Women’s Institute

On March 24 the Halwill branch of the Women's Institute celebrated their centenary.

To mark the occasion they donated a trough to the village with a plaque inscribed with the date of this great achievement. Following the unveiling the ladies celebrated with a party tea which included the much famed WI home made cakes and in particular the age old favourite Victoria sponge.

Kate Harman made a celebration cake and Alwyn Tasker supplied the flowers for the planter.

The ladies also dressed up, as they would have done 100 years ago, for a special photograph to be taken and then followed up with an updated version where they are shown to be the more cheerful bunch we see today.

Halwill WI prides itself on being forward thinking, fun loving and a very supportive part of the local community. They are responsible for decorating the village at Christmas and during gala week with knitted tributes which is why the group has survived for so long.

The members meet at the Baptist Church hall in Halwill Junction on the first Thursday of every month at 2pm and new members are always very welcome. There are also coffee mornings, a skittles team and walks to join in each month which often involve cake.

Well done Halwill.

St Mary Magdalene Church

Before choral evensong on May 5 Dr Sean Sweeney played, “O gott, du frommer Gott” by Johannes Brahms.

James Wonnacott took the service and led the prayers and acted as cantor for the Ferial Responses in which the congregation was invited to join. The choir sang Psalm 98 to the chant by Elvey. The canticles were sung to the setting by Tertius Noble in B minor which the choir had not sung since 2016.

Kate Hancock read the lessons from The Song of Solomon and the Revelation of St. John the Divine. The anthem was Richard Shephard’s, “A new commandment”, and at the end of the service Dr Sweeney played a Processional by William Mathias.

Some talented singers have been invited to join the choir in the next choral evensong at St Mary’s on Sunday, May 19, at the usual time of 5.30pm.

St Melor’s Church

Morning prayer will be held in St Melor’s Church, Linkinhorne, at 10am on Monday and Wednesday.

Holy Communion will be at 11am on Sunday, May 12.

St Paul’s Church

There will be informal worship at St Paul’s Church, Upton Cross, Sunday, May 12, at 10am.

Parish hall

Help is needed to ensure continued availability of this potentially life saving equipment.

In September 2019 raising the sum f £2,500 in the community for this facility and cabinet. Unfortunately is not working at the moment and a like-for-like battery replacement will cost £450 including VAT. Duchy Defibrillators would replace the whole item with a new improved model for £720 and replacement batteries would thereafter be provided within the existing annual fee that currently covers only the periodic replacement of the pads. This would be a considerable saving over the years.

At the moment it is situated at the parish hall due to being a central location but the hall committee is only the “caretaker”. The committee is very small but the trustees of the hall are willing to be a central body for any fundraising. The parish council and the community chest have been approached for a contribution but awaiting the outcome of these requests.

Any community groups, local business or individuals with any suggestions for raising funds, helping or donating please get in touch with Christine Ewings on 01579 362954.

Women’s Institute

Members of Linkinhorne WI will be meeting again in the Parish Hall at Upton Cross on Wednesday, May 8, at 7.30pm.

Anyone interested to join are welcome to attend, or contact the president, Kim Sudell 01579 362771.

Pig Racing

This event will take place in Rilla Mill Village Hall on Saturday, May 11, doors open at 6.30pm, racing starts at 7pm.

There will be refreshments including hot dogs and bacon rolls. Also a bar will be available.

Entry is £2.50 plus cash betting on the night. Cash only event. All proceeds for the upkeep of Rilla Mill Village Hall and Parson’s Meadow.

Parish Council

The next meeting will take place on Monday, May 13, in Rilla Mill Village Hall committee room at 7.30pm.

Coffee morning

A coffee morning will be held on Tuesday, May 14, at the Parish Hall, Upton Cross 10.30am to noon.

Women’s Institute

A whole new world out there. Kevin Sinfield came to enlighten the WI open meeting about Cyber Crime and to explain to members and friends the most important things to be aware of. Alice Brown welcomed him. Kevin is the Devon and Cornwall Police Crime Protection Officer.

He talked about some current scams and threats to our computers and other smart devices. Tips were given on email scams, mobile phones and text messages and how to minimise risks, including strengthening our passwords and how to do our best to ensure our online safety. His advice- if something seems too good to be true, do not respond. It likely will be a scam. Look up the Martin Lewis programme for more good advice on scams. Action Fraud are who you need to contact if unfortunately you are ever scammed to report it.

Kevin then discussed home security telling members good lighting, cameras and door alarms were amongst the top choices to consider. He took questions throughout this informative talk after which a finger buffet was enjoyed by all.

Members have recently started meeting fortnightly for morning coffee at Tre, Pol Pen. No business, just social time and a get together which is proving popular.

Church

The Patronal Festival on April 28 honoured St Winwaloe in a service in the Cornish language led by Rev Canon Jane Kneebone, the chaplain to the Gorsedh Kernow.

Rev Kneebone was right – it is easier to sing in Cornish than to speak it! And the singing was indeed very good. Many thanks to Verna Jones for playing the keyboard for us. The readings and bulk of the service were in Cornish, although Rev Kneebone preached in English and churchwarden, Caroline Stone. could only resort to English for a prayer thanking God for the example of Saint Winwaloe. People had come long distances for the service and were delighted to see the orchids in flower in the churchyard. It was a memorable and very enjoyable day finished off with a visitor who came in as we were clearing up and bought the remainder of the cake from us.

