Mid August 2026 — Produced for the Parish Council and St Michael’s Church
Who’s Got the Heaviest Spuds?
Turns out it was John, On Saturday, August 1st, crowds gathered in anticipation for the annual “Potatoes in a Bucket” weigh-in. The highly competitive event took place during the afternoon of the Village Hall Flower and Produce Show, where parishioners traditionally fight it out for the coveted titles of longest runner bean and best lemon drizzle cake.
Owen, our official pomme de terre adjudicator, was on hand to double-check the weights. The ultimate champion, yielding a whopping 1,600 grams of chippable goodness, was John Adamson, with his wife coming in a very close second!
Making your way around the hall, there was a vast array of fantastic entries across all the categories, even if a few of the vegetables were looking slightly worse for wear after such a dry summer.
Lovely homemade cakes and generous helpings of tea were enjoyed by all as everyone sat out in the beautiful sunshine to watch the prize-giving ceremony.
It was a truly enjoyable afternoon for the whole village. A massive thank you to the Flower & Produce Show committee and all the wonderful helpers who made the day such a success!
Funding Fibre Broadband to Gittisham
We now have a route to connect Gittisham to fibre broadband, but we need your help. To get the funding each property has to fill in a grant application form, this will release £3000+per property, the government grant goes to connect a property and not the owners. This allows each residence to then sign up to a broadband contract at a later date, if they wish. To fund the fibre installation we need 30 properties plus to sign up, with round about 50 properties in Gittisham this is a challenge.
Even if you are in a rented property ask your landlord to help, or if you are thinking of moving please sign up, getting a connection will improve your property for the future, and give you and your family fast broadband access.
Any questions or worries please contact Gittisham Parish Council. Thanks for signing up.
What’s On?
-Village Hall
Open Bookings
- Tuesdays – Tai Chi & Quigong 09:50 am- 11:10am
- 3rd Tuesday of the month- Yoga 18:15
- Wednesday – Folk Dance Club 7pm
- Thursday- Community Kitchen 18:30
- 2nd Sunday of the Month Pierre’s Cafe 10am
Hire the hall: www.gittisham.org.uk/village-hall/hire-the-hall/
Committee Events
- 5th September Gittisham Fete and Scarecrow Competiton
- 26th September Charity Coffee and Cake 2.30 – 4.30
- 17th October Jumble Sale
- 31st October Halloween Party/ Coffee and Cake
- 28th November Christmas Craft Fair, expressions of interest in tables being taken
- 28th November Christmas Bingo 7pm for 7.30pm
- 23rd January Burns Night Celebration
–Church
- Church Services 2nd and 4th Sunday of the Month
- Natter and Nibbles September 12th- Gittisham Farm
- Harvest service & supper on Sunday 4 th October! Auction of produce, Tickets from Helen out soon!
200 Club Winners July
- 1st Prize £75 Peter Stansell
- 2nd Prize £50 Phyllis Broadhurst
- 3rd Prize £25 Stephen Howe
Events are also listed here: https://gittisham.org.uk/whatson/
Holy Dusters Needed
Can you spare a little time at your convenience?
Cleaning products are in the church by the vestry door.
Thank you.
200 Club
Join the Gittisham 200 Club!
The 200 club is a licensed small lottery raising funds to pay for the upkeep of our beautiful church and paying prizes in a monthly draw.
There are a number of tickets still available for purchase.
Tickets cost £3 per month and you can buy up to 3 for any named person. Some members buy tickets for children and grandchildren as well as for themselves.
The draw takes place once a month, usually at Natter & Nibbles, and there are cash prizes of £75, £50 and £25 each time.
Contact Sara at for an application form and further details.
Gittisham Village Hall Monthly Update
Dear Friends of the Hall,
We hope you’re enjoying the glorious summer weather — though if anyone has a spare rain cloud, our garden would be very grateful! It’s looking rather thirsty.
🌿 A Myrtle with Royal Connections!
Have you noticed the Myrtle bush in the Hall’s back garden?
It may look unassuming, but it has rather special royal connections. The plant is believed to descend from Myrtle used in Queen Victoria’s wedding bouquet, originally brought from Germany. Myrtle has long been associated with royal weddings, and cuttings were later shared with stately homes.
One of these was Killerton, which propagated the plant further and kindly donated young specimens to local village halls — including ours. So our Myrtle is something of a botanical celebrity!
