What’s On

Healthy nutrition for your pets

Choosing the right food for your dog or cat and ensuring it gets everything it needs to stay fit and healthy can be the hardest challenge. With new pet foods constantly coming onto the market all claiming one thing or another, that can sometimes make it sound better than your current food, can often make you re-think, or question your dog or cat’s needs. Searching through the internet for the right food can be even more confusing. This is where the knowledge and expertise of your local independent pet shop comes into its own, especially those that actively advertise natural feeding. The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing your pet’s food is, will it meet its nutritional needs? And will it help my dog if it has any special requirements such as joint aid, intolerances, skin and coat problems etc? If you can satisfy this, then you are on the right road to having a happy and healthy pet for a very long time.

So what are we looking for?

• A natural wholesome diet with minimum ingredients. • A quality protein source not exceeding 60% total, this should be an animal protein which is highly nutritious and easy to digest. • A good source of carbohydrates such as sweet potato not exceeding 30%. • Oils such as linseed, sunflower oil or chicken oils - this will give

your pet the fatty acids that it needs. • Fruits and vegetables which will add natural vitamins and minerals. • Consistency in quantities when looking at the composition on the label to ensure the ingredients are the same each time you buy the same food. • Look for words on the packaging such as hypoallergenic or natural .

What to be wary of and to avoid

• Artificial additives and preservatives - these often come with E numbers and can upset your dog’s behaviour. • Meat and animal derivatives - this could be anything belonging to the animal including feathers, beaks, offal, skin and other nasties.

It is also telling you the ingredients are inconsistent. • Vegetable derivatives could include potato peelings, roots and off-cuts. • Cereals as a main ingredient is not a natural diet for carnivores. • Vague listing of ingredients - this allows the manufacturer to change the ingredient for cheaper ingredients in the next batch they make. • Read the label carefully, it might say chicken and rice, but manufacturers only need to include a minimum of 4% of each to make that claim. Remember, because it’s expensive, doesn’t make it the best food for your pet. For more information on pet nutrition please do not hesitate to contact us for advice - with over 30 years in the pet industry we have some very wise words.

Gavin Ayling, Rons Pet Supplies - Tavistock

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May 2 Open Gardens

Covid restricitions permitting, the garden at Mothecombe House, Holbeton, opens on Sunday, May 2nd from 11am to 5pm. The garden is set in a private estate hamlet, with walled pleasure gardens, borders and a Lutyens courtyard surrounding a Queen Anne house (not open) with Lutyens additions and terraces. There is much to see including an orchard with spring bulbs, unusual shrubs and trees, a camellia walk, streams, bog garden and pond plus bluebell woods. Don’t miss the unusual shaped large tulip tree, the new walled garden planting of lavenders and the bee friendly plants and the sandy beach at the bottom of garden. Admission is £6 and children are free. Dogs on short leads are welcome. The garden is opening for the National Garden Scheme who raise money to support Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Hospices UK, Carers Trust and other nursing and caring charities. It is likely that visiting will be by pre-booking only and it is ESSENTIAL to check on the website www.ngs.org.uk for up-to-date information on openings and current Covid restrictions. Also open for the National Garden Scheme are The Haven, Hollacombe, Wembury, and Derrydown, Sparkwell, Plymouth. Both these gardens are open by arrangement for small groups. This means that the garden welcomes visitors on pre-agreed dates. Please contact the garden owner to arrange a date. The Haven is a half-acre sloping plantsman’s garden with two ponds, a substantial collection of magnolias and camellias and rare dwarf, weeping and slow growing conifers. There are also daphnes, early azaleas and rhododendrons, spring bulbs and hellebores. The garden opens by arrangement only from March - May for groups of between 5 and 20. Admission is £4 and children are free. Please contact Mrs S Norton and Mr J Norton, suenorton1@hotmail.co.uk, 01752 862149 to arrange visiting. Derrydown is half-acre garden with raised beds, a quirky fi sh pond, pagoda with kiwi, grape vines and a new plot with a 50ft circular lawn, frog pond, berry hedge, wild meadows, fl owers, moon gates and double glazed greenhouses. Rain water harvesting and upcycling and a rill is used here. A children’s quiz will be available, dogs permitted on leads only. Admission is £5, children are free The garden opens by arrangement only from April – September for groups of between 4 and 25. Please contact Peter & Ann Tremain anntremain1942@gmail.com 07940 543707 to arrange visiting.

St Luke’s Open Garden Scheme

With last year’s Open Garden events for St Luke’s Hospice being cancelled, we all missed getting together to enjoy the beautiful gardens in our communities. Thank you to all those who made voluntary donations to the work of St Luke’s in lieu of garden visits. For 2021 we have organised a varied summer schedule which currently includes 16 garden dates between April and September. We will endeavour to open wherever possible but only if it is deemed safe and legal to do so. On occasions, there may be opportunities to view a virtual tour of some of our gardens. This season you will need to visit the St Luke’s Hospice website and select the garden you plan to visit, then book and pay for your allocated day and time slot. You will also fi nd a link with a chance to win an original Brian Pollard canvas, generously painted and donated to St Luke’s Open Garden scheme by Brian, one of our hospice patrons. Before visiting any of the open gardens, you must check the Government website for national and local Covid-19 guidelines. Over two thirds of St Luke’s running costs are funded by charitable giving, so any donations you can spare will really help to make a difference. Thank you for your help and I look forward to seeing you at our open gardens this season.

Wayne Marshall Community Fundraiser & Open Garden Coordinator

Enjoy a venue with a di erence!

