WOODBURY NEWS

As we all know, we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and suffering for many folk, with the discontent being made abundantly clear by the current strikes and walkouts by key workers in many sectors of society. May we therefore draw your attention once again to a local project which is offering hot food and drinks, and a comfortable space to any in our community who may be facing hardship and loneliness. Details of the Warm Welcome Space project can be found on p27.

Food and drink how essential to life and wellbeing they are, but also to keeping the social wheels turning. Judging by all the reports in this issue from the various groups and organisations in our three villages, a copious number of mince pies and several litres or gallons! of mulled wine must have been consumed at the events and gatherings that took place in the parish over the festive period.

When we read these reports on a monthly basis, we editors often have a quiet chuckle at just how significant ‘cakes and ale’ are in the enjoyment of our social activities. And thus it has ever been, if we refer to the history of the Globe Inn, a hostelry that once graced the summit of what is now Globe Hill, at the crossroads with ‘Okeys Lane’, now Oakhayes Road (see Gill Selley’s interesting article on pp30-32).

That establishment had a somewhat unsavoury reputation for the gaming and drinking which went on there, but, on the other hand, also made handsome provision for important social occasions, such as the grand meals arranged by eminent people of the parish like Dr Brent, or the wedding breakfast of Roger Stokes’s grandparents see the bill for that celebration on p32. The grand total for drinks, food and tobacco for 33 guests came to £5 16s. 2d. What would that buy you today a pint of beer? In 1905 it would have been the equivalent of £456.36 in 2017, according to Google, and it would have bought you 10 stones of wool, 4 quarters of wheat, and have paid the wages of a skilled tradesman for 17 days.

Plus ca change! But change is all around us, of course. A letter on p26 draws attention to the potential increase in the number of dwellings required to be built in the parish. We are constantly welcoming newcomers and bidding sad farewells to old friends (pp17, 22-23).

Finally, one sharp-eyed reader has drawn attention to an error (oh dear!) in last month’s editorial. New Year’s Day fell on a Saturday in 2022, whilst this last new year did fall on a Sunday, as stated but of course in 2023! In case you’re interested, NYD in 2024 will fall on a Monday. Nostra culpa!

ST SWITHUN’S CHURCH, WOODBURY

Vicar: Reverend Bill Lemmey 01395 232161 revbillwhitecross@gmail.com

Administrator: Jill Dupain dupain@hotmail.co.uk

CHURCH SERVICES including joint services in the Mission Community.

29 January Epiphany 4

Mission Community Holy Communion with Baptism at St Swithun’s, 11.15.

5 February

Candlemas. Holy Communion at St Swithun’s, 11.15.

Evening Worship at Exton, 18.00.

12 February

Second Sunday before Lent. Holy Communion at Exton, 09.30.

Holy Communion at St Swithun’s, 11.15.

19 February

Sunday next before Lent. Morning worship at Exton, 09.30.

Evensong at St Swithun’s, 18.30.

22 February

Ash Wednesday. Holy Communion with Ashing at Exton, 11.00.

26 February

Lent 1. Café Service at St Swithun’s, 10.30.

Further information will be available on the church noticeboard and in the monthly Digest. To receive this by email please send your email address to st.swithuns.digest@gmail.com.

FLOODLIGHTING ST SWITHUN’S CHURCH

For your special event, contact Mike Jeans on 01395 232544. Floodlight dedications are displayed on the church noticeboard at the lych gate.

CHURCH ALTAR FLOWERS - FEBUARY

5 - Mrs J Hodge. 12 and 19 - Mrs P Michael. 26 - Lent (no flowers).

Many thanks to everyone who helped to decorate church for Christmas.

Barbara Hill

Fnf Friday Night Flix

FRIDAYS 27 JANUARY, 24 FEBRUARY, 24 MARCH

Doors open at 19.00, film 19.30

WOODBURY VILLAGE HALL

Details of films are on the village hall noticeboard

HOSPISCARE COFFEE AND CAKE MORNINGS FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH WOODBURY CHURCH ROOMS

10.00 - 12.00. All very welcome.

13 FEBRUARY. 20 MARCH. 17 APRIL. 15 MAY. 19 JUNE.

ALL MATERIAL FOR THE MAGAZINE SHOULD BE SENT TO KAREN SQUIRES, WILLOWFIELD, OAKHAYES ROAD by 19.00 on the closing date, with a name and telephone number, or email to karensquires100@gmail.com

Woodbury Garden Club

Our members evening was well attended for a cold and damp evening in January, and we had a great time. We discussed some of our successes over the year, with some lovely projected photos. Tricia explained how she planted roses and clematis together and how she chose the varieties both for scent and a long flowering period, and Debby showed how following Monty Don’s instructions at the right time of year resulted in winter salads just as he promised!