The church is faced with needing to raise money for necessary tree work around the churchyard and car park due to ash die-back. We are holding a quiz night at Tresmeer Village Hall on May 18 and will be running the Tuesday morning coffee morning at Central Methodist Church on May 21.

Email [email protected] to book in a team for the quiz night (teams of six at £5 a head). There are some great prizes to be won in the raffle we will hold on the evening, not least a voucher for a meal for two to be delivered to your house by local company Joy’s Thai Kitchen. If you are in town on May 21 do come in for a coffee and support our efforts with the coffee morning.

Friendly Club

The Egloskerry Friendly Club on Friday, May 3, coach trip went to Newquay.

With plenty of seaside shops to explore in the main street, most started to make way for one of the many refreshment premises. With such good weather multiple choices were then made, a stroll along the cliff tops and sit down overlooking the harbour and boats looking down on a few swimmers and families on the beach, no surfers as the sea was almost flat.

A walk around Trenance Gardens and the boating lakes gave a chance to see the swans and ducks, but the flower beds were only made ready for planting. Quite a few took a relaxing open air journey on the hop on “Muson River 1894” three coach ‘Land Train’ to travel the streets and sea front stopping as requested, ending up passing the Bowling Green, Tennis Courts and Trenance Zoo and looped back around to the Headland passing the Huer’s Hut, a 14th century look-out by a Huer, when shoals of Pilchards were expected in the Bay a call on his Horn alerting Townsfolk, then with hand signals enabled fishermen to position the boats and encircle the shoals with their nets, this little white Hut may have also previously been used for a Beacon Fire for guiding ships.

This 55 minute road train tour was made more interesting by the conductor's informed commentary throughout. With time for a late afternoon ice cream we all then made for home after another pleasant day’s coach outing.

History Society

The Holsworthy History Society met on Thursday, May 9, and were fascinated by the talk given by David Kendrik on the Early Days of Winston Churchill.

David spoke about Winston’s childhood and his days at his boarding schools. He wasn’t a particularly good scholar but did develop a love for the English language and Literature which held him in good stead for when he became a war correspondent in South Africa. He was captured by the Boers and imprisoned but after only a couple of months incarcerated he escaped and journeyed some 300 miles to the neutral territory of Portuguese East Africa.

We look forward to hearing more about Winston Churchill when David comes back to the History Society in October and talks about his years as a Parliamentarian.

The society’s next meeting is on Thursday, June 13. Members will be meeting in Tavistock at 2pm and Simon Dell will be doing a guided walk. Simon is a brilliant speaker with extensive knowledge about Tavistock and its dark history. He will surely make this guided walk very interesting indeed.

All are welcome to join us.

Christian Aid

Thank you to all from Chilsworthy who supported and helped with the recent Wednesday coffee morning held in Holsworthy Memorial Hall. £325.50 was raised for the work of the Christian Aid appeals for the Middle East and Ukraine.

Village Hall

A good number attended the monthly village coffee morning for May in the Millard Room of the Village Hall Social Club last Thursday.

It was good to see some new faces present. Thank you to Mark and Sandra Shepherd and Mary Care for hosting this month and for providing the refreshments.

Methodist Chapel

Rev Simon Leigh led the Holy Communion service at the Methodist Chapel on Sunday, May 5.

Ruth Bealing welcomed everyone and the prayers of adoration and confession were led by Mark Shepherd.

We worshipped the Lord by singing: ‘This is Amazing Grace’, ‘He lavishes grace as our burdens grow greater’, ‘The splendour of the King’, ‘Behold the servant of the Lord’, ‘Here is bread, here is wine’ and ‘Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me’.

The singing was led by Dionne Bere on keyboard, Mark Shepherd on guitar and with Pam Newton, Maxine Whenmouth, Marlene Heard and Avril Glessing as vocalists.

The lessons were read by Maxine Whenmouth and Christopher Smith.

There was a very special section to the service when Rev Leigh welcomed Lesley Coxon into membership of the Methodist Church and Lesley went on to give her personal testimony.

Rev Leigh administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper with Mary Care acting as communion steward.

The tech desk was operated by Tim Watson and Vicki Bluett.

Thank you to those who organised creche activities for the children present.

The sharing of coffee and biscuits followed the service.

Woodford Methodist Church

Woodford Methodists held their traditional Rogation Sunday service, asking for God's protection of the agricultural industry, livestock and crops by the pond at Lee Barton by kind permission of Jonnie and Nicola Hobbs. Despite being away from the Chapel environment, there was hearty singing of hymns. The service was followed by a bring and share lunch.

Methodist Chapel

The Rogation Sunday service at Morwenstow Methodist Chapel at Shop was led by Rev Richard Ward-Smith.

Colin Tape was the organist for the hymns: ‘Morning has broken’, ‘All people that on earth do dwell’, ‘Who put the colours in the rainbow’, ‘We plough the fields and scatter’, ‘Praise my soul the King of heaven’ and ‘How great Thou art’.

Lessons were read by: Janet Ash, Jennifer Vanstone, Ken Boundy, Celia Cleave, Jill Johns and Freda Olde.

The projector was controlled by Stuart Ash with pictures throughout the service of cattle and ewes with their lambs in meadow fields, spectacular oil seed rape, tractors at work in the fields, fields of corn, cowslips, a farm house and projects the Chapel has undertaken.

The Merrytones Praise Group sang: 'Song of the ocean'.

The service was followed by coffee and a chance to chat in the Wesley Room.