Hi folks
I went train spotting the other Saturday, near Cullompton. For those interested in steam engines, I saw a double-headed (two engines) express speeding through. The engines were "Royal Scot" and a Battle of Britain Class pacific called "Lord Dowding".
I'm telling you this because it turned out to be a very good bird-watching spot too – I saw a blackcap singing away, buzzards, a sparrow hawk and two swifts overhead, plus I could hear lots of birdsong – a lovely chorus!
On another beautiful day, I walked down to the river Tale, …
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Alan’s Nature Notes from May
3 June 2017 By
Yellingham Farm in May
3 June 2017 By
I have never seen so much grass, it keeps growing and growing and all my ewes and lambs are hardly making an impression on it. Mustn’t complain though, as if this dry weather continues, it will impact on the grass growth. Mind you, I remember when we bought the farm, everyone commented that “Yellingham was a very grassy farm”. Thought it was a stupid thing to say at the time, but they were right.
Naturally the ewes and lambs are growing on really well and some of my ram lambs are nearly as big as their mum. The next job on the list is to …
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We need your help!
3 June 2017 By
On Saturday 8th July, Penny, Alison and Becky will take part in the Jurassic Coast Mighty Hike for Macmillan. We start in Weymouth and will walk 22 miles, finishing in Studland.
All three of us, like many of you, have lost close family and friends to cancer and we want to raise money to help Macmillan make this horrible disease a little bit more bearable. You can help too by sponsoring us.
Go to our Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Ottertrotters or leave a donation in the shop.
Thank you. We’ll let you know how we …
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Village Tree
3 June 2017 By
The ribbon was cut to celebrate the new village tree by Heather Wallace, whose mother Kathleen Lawrence planted the cherry tree.
The Parish Council would like to thank all the donors for their generous contributions, the residents around the green for watering the tree over the last year, and FOPS for offering the May Day event as an opportunity for the ribbon cutting.
Keith Williams …
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Alan’s Nature Notes from April
4 May 2017 By
Hi everyone, What lovely weather we're having---it's a joy to be alive! Margaret and I went down to Budleigh the other day, and this was also a beautiful day. We walked along the riverside path as far as the bridge, where we sometimes see kingfishers, but not today! However, it was a super walk, with lots of pretty blossom on the blackthorn and gorse hedges.
I saw a male reed bunting, curlews, lots of wild ducks still about, a chiffchaff singing and a pair of chaffinches mating on the path in front of me---they are brazen---he looked very …
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Yellingham Farm In April
4 May 2017 By
What a fantastic sight! This morning I leant over the farm gate to our big front field and there grazing quietly and contently, were all my ewes and lambs - a mixture of Jacobs and Black Welsh Mountains. A wonderful black and white scene. Not a sound disturbed them. The sky was bright blue and the only thing that interrupted this moment and the sky, was the ducking and diving of my swallows who arrived at the weekend.
We had a couple of swallows arrive at least a week ago and as I was watching them in the yard with my neighbour I stated that …
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Broadhembury WI – May
4 May 2017 By
There is nothing like the arrival of an AGM to bring home the anguish of transience, and the relentless passage of time, to each and every one of us. We all felt it, I'm sure. Nevertheless, we at the WI soldiered on, made decisions and elected as President, Angie Carr, who has done so much sterling work over the past year. It all went off well, really; there were no fights nor muffled scuffles in the back row.
On a sadder note, we paid tribute to our longest serving member, Mary Eveleigh, whose funeral last month we were honoured to cater for …
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Hospiscare – Will Fortnight 8th to 19th May
4 May 2017 By
Local solicitors are giving up all of their usual fee for writing a standard Will so you can donate to Hospiscare instead. Simply choose a participating solicitor and make an appointment.
To find out more, please contact Hospiscare on 01392 688020 or email a.pragnell@hospiscare.co.uk
Full details and a full list of participating solicitors can be found at http://www.hospiscare.co.uk/events/will-fortnight …
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Community Police Message – 13 April
14 April 2017 By
Message sent by Action Fraud (Action Fraud, Administrator, National):
Wonga has confirmed a data breach where up to 250,000 accounts have been compromised. The incident is now being investigated by the police and has been reported to the Financial Conduct Authority.
Wonga has updated their website with further information and confirmed that they are contacting all those affected and are taking steps to protect them, but there are also some things you can do to keep your information secure.
Here’s what you can do to make yourself safer: …
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Alan’s Nature Notes from March
7 April 2017 By
Hi folks
Well, it's been very Spring-like in recent days, hasn't it? The birds are pairing up - blackbirds chasing each other round the garden, goldfinches fighting and the woodpecker drumming in the oaks. He has been at it for over two weeks now! The dunnocks (hedge sparrows) are singing away. Did you know that they are polygamous (I think that's the word for having many husbands and wives!) I had a treat the other day - a bullfinch in the hedge by Cokesputt; a lovely bird which I used to see a lot when I was a boy, but very rarely these …
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