BRENTOR

NEWS

May 2015 Issue 427

Produced by The Brentor Community Trust www.brentorvillage.org

Brentor Village Hall

& Playing Field Committee

AGM

8.15pm

Wednesday

17th

of June

We need your support

to maintain this hub of our community.

This is an opportunity to join our active

& friendly group.

Dave Williams (Chair) 810375

NOTE CHANGE OF DATE

Coffee morning

Saturday 2nd May 10.30-12.

Meet up with friends and neighbours.

Enjoy the freshly brewed coffee, homemade

cakes and who can resist the bacon rolls?!

+ Parish Meeting

Sheryl Borroughs

Tavy Youth Group

30 adults and young people enjoyed an afternoon at Cotehele in the Easter holidays. We were fortunate with the weather and the Easter Egg Trail was popular with all the young folk. We explored the gardens and woodland and had a look around the house.

Thank you to Andy and Sarah from CHICKS who so generously gave up Easter Saturday to help us. Our next meeting will be at CHICKS on Saturday 9 May, 7 – 9pm.That evening we have had an invitation to go and see the animals at Stablelights so thank you, in anticipation to Helen and Laurie.

Please note we will be holding our Big Breakfast Praise, to raise money for CHICKS on Sunday 5 July. Please join us to raise money for our local charity.

Sally and Christopher Pancheri 810285.

St Luke’s Hospice Fund Raising – Gardens Open We hope you can join us on Sunday 24

th May anytime

from 11am to 4pm. As you know, four gardens are open at the Rowden end of Brentor with all proceeds donated to St Luke’s Hospice.

As well as the gardens, there are Ploughman’s lunches, tea and cakes and musical entertainment from Barry’s Big Band Sound as well as Gypsy Train. Also there are plant sales at two of the gardens – ice cream’s too if we are lucky with the weather. Garden Entry is £5.00 which is an excellent price to browse four gardens. Sorry No dogs or wheelchair/pushchair access.

This is also the final call for donations of Raffle prizes and a big Thank You to those have contributed already. Also a few more cakes are needed – can you help, if so please give me a ring before 15

th May.

We all look forward to seeing you.

Sue Mott 810037

Farewell to Brentor By the time you read this we should have moved from Brentor Station and be starting the next stage of our lives in Pewsey, Wiltshire.

We want to thank everyone who came to the Village Hall on the 18th, a very special way for us to have the chance to say farewell after twenty years in this wonderful Village. The supper was great, many thanks for producing such a lovely spread. The book of memories we will treasure greatly.

We will be back from time to time and if it happens to be the first Saturday of a month we will be along for bacon rolls and a chat of course.

With our best wishes to you all,

Sue and Eric Rhodes

Lawnmower For Sale

Qualcast 17S Suffolk Punch

petrol cylinder lawnmower and scarifier.

Good condition. £100 ono.

Brian Greenaway 811058

Brentor Commons Violets have put on really good show this year. Along with the wild strawberries they light up the hedges, but only on the sunny side of the road or path. Between Bowden and Liddaton commons they are abundant on the right hand side but almost totally absent from the left.

I have heard the drumming of the great spotted woodpecker close to the old mine workings on the far side of Bowden, but more interestingly the laughing call of the” yaffle” or green woodpecker at Liddaton crossroads. This is a bird that I have not seen or heard for several years. Let’s hope it is here to stay. Listen out for the quite loud and characteristic, almost human sounding, laughing sound in any sparsely wooded area.

Nationally last year was really good for butterflies, so it is nice to see that the hot Easter weather brought out the orange tips, peacock tortoishell and brimstone in profusion again. I was very impressed by a pair of speckled wood butterflies involved in an aerial dogfight just a few feet in front of me. They were spiralling around each other so closely and rapidly that they looked like a floating tennis ball. This carried on for at least a minute.

Chiffchaffs were as usual the first summer visitors to arrive making their presence felt with their chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff song. After more than a week, suddenly the common was alive with a “fall” of willow warblers with perhaps 20 birds singing there delightful cascade of liquid sound, so much the sound of summer.

Barry Albrighton 860445

CHICKS Open Day

Friday 15th

May,

2-6pm

Come along to the CHICKS charity Open Day at their

Moorland Retreat (PL19 0LX). there will be the

opportunity to have a tour of the facilities, a chance to

meet the CHICKS team and to find out more about the

charity.

Family, friends and community groups are more than

welcome to attend.