Tricia showed us how the new flower plants from cuttings she took at the end of the summer are growing strongly, and will be available to buy in the spring. Eileen showed us how her pond developed from a hole in the ground last winter to looking well established and attracting damselflies by the end of the summer.

Her straw bale growing experiment, however, was nearly scuppered by a rat using it as a cosy winter refuge, but at least the compost heap benefited from the straw it had potentially contaminated.

We also looked at a selection of favourite tools, ranging from the simple (an old bread knife, and a pair of pointy scissors), to the standard (a bulb planter, very useful for putting in bedding plants, and a daisy weeder), to the unusual (an archaeologist’s trowel, a hand mattock and two unusual and very useful Japanese garden tools). And, unlikely as it may seem as we splash along the roads or squelch on our lawns and footpaths, our region’s reservoir levels are still below where they need to be. So Catherine, who works for South West Water, encouraged us to employ water-saving methods in our gardens where possible. Members discussed some of their water butt and other storage systems.

Our meeting on 14 February will be the AGM, followed by a bring-andshare supper. Our 2023 programme starts on 14 March with a talk on house plants, when our speaker will be bringing a wide selection for us to purchase.

Debby Mullier

Woodbury Tennis Club

We are delighted to report that tennis is still being played; the leaves have come down from the trees leaving clean rain-washed courts. The Mixed team have only two matches to play and are heading their division; the Men have recorded their first victory and have several home matches remaining to move up their division. Meanwhile, a good number of members have braved the weather and played club sessions on Sunday mornings.

The Club AGM will be held in the Church Rooms on Wednesday 1 February at 19.00 when discussion will take place on hut improvements and subscriptions for 2023.

As last year, we will field two Men’s teams, a Ladies team and a Mixed team in the summer local leagues.

The junior coaching programme with John Wingate and Christine Sheward will resume at the start of the summer term on Wednesday 19 April for youngsters from 5 to 16 years (in separate groups!). Anyone wishing to join please contact Christine (christinesheward58@gmail.com).

The Club is extremely fortunate that Garry and Christine Sheward joined us. Both have been at every club session, ensuring all members have the opportunity to play. Garry has captained Men’s teams and also both have been instrumental in organising our Triples league, which has brought many members together. As mentioned above, Christine has succeeded Helen Ryland as our junior coordinator. I am therefore delighted that both have been put forward for LTA volunteer of the year (Devon) to be selected on 8 February.

Club sessions continue to operate at 10.00 Sundays and 10.00 Tuesdays (ladies).

All enquiries on tennis matters should be addressed to Pat Browne.

Pat Browne (ruthandpatb@aol.com)

Woodbury C Of E Primary School

Starting back to school for the spring term means that each class has begun learning a new history or geography topic for the half term. Both Oak and Cherry classes have had an exciting start to their history topics with Oak Class having a great launch event, where a huge space dome was inflated in our hall. They clambered through the zip and into the darkness. Once inside the dome, the children were in awe and were transformed into outer space through music, video, lights and story. This was to support their learning about The Moon Landings. They have since explored different sources to find out how we know that they happened, and will go on to find out about why the astronauts went, how safe it was and how this changed space travel.

Cherry Class have been transported to a much earlier period in time as they are learning about The Ancient Egyptians. They kicked off their exciting new topic looking at the process of mummification by extracting the key organs of a fish and putting them into Canopic jars.

They then dried the fish, stuffed them and wrapped them up. They are going to check in on the fish throughout the year to see how they look. The class have also travelled to Dorchester to the Tutankhamun Exhibition, where they learnt about the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. The children got to reenact the break-in of his tomb to see what it would have looked like when it was discovered.

Clubs We have sixteen lunchtime or after-school clubs this half term. They are all run voluntarily, so I am extremely grateful to the staff for giving their time. Children can choose from construction, mindfulness, chess, football, loom bands, art, debating, Feel Good, Rise club, choir, Lego, terrific times tables tournament or coding.

Gillian Pyle (Head of School)

WOODBURY HISTORY SOCIETY AGM

THURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY AT 19.30

WOODBURY VILLAGE HALL

The AGM will be followed by a social event with light refreshments.

WOODBURY WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

For our WI meeting in December we were creative. Before we came to the meeting, we had to walk around our gardens and pick anything that we thought would help to make a centrepiece for decorating a Christmas table, and to bring a little extra to share with those who may not have a garden. We were given a container, a piece of oasis, a candle and the choice of using some wired cones and berries. What an enjoyable time we spent together and, I have to add, not necessarily concentrating on the task in hand!

There was a great deal of chatter, a sharing of Christmas plans, talk of shopping, Christmas today and how we celebrated when we were young, and comparisons made with the world today and how we knew it then. As we worked, many thoughts and ideas were shared as well as our foliage. Naturally, we finished the session with a mince pie and a cup of tea.