With the completion of our new Barn and e Ark, we are open and available for events that t into the calm, beautiful, wildness of Dartmoor. Day or residential events to suit your every need, whether they are educational, charitable, family celebrations or business. Delicious home grown and cooked food with an opportunity to help share in the daily tasks of the farm, with the animals as the highlight of your event on the Moors.

Call us directly for a discussion on how we can help?

Two miles from Widecombe in the Moor 01364 621392 / info@shallowfordfarm.co.uk

April 8 Take a virtual tour...

May 28 Moor Otters Arts Trail is back!

Medieval yeoman farmers on Dartmoor lived in longhouses alongside their animals. Some of these longhouses can still be seen across the moor today, but over time, many of them have been converted and made more comfortable; losing some of their historic features. Higher Uppacott is a wonderful example of a traditional Dartmoor longhouse which still has its living quarters at one end and the shippon for cattle at the other. Join National Park Guide Ian Johnstone for a guided tour of this fascinating building, looking at the clues that tell us how people lived in it for hundreds of years. This is a story of how each generation tried to make the building more comfortable, making small improvements over time which can be seen in the fabric of the walls, windows and even the thatch. This online talk, at 7pm on April 8th, is organised by Dartmoor National Park and is part of a programme of monthly talks bringing Dartmoor’s incredible heritage to you in the comfort of your own home. Register for a ticket to watch using the web link www.trybooking. com/uk/book/sessions?eid=16843&embed=true The talk will take place on YouTube. If you have a YouTube account, you can ask questions throughout the chat or you can email in advance and during the talk and Ian will do his best to answer: education@dartmoor.gov.uk. You will get full joining instructions once you have booked your ticket. Dartmoor National Park Authority’s Moor Otters Arts Trail goes live on Friday, May 28th, helping people explore, discover and learn more about Dartmoor and raise money for its on-going conservation. Eighty-one stunning sculptures of otters with cubs, designed and decorated by local and national artists – will be placed around the National Park and places near Dartmoor. The trails are designed so people can safely explore Dartmoor on foot, bike, car or public transport and learn about the National Park as they go. There will be four trails on Dartmoor and one in Plymouth, the Mayfl ower Trail, which commemorates the historic journey of the Mayfl ower in 1620. Otters can also be spotted in towns and villages on the outskirts of the National Park too. Before setting out on a trail, please check www.dartmoor.gov.uk/ moorotters for the most up to date information. People will have the opportunity to own a sculpture when the public trail ends by bidding for one through an online auction, which also goes live on May 28th. The Moor Otters Arts Trail aims to raise £60,000 for Donate for Dartmoor, the National Park’s fundraising scheme which helps look after the moor’s cultural heritage, habitats and wildlife.

A Shared Perspective & Spring Exhibition

Featuring new work from Michael Hill & Shirley Kirkcaldy and other Wildwood artists.

View on-line at: www.wildwoodartsdartmoor.co.uk

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May 1 - 31 Delamore Arts and Sculpture Exhibition

This exhibition takes place throughout May at the beautiful Delamore House and gardens at Cornwood. The largest exhibition of its kind in the South West, it boasts over 150 artists, specialising in showing sculpture in a natural outdoor setting. The gardens are rarely open to the public, and are at their best during May. In addition to the main exhibition the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts (SWAc) will be holding its Summer Exhibition in Delamore’s Stables Gallery. Now in its 18th successful year the exhibition has raised over £120,000 for local charities and this year it is supporting Starlight Children’s Foundation. For more information visit www.Delamore-art.co.uk or contact 01752 837663.

Unmistakeable style & strength

The front cover picture for this edition of Plym Links is called The Tides Are Changing by Alli Cragg. Alli is a Devon-based artist with an unmistakable style. Whether you are gazing at one of her seascapes, landscapes or even her abstract work, you know who’s created it. Her striking use of colour and her ability to create movement and texture, makes her work breathtaking to say the least. All her paintings convey a sense of strength - whether that’s from her choice of colour, or the subject matter. This comes as no surprise when you learn that Alli is also a full-time nurse who has summoned her own inner strength this last year as she faced the pandemic on the front line. View the full collection at www.tavistockgalleries.com or in the gallery.

May 15-22 These Hills Are Ours A tour with a difference...

Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley plan to run Devon coast-tocoast, performing their show These Hills Are Ours along the way - a journey postponed from last May. Starting on the quay at Hartland, Dan and Boff will perform in beauty spots, up hills, by waterfalls, in coves. They’ll perform on the village green, or in a back garden. Each performance will be different, and each location will tell a different story about what we’ve been missing this past year. The shows, the engagements with audience and singers, and the journey between performances, will be filmed to create a documentary. For more information go to www. carntocove.co.uk

Plymouth to round off prestigious British Art Show 9

New dates for the UK’s most influential contemporary art exhibition, British Art Show 9 (BAS 9), have been confirmed, the nationwide tour culminating in Plymouth from October 8th to December 23rd, 2022. Held every five years to showcase the work of British artists who have made a significant contribution to international contemporary art, BAS9 will be shown across four city venues – The Box, KARST, The Levinsky Gallery at the University of Plymouth and The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art. Forty seven artists have been selected including Turner Alberta Whittle Celestial Meditations II, Prize winners and 2017. Courtesy of Alberta Whittle & bursary recipients Copperfield, London. and artists who have represented Britain at the prestigious Venice Biennale. Many are developing new works for the exhibition which will include sculpture, film, installation, performance, painting and photography.