Sadly, it’s currently looking a little crispy, but we’re giving it plenty of water and TLC in the hope this historic little plant will recover and thrive. 🌱
🌸 Gittisham Flower & Produce Show
The Hall was delighted to host this year’s Flower & Produce Show — a fiercely contested and highly entertaining afternoon!
There was clearly plenty of planning and friendly rivalry involved, with impressively high standards all round (and, happily, all friendships still intact).
A big thank you to everyone who entered, supported, and helped make the event such a success.
We were also pleased to welcome our Gardeners’ Question Time panel, who fielded plenty of questions and shared lots of useful advice. We hope everyone left with something new to try in their gardens.
If you missed it, don’t worry — we hope to run another session in the spring.
🎪 Gittisham Fete – 5th September
The Hall Committee will be supporting the Gittisham Fete on Saturday 5th September, so our August Coffee & Cake afternoon will be postponed.
Instead, we hope to see you at the Fete for a wonderful village day — and we’ll be back with coffee and cake very soon!
🎀 Coffee, Cake & a Cause
We’ve been considering how the Hall might support cancer charities, a cause that has touched so many of us.
We’re pleased to say that all profits from our September Coffee & Cake event will be donated to a cancer-related charity.
Rather than choosing one ourselves, we’d love your input.
Is there a charity you feel strongly about — perhaps one that has supported you, your family, or someone in the community?
Please send your suggestions via our social media channels or the Hall’s contact email. We’ll gather ideas and choose together.
Do come along in September for homemade treats, good company, and a chance to turn coffee and cake into something meaningful. ☕🍰💕
💬 Your Kind Words Mean a Lot
We often receive lovely feedback when people hire the Hall, but reviews can understandably slip down the to-do list once the celebrations are over.
That’s why we’ve been especially delighted to receive some wonderful reviews this month — thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts.
It means a great deal to hear how much the Hall is valued as a space for celebrations and community gatherings.
This beautiful old building plays an important role in village life, and your support encourages the Committee to keep caring for it, improving it, and ensuring it remains here for everyone to enjoy for years to come.
Thank you for supporting your village hall — we really couldn’t do it without you. 💚
Gittisham Fete Call To Arms!
With under a month to go, preparations are in full swing for this year’s Gittisham Village Fete – a wonderful celebration of our community. But to make it all happen, we need your help.
Last year was a fantastic day, but we were stretched thin on volunteers. A small group ended up covering far more than expected. This year, we’re asking for more helping hands, even just for an hour or two, so everyone can enjoy the day.
Whether you’re new to the village or have helped before, please consider joining the team – it’s a great way to meet people and be part of something special.
Volunteers Needed
We’re looking for people to help with the following roles:
- Traffic management and car parking
- Admissions desk (welcoming visitors)
- Duck Race team (setting up and launching ducks)
- Cakes! (selling and baking)
- Ice cream sales
- Bar team
- Tombola stall
- Dog show assistance
- Setup and end-of-day pack away
No experience needed – just enthusiasm and a friendly face!
To volunteer, email:
Or contact us via the Village WhatsApp group.
Duck Race Tickets are on sale now! Please contact Carol Hall to purchase, Prizes are: 1st £100 , 2nd £50, 3rd £25 & 4th £10
Running alongside the Fete is the Scarecrow competition which will be judged by the recently appointed team rector of Honiton The Revd Tracey Voysey
Dear Geraldine
August’s letter
Dear Geraldine,
May I firstly congratulate you on managing the quiet, but distinctly unpleasant backlash you received given your adequate reply to the concerns raised in June’s Gazette. Hardly fair, you answered to the best of your abilities.
As congratulations are in hand let us all applaud the ‘top tier’ of potato producers in the recent competition.Nothing short of amazing; some of the accompanying gasps that followed the revealing of those tubers were genuine; honestly.
However, the event having concluded successfully for another season, despite the vagaries of the weather thrown at those buckets, I feel it is now a time to raise another associated matter. It comes again from a collective whisper. The following is in NO WAY a suggestion of skullduggery on the part of any of those achieving that ‘top tier’.
It has come to notice, in other parts of our once fair land, of a rising suspicion that certain vegetable competitions – notably of the tuber kind- may have been, at best, ‘influenced’ by the introduction of Wegovy. This apparent issue, seemingly gathering weight (no pun intended), relates to the public beginning to access this drug as tablets. For many, upstanding citizens, that meant the proper disposal of any injectable form by returning it to a notable pharmacy. For some disreputable types this may be providing an illicit means of sabotaging the tubers of others.
