298 IPTON August and September TIMES 2020 John Hayward Tipton Times was started in 1969 and is produced and distributed to local households every two months by volunteers. Costs are met from voluntary contributions TT advertising is free and limited to local non-profit organisations and charities, with a once per year opportunity for businesses in our delivery area Thousands More Last Year for our Two £50 Prizes in Houses for Bridge, Clock and Ottery Literary East Devon Village Green Flowers Competition Phil Wright All for One and One for All - Tipton St John Playing Field and Play Park Reopens Play Park Ottery Planning The Harpford No Voice for Private Opening Application for Red Bridge Tipton On Ottery for a Shielding - Positive Moves Town Council Youngster Tipton School COPY DEADLINE For 299, October and November 2020 Tuesday 22nd September (unless by arrangement) CONTRIBUTIONS VIA YOUR BANK TO: The Tipton Times Fund Sort Code: 30-94-36 A/c No: 01720384 OUR NEW EMAIL ADDRESS - YES ! ANOTHER NEW ONE! [email protected] Follow us on Twitter - @TiptonTimes Editors: David Birch 01404 815402; 3 Tipton Lodge, Tipton St John, EX10 0AW Paula Faulkner; Barbara Pugh ; Anne Sadler Treasurer: Andrew Sadler Proofreader/Printers: Pauline Belton; Janet Croud; Anne Reid; Ian Wonnacott Distribution and General Production: Maggie Bowley; Debbie Budge; Janet Croud; Tony & Joyce Cuerdon; Jenny Dorrington; Roy Faulkner; Michelle Grover; John Harding; Yvonne Hartland; Kyle Hayes; Sue Kensdale; Nicky Knight; Katherine Lilley; Diane Mann; Linda Martin; Gill and Allen Marks; Ann Matthews; Ann Moore; Jan Passmore; Tania Phillips; Anne Reid; Liz Rogers; Maggie Rule; Nikki Sanford; Chris Schofield; Alison and David Stevens; Megan Watton; Denise Wightman COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Cricketers - Phil Wright Isabel - Alison Pearson The Playpark, due to reopen in early July, unlocked the gates one day beforehand to We welcome letters and give a seriously vulnerable youngster the contributions but reserve the right to edit and amend chance to come out and run, play and swing such offerings. before public access possibly compromised its Views expressed within each complete hygiene. article are the author’s own. - 3 - Editorial Welcome to the second online edition of Tipton Times. We are delighted to be able still to produce a magazine in the unusual circumstances we still find ourselves in and hope this is able to reach most of our readers. Since our last issue, there have been welcome signs of a return to something approaching normal life, although we would absolutely endorse the message that relaxation of restrictions is conditional on everyone’s commitment to staying alert and observing government guidance. For anyone who needs to remind themselves of this they can find it here. Our cover images illustrate perfectly the nature of the current reality. Cricket can be played, providing guidance on social distancing is observed and the play area is now fully operational, as long as guidelines for safe use are followed. The re-opening of the Golden Lion is also a welcome landmark on our village’s route back to normality. Franky and Michelle’s approach, in common with others in the hospitality sector, has been immensely reassuring. Of course, there are many challenges ahead. We feel for those whose planning and decision-making is far from clear-cut: the headteachers, medical and social care professionals in our community have an unenviable few months ahead of them and all those whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by Covid19 still face uncertainty. In some respects, life goes on as normal and some contentious issues do not disappear because of a pandemic. In case anyone thought that the moving of our primary school to Ottery was in abeyance, a planning application has been submitted to EDDC for the building of “up to 150 new dwellings, and a 210 space primary school” in Ottery. Anyone wishing to comment on this plan has until 15th August to do so. For more details and to respond, follow this link. Nature is not held back either, as you will know if you have seen Val Ranger’s efforts to save the ‘red bridge’ at Harpford. See her report on Page 4. Finally, we are sorry to see that Lyn Harding has stepped down as our Town Councillor, and Geoff Pratt intends to do so although he will continue as an East Devon District Councillor. Many thanks to them both for all their hard work on our behalf. See the ‘notice for co-option’ for a new Town Councillor on Page 6. Thanks are also due to Tony Pugh for his work as Tipton Times treasurer: as you all know, we depend entirely on donations and grants and Tony has done brilliantly in