News

It’s good to have a reason to get on your bike and also good to have a goal to get you pedalling up the Devon hills. So on September 10th Ali Taylor and I had both a reason and a goal. The reason was to raise always-needed funds for the Devon Historic Churches Trust, which does an amazing job at supporting the many architectural gems we have in this county. The goal was to raise as much money as possible through your generous sponsorship- as half of the total will come straight back to Littlehempston to help pay for repairs and maintenance and the other half will go into the Trust’s coffers to be given out as grants (and we have benefitted several times over the years).

Well done Val, for cycling 28 miles, clocking up 11 churches, ascending 2450 ft and descending 2475 ft. (Ali had an easier time on her new electric bike.) Val raised almost £200!

Littlehempston Parish Council has now submitted a planning application for the proposed bridge across Gatcombe Brook together with steps and a gate leading onto the road between the A381 and the village, via a new path from the new bridge.

If you would like to comment on the proposal and provide support (or objections) you can do so by clicking on this link to South Hams District Council planning.

Here are links to two earlier news items about the proposed bridge and footpaths which give a lot more detail about the new paths and bridge:
Littlehempston Parish Council is fundraising for a footbridge to cross Gatcombe Brook
New Footbridge Update

Tilhill Forestry is a forest management company which is acting on behalf of the owners of Pine Ridge (on the A381 near the Pig & Whistle) to prepare a woodland creation plan. It is the landowners’ intention to create a mosaic of mixed woodland and open areas within the woodland providing nature recovery benefit in the form of better-connected woodland interspersed with open habitats whilst also providing environmental benefits in the form of carbon sequestration and water management locally. There will be 5 hectares of mixed broadleaf woodland incorporating different canopy and species structures, and open ground to best benefit wildlife will be designed in.

Tilhill Forestry would like to provide as much information as possible for stakeholders and adjoining landowners to gain an insight into the proposed project. They have provided a map showing approximate boundaries and composition, but these will be refined during the consultation process. The landowners are not proposing to make the project open to the public.

Please send any feedback to Charlie Elliott, Forest Manager, and Liz Houseman at Tilhill Forestry by 6th October. Here’s a link to the Tilhill Forestry Contact Form. You can also use that form if you’ve got any questions.

Many thanks to Alfie Penfold for contributing this piece:

The Littlehempston Fun Dog Show had to be postponed to the Bank Holiday weekend in August due to a severe storm in July. The Met Office were predicting lightning and thunder this time, but fortunately we were spared any bad weather and instead received some glorious sunshine and no rain. We were also graced by Judy Comer-Calder known as the ‘Devon Dog Lady’. Judy kindly agreed to be the judge for this year’s event and her passion and vast experience with dogs was evident, as she worked through the various classes with ease.

Everyone enjoyed the delicious spread of home-made cakes accompanied by elderflower cordial and Pimms, and most people won prizes on the Tombola and Raffle and stocked up on local vegetables kindly donated by Deapp Farm. Bunting around the stalls helped transform the dog arena and community meadow into a spectacular venue for the show.

The opening dog class was “Best Handler under 12”. Despite some of the less experienced dog handlers, the many children very quickly displayed no shortage of skills and definitely rose to the occasion. A young boy called Archie with his dog Barry ultimately impressed the judge most and was rightfully rewarded.

The second dog class was no less technical, “Dog with the best trick”, up next. With so many different tricks, judge Judy and her assistant judge Helena Penfold, eventually decided on a winner and ended-up selecting a dog called Peg with her dog handler Maggie.

With the next class, “Dog Most Like its Owner”, the main prize went to Willow and her dog handler Margaret. The Judge did comment on how most dogs tend to look like their owners, but this clearly was no challenge for Judy.

“The most friendly dog” category proved to be a more difficult class to judge with most dogs very happy to be at the dog show. The winning prize went to Katy and her handler Sam, who took time off from running the Pimms stall to scoop first prize.

The final class “Cutest Cuddly Toy Dog” resulted in a very cute toy called “Inkey Oscar” belonging to a young girl called Tallis. For the first time at these dog shows, we had several adults participating in the class including Sally Ingle with her hand-knitted dog coats on display. They proudly exhibited their dog toys, which helped add to the occasion and in keeping with the event being a ‘Fun’ Dog Show.

Special thanks to Halls in Totnes, Dart Vale Vets, Seymour Vets and Bluebird Care for sponsoring the event. Thanks also to the many volunteers and helpers that donated so much of their time and to Cllr Sam Penfold for supporting the event and helping with the awards and prizes. Around £500 was raised in aid of the Littlehempston Community Space – the local “village hall”.