Looking around, one cannot imagine anyone in our green and pleasant Gittisham succumbing to such malpractice, let alone having access to such means. Nevertheless, I am confident that come next year’s competition, a few of us will be securing our bucket of tubers closer than ever before.
Dear reader:
Thank you for your kind words regarding my previous correspondence. I was particularly touched by your observation that I had answered “to the best of my abilities”. I am not entirely sure whether that was a compliment, but at my age I have learned to accept praise wherever I find it.
It was, of course, wonderful to see another successful Potato in a Bucket competition, and I would like to add my congratulations to those whose tubers reached the upper echelons of the competition.
There were some truly magnificent specimens, and an abysmal 15g entry!
The annual presentation of Mr Potato Head was, as ever, a particularly proud moment for the village. I hopewe can all agree that this distinguished gentleman has earned his place among Gittisham’s most respected civic honours. He may have started life as a children’s toy, but after years of service he has acquired a dignity that some members of the Parish Council might struggle to match.
Indeed, I understand that the winning bucket was approached with the reverence normally reserved for a royal visit. Despite the usual winner being pipped to the post.
Which brings me to the matter of Wegovy.
I confess I was intrigued by the suggestion that pharmaceutical intervention may be creeping into the world of competitive potato growing. I am not sure what the manufacturers would make of it, and I certainly wouldn’t want to speculate on whether a potato can actually lose weight. In Gittisham, we have traditionally been rather more interested in putting weight on them, however there was definitely evidence of pharma misuse.
Still, the possibility that someone might deliberately interfere with another competitor’s crop is quite concerning.
Not that I believe for one moment that anyone here would do such a thing.
Gittisham is, after all, a close-knit community. We know our neighbours, we know their gardens and, in some cases, we know rather more about their gardening habits than they probably realise.
But perhaps a little vigilance would not go amiss.
Next year I shall certainly be keeping my bucket somewhat closer than before. I may even sleep with the shed key under my pillow. Although knowing my luck, this will merely result in a disturbed night’s sleep and a very suspicious-looking husband.
The most important thing is that we don’t allow all this speculation to detract from what is, after all, one of Gittisham’s finest traditions.
The potatoes are grown.
The buckets are admired.
The judges deliberate.
And eventually, Mr Potato Head chooses his next home.
Long may he reign.
Yours, with one eye on the potato patch,
Geraldine Gitt
Forever supplying boomer wisdom
Pete’s Tips and Tricks
Residents are being encouraged to make the most of every drop of water while the current hosepipe ban remains in place until reservoir levels recover.
We can help conserve water by collecting and reusing grey water from washing up and baths to keep ornamentals healthy. Watering is most effective in the early morning when temperatures are cooler. If watering in the evening, aim water directly at the soil around plants and avoid wetting the leaves. Watering during the heat of the day should be avoided, as much of the moisture is lost through evaporation.
Applying a layer of mulch around plants is another simple way to conserve water. Organic materials such as compost, bark chips or well-rotted manure help the soil retain moisture, reduce evaporation, and suppress weeds, meaning plants require less frequent watering during dry spells.
It is worth reminding gardeners that many plants naturally wilt during the hottest part of the day as a way of conserving energy, so a drooping appearance does not always mean they need water.
Rather than giving plants a little water every day, provide one or two deep soakings each week. This encourages stronger root growth and helps plants cope better with dry conditions while making the best use of limited water supplies. – Pete Harris, Head Kitchen Gardener at the PIG.
Live Music Nights in The Folly
Join us this summer for a chilled tipple, freshly baked pizzas hot from the wood oven, and plenty of live music to help you see out the weekend, the PIG way.
Every Friday evening in August 6:30-9 and the Sunday afternoons in September 4pm – 6:30.
August Dates
- Friday 14th August – Dan Tolman
- Friday 21st August – Andy Doran
- Friday 28th August – Consciuos Club
September Dates
- Sunday 6th September – Dan Tolman
- Sunday 13th September – Andy Doran
- Sunday 20th September – Conscious Club
- Sunday 27th September – Adam in the Hat & Rich James
Dear Geraldine Cont.
Dear Geraldine,
I have noted with interest your sensible response to my neighbours trifling concerns and so felt safe to entrust you with my more recent village drama.
This change in temperature has sadly necessitated a change in my well established routines, and I now find myself going for my daily constitutional in the early hours.
On one such excursion I found myself in Dark Lane, having just stepped in a dogs business. This is most unusual. In part because I always look where I’m going as falls at my age are particularly hazardous (I’m told) and also, I can only assume village dogs or owners are trained not to foul our paths and walkways.