For more information contact info@chicks.org.uk or

call

Azita Shamsolahi 01822 811020.

Tor and Tavy WI Since our last update in February we have had exercise in the form of belly dancing. This was a fun evening with the whole group participating. We were taught by Ameera, who teaches dance classes, she showed us how to move and use our stomachs to good effect!!!!! Apparently, belly dancers do not have to be “slim”, in fact the more ample the tummy the better the moves!!!

Easter saw us needle felting polystyrene eggs and decorating them in felt to contrast with the main colour, very effective and amazingly easy.

The Annual Meeting was held on 23rd

of April. A week later, 30

th April, we hosted our annual Four Rivers

Group meeting. The Tamar Valley Male Voice Choir sang in the village church, followed by a delicious supper cooked by the ladies of the Tor and Tavy WI.

Our book group is thriving and at last night’s meeting we chose the books for the next 12 months, a list will be available soon if anyone is interested in joining us. The theatre group will be at the Theatre Royal in May to see “Top Hat” and the visits to Eastcott Vinery and Royal Citadel have now been finalised for early and late June and we have 18 people attending each event.

At the May meeting we will have a former John Lewis Manager as our speaker, June will see a visit from Quicks Cheeses and table origami will be our July meeting.

Anyone wishing to join should ring Trish 810115,

Lucie 810540 or Judi 614198 for more information.

Mary Tavy And Brentor

Community Primary School Our small village school continues to be popular

with our numbers continuing to grow.

Our clubs are up and running; cookery, drama,

gym and dance, cricket and rounders, art,

sewing, singing, ukulele and gardening clubs. We

continue to promote sport at the school and will

be entering a wide variety of competitions in

the local area this term as well as celebrate

National Sports Week in June.

We have some very exciting topics for this

term: Plants and Animals, Invaders and

Settlers and What a Beautiful World. To link in

with our topics, Classes 1M, 2 and 3 will be

visiting RHS Rosemoor and Class 3 will be

holding a Pet Day! There is lots of sowing of

seeds at the moment as the children continue

to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers both at

the allotment and around the school. This

encourages the children to learn and appreciate

where some of their food comes from.

Do feel very welcome to come along to our

Afternoon Tea on Friday 22nd May between

2.00 and 4.00pm at the school. There will be

lots of delicious cakes and other goodies to eat

so put the date in your diary and look out for

the posters advertising the event including

details about tickets. Please ring the school on

01822 810384 for further information.

Nicky Pratten, Headteacher

POWDERMILLS POTTERY

CRAFT SHOP & CREAM TEAS

Come and enjoy a cream tea made from

the best locally sourced products served on

tableware made in the pottery out of

Dartmoor clay!

Potter around the craft shop containing

pieces from over 30 local makers.

Situated 2 miles west of Postbridge on the

B3212, surrounded by beautiful Dartmoor

scenery.

Open 10:30am – 5 pm 7 days a week

PL20 6SP 01822 880263

Joss Hibbs

Odd Jobs? General Maintenance?

House Repairs?

Masonry? Painting & Decorating? Landscaping?

Renovations? Building Work?

Ground-works?

“MIKE’S YOUR MAN!”

Mike Burns

Rose Cottage, Mary Tavy, PL19 9PR

01822 810 795

07747 440 572

Your Local Handyman

Call for a Free Quote.

Friendly professional service Guaranteed

John Burrows Boiler Services

Oil Fired Boiler Technician

Commissioning, Servicing, and

Breakdown repair

of

All types of Domestic Oil fired Appliances

AGA-Rayburn trained

(OFTEC Registration Number C9888)

Contact John on:

Home 01822 810494

Mobile 0778 2345395

John_Burrows@tiscali.co.uk

Competitive Rates

STOP PRESS!!! The Jumble Sale on Saturday 25th March achieved takings of £230

The Scramblings at Spriggly Torch”

Brentorians Spring Production, 2015 In March a plot was hatched in the Village Hall to trap a spy! Set against a monochrome background appropriate to a 1940’s time of espionage, “The Scramblings at Spriggly Torch” (by Richard Coleman) was all about multiple convoluted efforts to steal – and steal back - secret plans of a new German fighter plane, all played out in front of capacity audiences.

The actors involved performed with energy and commitment. A coldly efficient Sir Aubrey Fitzwarren, MP was portrayed with presence and force by John Wheeler, whilst Glenys Mason gave an enthusiastic performance as the overly obedient Special Agent Daphne Merrryweather-Pugh.

