A monthly community newsletter published by St Michael’s Church and Gittisham Parish Council
| What’s On? at the village hall Pierre’s Cafe Sunday 8th Oct 07545 214940 Harvest Supper Saturday 7th October 7pm £5 07880 178297 Community Kitchen Every Thurs, village hall 6.30pm. All welcome to enjoy a free meal and good company Thursday mornings 11-12 £10 Michelle Corrigan 07833 558253 Gentle, safe, classic yoga with attention to back care. Film Discussion Night 10th October 7pm Christmas Swap Shop and Family Quiz 2nd December Ember Pizza Pizza van by the church 1st Wednesday of the month 07751 532843 FOOD BANK Donations are always welcome to the box in the church porch | Gittisham Fete SUCCESS  Thank you for helping  to raise over £2,500 for the church. 1000 visitors from the parish and further afield enjoyed the Honiton band, stalls, classic cars, a dog  show and the duck race. Thank you to Alex Rowe and all those who helped organize and manage the day.  |
Wow, what a lot
of wagging tails!
The first Gittisham dog show saw a huge turnout at Will’s Field during the fete. Dogs and owners had travelled from as far as Upottery and maybe even beyond. A lot of pretty bitches and handsome dogs made it a very hard decision for the poor judge Maryanne, but we all agreed with her choices in the end (didn’t we?). Some fantastic sets of 6 legs with a very obvious winner and quite frankly the most waggy tails every seen in one field. Thanks to all who organised and participated this brilliant event and see you all again next year.
| Thank you, from Alex Thank you to everyone who supported me and the fete but a few I would like to mention ~ •The committee •The Tea ladies •Kate for painting the lovely signs •The parking chaps especially Bernie for his traffic management •Mikey with his horse and trap •Helen and the flower arrangers for the beautiful church display •Robert for coming back from London especially to help me setup | Parish Council Vacancy To represent the Vale ward. Please contact the Clerk for further information The deadline for applications is 22nd October https://gittisham.org.uk/2023/09/01/parish-councillor vacancy-gittisham-vale-ward/ And then come the nightjars Honiton Beehive Cinema Friday 13th October A heartwarming film of friendship and survival set against a backdrop of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak The story of an unlikely friendship between a Devon farmer and the vet who is assigned to cull his precious herd. |
The church is open to visitors 10am-6pm (Julia Barratt Lay Minister)
200 Club – September Winners
154 D Hollis bonus £48 123 G Booth 1st£40 5 C Broom 2nd £20 79 O Morgan 3rd £15 128 M Tawse 4th £10 144 C Vyner-Brooks 5th £5
200 Club – How to Join
Would you like to join the 200 club and help to fund the upkeep so necessary for this old church. It takes a lot to keep it heated (especially with the increasing cost of energy) and watertight, keeping the churchyard in good order and kind to nature. The cost is £12 per number per year. The draw takes place at the beginning of each month with 5 prizes £40, £20, £15, £10 and £5. Twice a year there is a 6 monthly prize of £48 (March and September). Contact Janet Twist 01404 45484
Pumpkins
Open weekends from the 30th September to the 29th October and everyday through October half term
FETE SUCCESS by Alex Rowe
Unlike this week’s storms, at the beginning of September we had lovely sunny weather temperature at almost 30°c, I couldn’t have asked for better weather for the restarting of the fete.
Since February a small working committee of Sue, Julia, Maggie, Will, Pierre and myself had been planning for the 2nd of September. The few days prior were very hectic however we are extremely pleased with how the day panned out and very grateful to all of the residents of the Parish who came along to help with the setting up, stewarding on the day or even just came to enjoy the afternoon.
The Village was buzzing and I would approximate on 1000 visitors in total including children it was great to encompass people from the parish living in the Vale, Hayne farm and the village they all seemed very much enjoy all the fete had to offer Honiton band, the stalls, classic cars & the dog show organised by Will, compared by Hamish and kindly judged by Maryanne.
Lastly an exciting duck race concluded the event (kindly sponsored by Airband)
Robert is working on a little video of the Fete and the link will be shared shortly.
We will be having a post fete meeting to discuss any issues that arose, I apologize to those who didn’t get to experience the fete if you were helping on the day, you were invaluable to the event, thank you. If you are interested in helping with next year’s fete email and I will let you know the date of the next meeting.
We will celebrate our success at a good NYE party!
~ Alex
GRAIN TO CREAM by Russell Hayman
It was spring the last time I wrote and autumn now! So I missed summer, quite a different one to last year. Nowhere near as much sun but much more grass which the girls will and have loved. Harvest was a typical one maybe a bit more catchy than normal but we muddle by. Yields where a bit below average as a result of the lack of sunshine. Last year it was too much. never see a satisfied farmer. Also part of the problem was virus carrying aphids which infect the crop in the autumn and show no sign of infection until April May following. Unfortunately the most effective way to control this is to spray insecticide which we did once, but the mild winter could well of resulted in infection happening later; the aphids don’t like frost. The problem is it can result in complete crop failure if we get it wrong and we try to use as little chemical as possible. Hedges do harbour the aphids (don’t worry not advocating taking the hedges out) but most the trial work is carried out in the east of the country where they have less hedges and cooler winters so advice given is not always appropriate for this neck of the woods.
