Winter 2005

The Chairman and Councillors wish you all a Happy Christmas and Peace and Prosperity for the Year 2006

A Seasonal Thought

What would have happened if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?

They would have asked for directions to the stable, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, brought practical gifts and there would have been peace on earth!

Taken with thanks from the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association newsletter.

Shutting up shop - for the last time

A West Devon village shop that had been in existence for more than 100 years has closed for the last time. Walkhampton Stores and Post Office has officially finished trading and customers presented owners Eileen and Chris Long with a picture of the shop in 1906 and flowers.

Eileen and Chris have been there for seven years - Chris said the decision to close had been “very sad”. “It’s become increasingly difficult to be viable, especially over the last 18 months, due to pressure of changes in the Post Office and community”, he said. He praised some of the community who had given “fantastic support”, but it had not been enough to keep them viable.

“Up to 18 months ago we used to get a lot of people coming in with their pension books and although some of them have changed to the card system we don’t see some of the others at all. It has had an impact on the Post Office side, but a greater impact on the shop”, he said.

Mary Lillicrap, who lives next door, said it was “the end of an era - a great loss”. “I have always got the heavy things there that I didn’t want to carry back from Tavistock. It is mainly the elderly that will suffer. But it’s not just the loss of the shop, it’s the social side as well. People met up there to chat”.

Parish Councillor Derek Lavers said the closure was very sad, and that it would also mean the loss of a meeting place.

Post Office spokesman Richard Hall said they considered the Post Office closure to be temporary. “At the moment we haven’t found anyone to take on the franchise, although we have had some tentative interest locally and will be following that up”, he said. “We apologise to customers, but we are doing everything we can to restore post office services in the area and will be looking at a range of options”.

He asked anyone interested in taking over the service to ring 0845 6016260.

Article reproduced with thanks to the Tavistock Times Gazette October 27th

Editorial

Ted Whitehead

This issue includes intriguing stories of past times in Meavy and Sheepstor, and we also mark the end of a Walkhampton institution - the Village Store.

We hope you enjoy this “Beacon” and, as always, we would welcome new articles or constructive comments for the next one.

As another year closes I would like to thank a number of people; Keith, Ann and Don for all their help with each issue; the advertisers for supporting the magazine; the Councillors and local volunteers who carry out the deliveries; and those who have sent in articles which have helped make the Beacon one of the most popular Council magazines around.

Best wishes to you all for a really happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.

The next issue will be out at the end of March, and the deadline for inclusion will be Monday 6th March 2006.

Clerk’s Report

Lucie A Luke

On planning, we have recently heard that King Edward VI School has won its appeal for the Rural Studies Centre in Lovaton, despite many objections from the Parish Council on behalf of the local residents. All we can do now is to monitor the activities and movements that take place and advise Dartmoor National Park Authority of any concerns.

There have been many discussions with regard to the new signs on Huckworthy Bridge and the problems that are occurring with wide loads. The Parish Council is corresponding with the relevant department at Devon County Council in an attempt to overcome this.

Matthew and Leanne have settled in well as our new tenants of the Royal Oak Inn. We are commencing with a schedule of repairs and maintenance.

There has been a good response from Parishioners wishing to join the Parish Council on the Footpaths Committee. The next meeting is scheduled for February.

The repairs and maintenance to Parish Property have finished with the final part being the railings and signs on Meavy Green.

After an extremely long wait and many requests, the Parish Council is at last in receipt of the draft Management Plan by South West Lakes Trust Ltd. for Burrator Lake area. Unfortunately, the final plan is already being published and the Parish Council has been given no opportunity to comment on the draft! The final plan will shortly be available for viewing at The Burrator Lodge.

The annual precept from West Devon Borough Council for 2006/2007 has been set at £7,000.

Grant applications which have been received for 2005/2006 (deadline 30 Nov.) will be discussed in January with a view to any amounts being allocated by the end of the financial year.

A good catch in the Meavy

The name of Meavy Primary School will take to the Indian Ocean thanks to the generosity of pupils who wanted to help the Tsunami victims. The pupils made splendid efforts through holding a variety of events to raise funds for the tsunami appeal, including a bring and buy, a non-uniform day and an anthology of poetry by older pupils.

They raised more than £1,100 to buy a new fishing boat for a family in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka.  The money was sent to the Launceston Lions who were liaising with the local Lions in Sri Lanka to have fishing boats built.