securing and managing our funds. Many thanks and a welcome to the team to Andrew Sadler, who has taken on the role. The Editors PLEASE NOTE “CONTENTS” NOW LISTED ON PAGE 35 A VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR EVERYONE Our email address has changed once more and it is now [email protected] Please go into your contacts and delete our old AOL and Outlook email addresses - 4 - Red Bridge over the River Otter, Harpford - Threat of closure Firstly, thank you to all residents and respondents to our petition, which was aimed at showing Devon County Council that the bridge is widely used and highly valued and that its closure on safety grounds would be highly detrimental to our villages and residents. There has really been a magnificent response to the survey, we are just 69 short of 2,500 responses online and in addition we have paper petitions which some residents are signing. This really shows Devon County Council for once and for all that this is not just a bridge used by a few locals. The benefits are far reaching both for practical journeys in safely connecting our villages, for the health and well-being of residents out walking and running and for the wider economic benefits to more occasional visitors and tourism. I was interviewed on Exmouth Air last Sunday as the story has interest from wider afield in East Devon, too. DCC have agreed that the western bridge abutment and steps are now at risk of failure due to the ongoing river bank erosion and they would like to extend the existing rock armour in this area. If funds allow they would also like to extend the existing rock armour at the eastern end of the foot- bridge to protect the footpath from further river bank erosion in order to keep the bridge in a serviceable condition. They are keen to do work that will extend the life of the bridge in its current position. In order to carry out this work DCC will need landowners consent to move machines and plant across the land to reach the bridge, which hopefully can be agreed. I am so grateful to DCC Councillor Claire Wright for liaising with DCC officers and also to the officers at DCC themselves who have had to try to squeeze this urgent work into their already busy schedules. I will post more updates as we receive them. Thank you again, stay safe and well. Councillor Val Ranger Newton Poppleford and Harpford Ward - 5 - NATURE NOTES I am very much enjoying this weather at the moment. It is just the right temperature with not too much rain and just about enough rain. The garden plants seem to mostly agree with me, anyway. The time and effort I put into finally clearing a space and tidying it all up was most gratifying at the time. I ended up with rows of vegetable plants which all looked quite organised (for me, anyway!). Now the whole area has turned back into a jungle again! At least it’s an edible jungle… The problem with having these kinds of plants in the garden means that other species of wildlife enjoy them too. If the slugs don’t get ‘em, then the small and large white butterfly, aptly named the cabbage white, will spend a lot of its time laying its eggs on your greens in order for the newly hatched caterpillars (also mostly green) to decimate them within no time. They can be found in many habitats including gardens, allotments, parks, meadows, open grassland, and hedgerows. There are generally two generations each year, with three generations in good years. Second brood adults have noticeably darker markings that those of the first brood. First-brood adults typically emerge in late April, peaking around the middle of May and gradually tailing off through June. The second brood, which is always stronger than the first brood, starts to emerge in early July. However, in good years, the second brood may emerge in late June and give rise to a third brood. One of the more familiar species of butterfly is the small tortoiseshell, although you may not have noticed so many around as you are used to. Unfortunately, this butterfly has suffered a worrying decline, especially in the south, over the last few years. This butterfly has always fluctuated in numbers, but the cause of a recent decline is not yet known, although various theories have been proposed. One is the increasing presence of a particular parasitic fly due to global warming - this species being common on the continent. The fly lays its eggs on leaves of the food plant, close to where larvae are feeding. The tiny eggs are then eaten whole by the larvae and the grubs that emerge feed on the insides of their host, avoiding the vital organs. A fly grub eventually kills its host and emerges from either the fully-grown larva or pupa before itself becoming pupa.