

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QUEEN CAMEL MEMORIAL HALL 200 Club

June 2020 Winners First Prize:- £30 Pat Johnson – No. 28 Second prize:- £25 M.G. Dobson -No. 65 Third Prize:- £20 Jo Pender-Cudlip - No.128 Fourth Prize:- £15 M.A. Keeling – No. 137 Fifth Prize:- £10 V & A Richmond-Scott – No. 55

B P Plumbing

Tel: 07811 441 073 Ben Perkins Queen Camel Complete bathroom and shower Installations Central heating repairs No job too small

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Chimney sweep and vacuum clean and friendly service covering all local and surrounding areas

For more details please call Daren on 01935 850913

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BOTTLE TOP COLLECTION

Please continue saving milk bottle tops and keep them for the day when life returns to some sort of normality and we can collect and process them once more Many thanks. 14

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~Weddings ~ Funeral Teas ~ Drinks Parties ~Anniversaries ~Birthdays ~ Christenings

www.dorsetdelightscatering.co.uk [email protected]

Contact Alice 07783 928532 Louise 07743 780609

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