They have received photographs of “their” sponsored boat, with Meavy School on the side. It is a fibre glass boat, which was built by local people and has now been handed over to a local family. That family can now, once again, support itself.

Dartmoor Natural Networks
and the Walkham Valley

In 2005 Action for Wildlife launched a new initiative called “Dartmoor Natural Networks”. It is all about working in partnership with local people in specific areas. Rather than concentrating on individual sites, Dartmoor Natural Networks recognises the importance of linking them up, or providing stepping stones between them, across the wider landscape. Many species are reluctant to cross open areas and become vulnerable if they cannot move around the countryside. Wildlife such as bats and dormice rely on good habitat and green corridors to migrate from place to place. These are even more valuable when they link with other areas of good habitat.

The Walkham Valley has high biodiversity value and the Action for Wildlife project would like to work with anyone interested in protecting the special wildlife found there. We want to share information and ideas with local people so that by working together we can achieve more for wildlife.

So what’s the plan? Early in the New Year we will discuss ideas informally with interested people locally, and arrange some events to explore opportunities further, perhaps including wildlife workshops or visits to special areas. We will then gather all the ideas together and decide how to move forward.

Keep an eye out for our flyers and for more information about the forthcoming events in 2006.

If you would like to be involved or find out more about Action for Wildlife and Dartmoor Natural Networks, please contact Frances Cooper (Action for Wildlife Officer) or Ellie Soper (Action for Wildlife Assistant Project Officer) on (01626) 831072, or email afw@dartmoor.npa.gov.uk .

Action for Wildlife: The Dartmoor Biodiversity Project, Parke, Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ13 9JQ. Tel: (01626) 831072 Fax: (01626) 834684
Website www.actionforwildlife.org.uk

Prize for recycling Christmas trees

You could win a great prize - and help the environment- by disposing of your real Christmas tree at any Devon County Council recycling centre after the festive holiday. Everyone who uses the facility, which shreds trees into mulch or compost, is entered into a draw for one of five £200 Darts Farm luxury hampers containing a mouth watering selection of organic, fair-trade and local produce. Christmas cards can be taken to recycling points at main Tesco stores and branches of WH Smith until January 31st to support the Woodland Trust tree planting campaign.

Last year 58 million cards were handed in nationally - and 1.54 million of them came from Devon!

PACT Needs Your Help

Vics Brown

I am the Volunteer Co-ordinator for PACT (Prison Advice and Care Trust), a charity that works with families and prisoners in the South West, mainly at Exeter, Channings Wood and Dartmoor Prisons. All of our projects rely on volunteers and currently our Visit Centre and Play Project at Dartmoor is in urgent need of more helpers.

Volunteers at the Visit Centre welcome visitors and book them in, explaining the procedures and giving information about the prison. They also provide refreshments and offer people emotional support. The Play Project helps to relieve the stress of visiting for children, allowing them to have contact with an absent loved one, and enjoy their own activities while adults talk. Where families can remain in contact re-offending can be reduced. Volunteers staff the play area and do lots of art and games with the children. Our Manager, Sue Caley, has just been given a 'Devon and Cornwall Criminal Justice Award' for the work she has done through PACT, a recognition of the excellent work going on at the local prison. We would be delighted to give more information to anyone interested in our Trust.

(Vics Brown can be contacted on 01392 415967)

Burns Night Supper & Ceilidh 2006

Tim & Sharon Lambie

Last year we had such a great time at the Ceilidh that we have decided to do it again. Make a note in your diary to get your tartan out in time because January comes around ever more quickly these days. The event will take place on Saturday the 28th, doors open at 1830 to allow 30 mins for milling around before sit down at 1900 and dancing for 2000 - until midnight with a few breaks of course!! Other than the timings, we are doing pretty much the same as last year; same Band - Home Brew, same kitchen crew - Meavy Friendship Group and the same Caterers - Zenna’s Moorland Kitchen & Chris of course. We are hoping to secure the services of David Tall to run the “rip-off raffle” as well, which this year will be in aid of local charities. If you have a worthy cause, please let us know. For the raffle, we would ask you to bring any “unwanted” Christmas presents and if you got everything you wanted, then anything you think appropriate. Thank you.