We still have our heron out front fishing the little stream, sparrows also seem to thrive here with the hedge bending under the weight of them all and the barn owls had chicks again, three this time! On the subject of wildlife we have also had Bicton students here and vet students as well.
The cows have been treated to a new fan by the robots to help keep flies away which appears to work though I have seen the occasional one flying into the air flow to get a good work out! We are also in the process of digging a new slurry store which will enable us to spread the good stuff over a larger area and be more flexible there-by make better use of it. Unfortunately the contractor doing the digging has let us down by leaving site before finished so we are well behind schedule.
We also have a new exciting crop introduced by Edmund fresh from uni. Of pumpkins. They are like triffids and grow at a blink of an eye. Weed control is a hoe and Edmund has made a gardener of me! He has put loads of time into it and was also in the process of doing his finals for his degree! I think it is a good year for pumpkins so his efforts have resulted in what looks like a bumper crop. (though I must admit I know nothing about them really) Looking forward to welcoming everyone here at Gittisham farm to come and pick a pumpkin or two in October.
PARISH COUNCIL – SEPT 2023 REPORT
Five councillors met for the September meeting. Cllr Alasdair Bruce (EDDC) was also present.
Sewage. Alasdair Bruce explained that EDDC’s coastal officer had produced a report which highlighted the large number of occasions where South West Water’s sewage monitors were found to be in ‘maintenance mode’, and therefore not doing the job they are designed to do. EDDC has approached the supplier for a response. River Gitt.
Floods. Councillors heard that a flood prevention consultant had advised EDDC that the best course of action would be to remove any vegetation and debris from the river, and allow for the silt to be washed away naturally during heavy rainfall. Work is due to be carried out in the next few months.
Road closure. 21st September, road through Alfington to Ottery closed 0930–1530 for pole tests. Finance. Members agreed the finances.
Crimes. May & June 2023: no reported crimes.
Casual vacancy. Carol Hall encouraged all councillors to speak to people who might be interested in joining the parish council to represent the Vale ward. People can also contact the clerk for further information by emailing The deadline for applications is 22nd October.
Planning applications.
a) 23/1631/MFUL Coastguard Road Heathpark Industrial Estate – development of 17 commercial units b) 23/1632/MOUT Coastguard Road Heathpark Industrial Estate – outline application for class B2, B8 and E(g)(iii) development within two sites (Phase 2A and 2B) comprising total floor space of 4,000 sq m (all matters reserved) c) 23/1207/LBC & 23/1206/FUL The Lodge EX14 3AD – demolition of internal wall, removal of roof to existing extension construction of new extension with parapet and roof lanterns.
Councillors resolved to have no objections to the applications. However, in relation to a) and b), they expressed concerns over the point of access onto Devonshire Road, given the nature of the road itself, lack of visibility on the bend, and the proximity of the bus stop. Councillors also discussed whether this represents an over-intensification of the site.
Bus timetable. Peter Orchard reported that Stagecoach is now operating additional last journeys on the 44 / 44A bus, Monday to Saturday evenings at 20.30 from Exeter to Honiton and at 22.45 from Honiton to Exeter. The bus will not serve Gittisham village.
Scams. Janet Twist said that Mole Valley’s IT systems had been hacked, and anyone who has an account with them should check their own bank account.
Outdoor table tennis table. Councillors heard that the funding from S106 had been approved. The proposal is now with EDDC’s legal team to sign off.
Next meeting. Tuesday 3rd October at 7pm in the parish room.
Parish Council links Who’s who https://gittisham.org.uk/parish-council/ Emergency Plan https://gittisham.org.uk/parish-council/emergency-plan/
Parish Council Clerk Email: Tel: 01404 851442
St Michael’s Church Julia Barratt
Many thanks to everyone and especially to our flower arranging team led by Helen Hayman who helped to prepare and decorate the Church for the Fete Flower Festival. We had a constant stream of visitors throughout the afternoon, so much so we had to organise a one way system!
Thank you also to everyone who contributed to the collection which raised £577 as a gift for Carol McCann in recognition of her dedicated service of nearly 30 years as Churchwarden. We had hoped to present the cheque to her in person at the Fete & Flower Festival Service but sadly she wasn’t able to be with us. However, Robert Rowe kindly videoed the service and now she is back at home, she is very much looking forward to watching it. Carol was very surprised and pleased to receive both the cheque and the lovely ‘card signed by so many and sends her thanks and love to everyone. Providing Carol is well enough, we hope to say ‘Thank You’ to her in person at our Harvest Festival Service on October 8 th .
The PCC also wishes to thank everyone who helped to make the Fete such an enjoyable occasion with special thanks to Village Hall Committee for generously donating the profits towards the upkeep of the Church.
After a break in August, our Coffee Together meetings on the 3rd Saturday of the month have resumed and we had a full house. And everyone is much impressed with our new coffee machine kindly donated by Claire and Gary.
Julia Barrett. LLM. St Michael’s.