Joyce Jeans

During the afternoon I was reminded of an article that Monty Don had written in December’s Gardeners’ World. Monty is a member of an AllParty Parliamentary Group producing a creative health review that will be published next year. This is a very diverse group of people looking at every aspect of health, who all agree that medicine might cure you of specific symptoms or stop them occurring, but medicine alone will never make you healthy. The role of food, family, friends, activities and interests are key elements in both preventative and restorative health. That afternoon, even if we were not too happy with our decoration, we had a happy time and I am sure went home feeling all the better for it. Thank you to the WI Committee for all the preparation beforehand.

WI members met on a blustery afternoon for the first meeting of 2023

The president welcomed members, wished them all a Happy New Year and went through a few short items of business, including Resolutions to be considered and voted on at the February meeting. cont’d/...

WOODBURY WOMEN’S INSTITUTE cont’d/...

It was generally agreed that all the Christmas events and activities had gone well, including putting the tree up on the Green Spot, Christmas lunch at the Maltsters, the Festive Tea at the Imperial hotel and the Christmas table decoration craft session.

Rosemary did the raffle and then Ann introduced Natalie Moyes who is taking over the village hairdressers Salon8 and wanted to meet Woodbury ladies and answer questions about the future of the salon. She assured existing customers that things would remain the same for a while and that she would gradually put her own stamp on the salon. She welcomed us to visit, have a look around and ask any questions.

Refreshments were served followed by a general knowledge quiz. Little grey cells were working overtime and there was a lot of good hearted banter. There were also dingbats which gave rise to a lot of head scratching. The winning team scored 45 points, and each member of the team was rewarded with a bag of Malteser Bunnies. Ann was thanked for the excellent quiz. Lin reminded members that the next meeting will be at 14.00 on Thursday 9 February, our 103rd birthday celebration, with speaker Chris Woodward talking about Myths and Legends of Dartmoor.

Lin Milsom-Ashby

Woodbury And District Royal British Legion

The branch is having an open event to raise awareness of the Charity RVONE and to showcase the Royal British Legion in Devon and beyond. The event will be held at the White Hart from 12.00 noon until 15.00 on Saturday 25 February, with displays, a video and a guest speaker. There will also be a raffle for the branch and a donation pot for RV-ONE.

Gill Dougal and I will still be the Poppy Appeal organisers for our district and will be running events and the main appeal in November, with the usual Remembrance Service on the Sunday afternoon on the village green.

Sandra Huish, Chairman

Woodbury Residents Association Agm

TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY, 19.30

WOODBURY CHURCH ROOMS

Guest speaker: District Councillor Geoff Jung. Contact Jan Owen on jmowenteacher@aol.com.

Woodbury News attempts to represent a variety of views within the community, but does not accept responsibility for anything but editorial comment. While it may publish unacknowledged material, nothing is included unless the editor knows the name and address of the author(s).

Woodbury Camera Club

Woodbury Camera Club is back ready to start the new year and to welcome any new members. We are pleased to announce that we have just held our AGM, and the new committee and Chair are ready to set the new programme of speakers and activities for the coming year. Membership subscription was held at £20 for the year, payable in February. New members can join us for one month for free. The subscription covers speakers most months, two socials a year and various activities as decided by the membership to enhance our photography. These include sharing any images we have taken and discussing in a friendly and inclusive way how we can improve, if that is what people want. We meet on the third Tuesday of each month in the Church Rooms in Woodbury at 19.30. Members currently come from Exton, Woodbury Salterton, Exmouth and Woodbury. For those who might find that they are unable to attend for either mobility or other commitments, there is also a zoom session on the first Tuesday of the month. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact Debbie Jung on 07903345683. We will be submitting articles about the club’s activities on a regular basis, so please look out for those.

We held our 2023 AGM on 17 January in the Church Rooms. Regular members of the club all attended and it was a very positive start to the new year. Pete Broadbelt had decided to step down after four years as Chair, and Mike Jeans and Henry Fulls also decided it was time for new people to take over. Small gifts were given as a token of our thanks. The members went on to re-elect the standing members, and two new committee members, Judy Green and Carol Elstub, were elected. Mike Maling then agreed to stand as Chair, and the members happily accepted his nomination.

Various items were discussed with regard to the finances and the future direction of the club. It was decided to continue with speakers, but also to have days out when we take photographs together; to have a friendly competition for those who wish to take part; to continue with a summer and Christmas social; and to be a support for those who wish to know more about the technical and creative side of photography. The AGM was followed by a stunning presentation from the new Chair, Mike Maling, on The Antarctic: scenery, wildlife and the realities of living in the Antarctic for a period of time.

Debbie Jung