We hope to be running a beer-only bar to save the blokes from running across the road to the Oak; for everything else, please bring your own and we will ask you to pay a modest corkage fee. There will be crisps, nuts and small bottles of water on sale as well. Ticket prices have yet to be finalised, but we hope to keep them around £12.50 as last year. They will only be sold in advance and they are available from Sharon and myself, so please call us any evening between 6pm - 9pm or leave a message outside that time. We are looking to sell a few less than last year, so that we all stand a reasonable chance of fitting on the floor at the same time!!

I think that about covers it other than to say thank you for supporting us last year and I hope you will come again this year, helping us to make this an annual event.

Uncovering Sheepstor’s lost past

Keith Scrivener

A history of Sheepstor, its people and its place names was the subject of a talk given in the village to help raise funds for St Leonard’s hall.

Colin Wakeham, a professional archeologist and historian who used to live in Sheepstor, gave a very interesting talk illustrated with ancient maps which showed the village long before the arrival of Burrator Reservoir. He told the story of the people who lived in the area from the pre-history Bronze Age residents of Whittenknowles and Ringmoor, the wool farmers of the Middle Ages, to the Irish labouring community who helped build the two dams which led to the creation of the present Burrator Lake.

It was the flooding of the Meavy valley in 1898 which of course led to the forced closure of several ancient farms and homesteads in the parish around 100 years ago. Mr Wakeham gave examples of many of the old tenements which are now lost to the village. Names like ‘Shop, Scotland, Leaford, Redstone, Essworthy and Mullicroft’ are now gone or underwater. A few of the old names do continue in places like Longstone, Chubb, Torr and Hellington - although some are possibly displaced from their origins. He also recounted anecdotes about several of the interesting characters who had lived in the village during recent centuries.

During the evening villagers enjoyed a communal supper of stew, curry or pizza and a profit of £119 was raised for village hall funds.

A Christmas event is now being planned for 7 pm on December 9th when a “bring and share” social evening, primarily for the village dwellers and their friends and family, will be held in the hall. Any profits will be given to charity.

Marchant’s ‘Crash’

Keith Scrivener

Marchant’s Cross (1913) © Devon County Council, Dartmoor Archive

Meavy’s historic Marchant’s Cross was once the unfortunate victim of an early traffic accident in the village. Our two pictures show the cross standing next to Yeo Lane in 1913 and then, rather sadly, lying on the ground in 1937 after being struck by an out-of-control motor car. It was knocked down by a Mr Jury who was driving Bill Northmore’s Morris car when its brakes failed coming down the hill. After the crash, the base of the cross was placed in the churchyard at Meavy but was somehow lost and cannot be traced.

Before the crash, the cross was one of the tallest to be found on Dartmoor. It was recorded as being 8ft 2ins high by the photographer Robert Burnard in February 1890. Now, after the accident and minus its base, it is four inches shorter. It is comparatively short across the arms and has an incised Latin cross of equal size on each face.

The cross is thought to be one of the many waymarkers on the south part of the Abbot’s Way between the Abbeys of Buckfast and Buckland. It was doubly important as it also marks the way of the track from the Augustinian Priory at Plympton to Tavistock Abbey. The cross was first documented in 1291 in the Charter of Isabella de Fortibus of that year forming one of the bondmarks to the lands given by her mother to Buckland Abbey in 1280.

Marchant’s Cross (1937) © Devon County Council, Dartmoor Archive

William Crossing, writing in his famous ‘Guide to Dartmoor’ of 1912, said the cross was even earlier, commenting: “But that it was erected long before that time (Isabella’s) there can hardly be a doubt.” Crossing also recorded that Marchant’s Cross may once have been known as Smalacumbacrosse. Indeed the sloping hill that leads up Lynch Common towards Ringmoor Cottage from Yeo Lane just beyond the cross is marked on Ordnance Survey maps today as ‘Smallacombe Valley’.

The fact that the moor route marked by the cross was regularly used by traders and wool merchants also gives rise to the theory that ‘Marchant’ is an ancient corruption of ‘merchants’. Hence Marchant’s Cross, Marchant’s Bridge, and Marchant’s Ford.

William Crossing also recorded a local legend that the cross marked the grave of a suicide and also that wayfarers about to set out over the moor would kneel before the cross and pray that they would be kept free from any danger during their journey.

Finally, just to show that little changes, the cross was again knocked down and damaged in other traffic accidents in more modern times – 1985 & 1990. Despite this and the passing of many centuries, today the cross still stands sentinel at this entrance to the village.