… continued

Robin Burdfield, in the pivotal role of Sir Henry Gorsefeather-Trout of Spriggly Torch Manor, gave an outstanding performance maintaining pace and energy throughout. His wife Cynthia was played in a feisty style by welcome newcomer Beryl Higgs-Light.

The taciturn and bird-harassed butler Poop (Will Walker-Smith) delighted the audience with his accents and comic timing.

Squadron Leader Darcy Farquar-Digby-Farquar, whose playful antics with the ladies augmented the plot, was performed with style & panache by Brian Wood. Jo Larsen Burnett as Felicity, his somewhat vacant wife, gave a convincing performance and had the audience in fits with her facial expressions and comic timing. Another welcome newcomer, Chris Pullinger, played the boffin Professor Willoughby Sprout in appropriately dead-pan style. Lady Constance Cowpepper-Frill was played with suitable bluster, style and her usual stage presence, by Pat Blower.

Pamela Plunge, inn-keeper at The Feisty Goat (aka Rita Leamington-Spa of the British Secret Service), was Sue Rhodes in a challenging rôle executed with professionalism, dedication and attention to detail. Christopher Pancheri as the Belgian Count Stomhoff-Blitz played the part strongly with focus on comic timing.

Willets the police inspector was Gary Garwood, whose stage presence kept the pace of Act 2 rolling along as the plot unfolded. His sidekick Policewoman Plimsole was played with enthusiasm and abundant energy by Sharon McQuillin.

Mrs Poop, Millicent and Miss Isle, three very different rôles, were all played by Anne Clark with clever characterisation separating the three.

Introduction and continuity between scenes was superbly handled by Joe Kuipers as MC, whilst Liz Hill smoothly managed changes to the simple but effective set - designed by Jo Larsen Burnett, built by Dave Williams and Garry Garwood. Lighting was by Dom Carnell, assisted by Jason Libby who also gave us sounds of the 1940’s. Val Dawes was seen behind a video camera whilst Helen de Carles competently managed ticket sales and front-of-house, assisted by Sarah Walker-Smith.

Congratulations to all involved, and particularly to Producer/Director Judy Baxter, for giving each audience a wonderfully entertaining and memorable evening. A. C. Ritic (details supplied)

Diary Dates Tuesdays 7pm Yoga Jane Osborne 832897

May

Saturday 2cnd 10.30-12.00 Coffee Morning

+Annual Parish Meeting

Sheryl Burroughs

Caroline Sellars

870554

Saturday 9th 7-9pm Tavy Youth Group – meeting at CHICKS Sally &Chris Pancheri 810285

Friday 15th 2-6pm Chicks Open Day Azita Shamsolahi 811020

Thursday 21st 7.30pm Garden Club: "Flower Arranging" a demonstration by Vivienne Thompson

Heather Webster 810004

Friday 22cnd 2-4pm Afternoon Tea at Mary Tavy & Brentor

Community Primary School

Nicky Pratten 810384

Sunday 24th 11am-4pm Gardens Open for St Luke’s Hospice Sue Mott 810037

June

Weds 17th 8.15pm Village Hall & Playing Field Committee AGM Dave Williams 810375

All events in the Village Hall unless otherwise stated

Village Hall Bookings by Helen de Carles 810412 – see www.brentorvillage.org for further details

Brentor News key facts

Distribution: The Brentor News is also published on the village website www.brentorvillage.org. If you are outside the parish and would like The Brentor News emailed to you, send your request to johnw@brentor.net. A small donation to the BCT would be appreciated.

Donations & Advertising: All donations, advertising copy and payment of £5 per advert insertion should be sent to Mike Whitfield 810209 in advance of publication, cheques payable to 'Brentor Community Trust'.

Permissions: Contributors of editorial copy or adverts thereby give permission for the publication of author’s name and phone number on the website edition of the paper unless specifically requested otherwise. Any comments on the website should be sent to: colin.dawes@virgin.net

Editorial team: Rick Blower 810600 r.blower@btinternet.com, Mike Whitfield 810209 mikewhit@btinternet.com

John Wheeler 810083 johnw@brentor.net, Jane Phelpstead 810635 croakytoad@ukgateway.net,

Joe Kuipers 810590 joekuipers@tiscali.co.uk

FINAL COPY DATE for June edition, Saturday 23rd

May

Rick Blower 810600 r.blower@btinternet.com