(Pictures reproduced from the Taylor Collection with kind permission of Devon County Council and the Dartmoor Archive. Visit the Dartmoor Archive for more historic local pictures at: www.ex.ac.uk/dartmoor.trust.archive/ )

Meet Your Councillors

Tim Lambie

I live in Meavy, next to the village Hall where we have been now for two and a half years. I am in my 40s and run a computer sales and help business called Chez Vous PC, based from our home at the moment.

I am married to Sharon who works full time at Plymouth College as the Headmaster’s Secretary and we have a 3 1/2 year old son called Alasdair who spends a lot of time at Edgemoor Nursery, when he's not out and about in the village on his bike or drinking outside the pub! We moved to the village 2 years ago in June and love it here. We see no reason to move away, and although we will always be considered as incomers (or outsiders as Ferret puts it) for us it is more like coming back to our roots as we both grew up very close by. I feel that for us to be considered as members of the community it is important for us to contribute, so here goes - it also sets Alasdair a good example!

I meet a lot of people in the course of my business and am interested in local affairs and how they affect local people - the speed limit for Meavy being a case in point. Quite a few people seem to agree with my point of view expressed in an earlier article. I would also like to be able to have a meal in the Oak with my son one day and would rather not to have to wait until he is 14. These are some of the reasons I "want to get involved" and I am sure there are other issues that will interest you where I can "get stuck in".

These things aside, I am very much a practical person and hope that I come across as having a common sense approach, resulting from my curiosity about how things work, but also from my 16 years in the Royal Navy where I served as a Mine Clearance Diving Officer. Yes, another ex-Naval Officer becoming a councillor - obviously something in the water at Dartmouth?

If you have any burning issues, then please do not hesitate to get in touch or confront me in the street - I will neither get violent, nor run away.

Obituaries

It is with regret that we record the passing of the following:

Beryl Frederica Brown. Died 28^th September (aged 88 years). Funeral Service and burial at Meavy Church 10^th October.

Eileen Taylor. Died 30^th September (aged 78 years). Service of Thanksgiving at Meavy Church 8^th October.

Mark Geoffrey Harwood. Died 3^rd.October (aged 22 years) Service at Meavy Church 17^th October.

Philip Ware. Died 19^th October (aged 53 years). Funeral Service at Sheepstor Church 2^nd November.

Muriel Ruth Delooze. Died 6^th November (aged 86 years). Service at Meavy Church 18^th November.

Our condolences go to their families.

Backalong - All Our Yesterdays

An occasional series looking back at the Burrator Beacon of 20 years ago.

We report the closure of Walkhampton PO and Stores on page 17 of this issue. It is ironic that the Beacon of 1985 recorded the closure of Meavy PO and the retirement after 30 years service of the postmistress Stella Shaw who, as well as doing other voluntary work, was on the Parish Council for several years.

In 1985, we also described the making of the film “Revolution” at Burrator. The stars were Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland and Natassja Kinski, with Hugh Hudson directing, as he did for “Chariots of Fire”. The filming encountered major problems, suffering a huge fire in the catering section of the set which destroyed £20,000-worth of equipment alone. Added to this vandals released the handbrake of a 40-foot high camera crane and pushed it over the cliffs at Bigbury Bay where it fell onto the beach below. The extras certainly earned their £20-a-day; the weather was atrocious and many suffered from hypothermia. Burrator became the Hudson River for a few weeks but very quickly recovered from the hullabaloo of its brush with Hollywood. Who now remembers the rows of dozens of white tents?

1985 saw the passing of local figures, including Mr C. Oldham who started the Walkhampton Art & Craft exhibition in the Church; Lionel Govier, the former Headmaster of Lady Modifords School; and Mr Fred Glanville who was Clerk to Walkhampton Parish Council for over 25 years, and sadly died just three months after his wife Nellie at their home in Walkhampton.

A competition for a local drawing to be reproduced on the front of the Beacon was won by Timothy Stokes (then aged 10) of Meavy. He wrote “ I’ve been there lots of times and I think it’s a beautiful sight, so I had to draw the dam”.

Burrator Parish Council was very busy in 1985. It purchased the Twinning sign which was on the reservoir bridge until S.W.Water removed it after the failed Lodge enquiry. It discussed the planning application by Mr D. Walker to develop Walkhampton Mill. It also noted that the proposed footpath from Woodman’s Corner to Dousland was 10th on the waiting list and “work should start in 2-3 years time”. Plus ca change…

Letters To The Editor

From Drinda MacDonald

I read with interest the Beacon article “Tea shop under the Tor” in the Autumn issue. As a resident of Sheepstor the last paragraph had its own particular point to make to me. The tea-rooms, post office/shop, school and railway halt are all now committed to past memory - life has moved on, the pace has quickened and most of us now drive cars. However, if asked how we picture the typical English village, I think most people would say a combination of farms, fields, animals, pretty cottages and in the centre, and surely a symbol of the very essence of our culture, a church. The article listed the things that are now lost in the past, but failed to mention that we still do have a church. St Leonard’s holds a weekly act of worship, keeping alive the witness to Christianity that is a central element of our national heritage and which has continued in Sheepstor since the 14th century. However, without renewed commitment and support this will also be condemned to the scrap heap of fond memory. Please think hard and do not let this happen by default!

Notices

Woodside Charity Shop, Yelverton

The staff would like to thank everyone for their support throughout 2005.

By donating goods and making purchases you help a lot of animals.

We look forward to seeing you all again in 2006

THANKS from The Leukaemia Research Fund

The Leukaemia Research Fund (Yelverton Branch) wish to thank everyone who supported the Craft Fair on 9th November at the Moorland Links Hotel. This was our 32nd Fair and we are pleased to announce we collected over £750, which will be sent to Head Office in Great Ormond Street.

Vivienne Wright

Be Safe, Be Seen

With winter bringing shorter daylight hours and worsening weather conditions, everyone - in particular children, cyclists and motor cyclists - should make sure they are highly visible. Using lights on bikes and reflective materials might well save your life.

It really isn’t that smart, sitting in Casualty in your trendy dark clothing, when a reflective band would have ensured you arrived at your destination safely.

Give drivers a chance - let them see you.

Village Halls

Please support our local village halls. Each hall has disabled access.

Booking details can be obtained from the following:

Events

SW Film Archive Evening

(Moving film of the local area)

In aid of St Peter’s Church

Meavy Parish Hall, Thursday 16th February at 7.30pm.
Refreshments and raffle
Tickets £3.00 in advance or £3.50 on the door.

Contact Denis Walker on 852818 or Sarah Gordon 854298.

WALKHAMPTON MEMORIAL HALL AGM

The Walkhampton Memorial Hall AGM will be held in the hall on Thursday January 12th 2006 at 7:30 pm.

The committee is in urgent need of new members.  If you are interested in helping with the continued running of the hall please come along, you will be made most welcome.

Meavy Garden Society

February 20th A.G.M.
March 20th Fun Flower Show.

For details contact Doris Potter 01822-853255

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Endpiece

Burrator BEACON Editor  Ted Whitehead, 
Moorland House, Golf Links Road, Yelverton PL20 6BN  Tel. 01822 853435

Editorial Team  Anne Ellis, Keith Scrivener   Internet Edition Editor 

Published and issued quarterly, free of charge by Burrator Parish Council.
Copy to be sent to the Editor by the 6th March for the next edition to be published in March 2006.
Burrator Parish Council is a body which complies with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  Contact the Clerk Lucie Luke for specific details about parish business.

Advertising

The charge for adverts is £10 (inc. VAT) per advert per single issue or £28.20 (inc. VAT) per advert for 4 issues. One full page advert costs £35.25 (inc. VAT) per single issue. Adverts must be booked and paid for in advance. Cheques made payable to Burrator Parish Council and sent to the Editor (address above). We have 800 copies distributed free of charge to every household in the Burrator Grouped Parish. The Burrator BEACON is also on the parish council website, so why not take the opportunity to publicise your business.

Please contact the Editor with any enquiries or adverts in writing. Please include any illustration preferably in the form of a clear line drawing.

Burrator Web Site

Apart from providing information from the council, the web site can be used by any business within the parish to advertise and attract new business. This service is provided free of charge to all council tax and business ratepayers within the parish.

We have many businesses that could benefit from the national and international coverage that World Wide Web provides. If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer get in touch with either the clerk Lucie Luke or councillor Michael Parle.

The opinions expressed in the Burrator BEACON are not necessarily those held by Burrator Parish Council. Every effort is made to ensure that information in these pages is accurate. However, the Council cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. Including information does not imply recommendation.