Not only do I find myself having to purchase a new pair of slippers, i am now constantly checking on my neighbours dogs and specifically they size of their bottoms to see if I can find out the culprit to try and reclaim my losses as a substantial slipper is not cheap.
I would welcome and advice you see fit to give.
Dear reader:
Thank you for entrusting me with your latest village drama. I am very sorry to hear that the recent heatwave has forced you to abandon your established routine and take your daily constitutional in the early hours.
I had always thought the great advantage of an early morning walk was the peace and tranquillity.
Clearly, I had forgotten about the dogs.
Your unfortunate encounter in Dark Lane is particularly troubling. Not only have you been deprived of a perfectly good slipper, but you now appear to have been drawn into what can only be described as a full-scale canine forensic investigation.
I confess I admire your dedication.
However, I would urge a little caution when inspecting the bottoms of neighbouring dogs in an attempt to identify the offender. There is a considerable difference between discreetly observing a dog and standing in someone’s garden thinking, “Yes, I’m fairly certain that’s the one.”
You may also find that the dogs themselves are not especially forthcoming.
A guilty-looking Labrador is, after all, very difficult to distinguish from an innocent one. They both tend to look as though they have recently done something wrong.
As for the slipper, I would certainly retain it as evidence. A substantial slipper is not something to be casually written off, particularly when it has been prematurely retired in the line of duty.
I would suggest keeping it somewhere safe, although perhaps not on display in the sitting room. There is a danger that visitors may begin asking questions.
Perhaps the Village Hall Committee could establish a Gittisham Canine Incident Register, recording the date, location, approximate size and general characteristics of any future occurrences.
I am sure the Committee would be delighted to take this on, particularly if it involves another spreadsheet.
We already have committees for considerably less important matters.
Although I would suggest that the official title should be carefully considered. “Dog Poo Subcommittee”may be accurate, but I doubt it will encourage many volunteers.
In the meantime, I recommend a good torch, sensible footwear and perhaps a slightly more suspicious approach to Dark Lane.
Should you encounter another dog during your investigations, I would advise looking at its face rather than its bottom. If it suddenly looks embarrassed, you may be onto something.
And should the culprit eventually be identified, I feel the matter should be approached in the traditional Gittisham manner: politely, firmly and with just enough evidence to make it very difficult for anyone to deny responsibility.
I am, of course, happy to assist with the investigation.
I have already begun looking suspiciously at several dogs myself.
Not that I am casting aspersions.
But I will say this:
Some of them are looking distinctly shifty.
Yours in the interests of justice, footwear and village cleanliness,
Geraldine Gitt
Forever supplying boomer wisdom
Water Nationalisation & Pollution
by May Puckey
Two conversations in the last week have made me reflect on England’s issue with water regulation. When I offered a visitor a glass of water a few days ago, she informed me that she only drinks bottled water from the supermarket because of her mistrust of South West Water since a cryptosporidium outbreak in 2024 left hundreds ill and thousands of households dependant on bottled or boiled water. Lacking faith in the water from your tap may appear ludicrous, though a few days later I had a conversation with a family friend about the new 2026 factual drama Dirty Business. The three-part Channel 4 series focuses on the story of Heather Preen, who died aged 8 after contracting E Coli O157 in 1999 shortly after swimming in Dawlish, which had been awarded a Blue Flag award for water quality despite concerns about sewage pollution. The inquest into Preen’s death the following year was ultimately non-conclusive, despite six primary cases of E Coli O157 being recorded by swimmers in Dawlish around the time of her death. One father had three children hospitalised after they swam in the sea and in the days leading up to Preen’s visit, there had been fourteen complaints registered to the Environment Agency about sewage in Dawlish. Just yesterday, it was announced that the former CEO of Southern Water Matthew Wright is facing a trial over allegations that his team manipulated sewage wastewater testing results to avoid millions of pounds of fines-it’s not surprising that the public have little faith in our water.
England’s dire problem with water pollution stems from underinvestment since Margaret Thatcher’s 1989 Water Act which privatised the ten regional water authorities in England and Wales (in 2001, Welsh Water returned to public ownership). This made our water sector the only fully privatised water system in the world. David Cameron’s coalition government from 2010-2015 further deregulated the sector, with the 2014 Water Act introducing more competition into the commercial water market and his ‘Red Tape Challenge’ scrapping hundreds of water regulation rules and reducing Environment Agency funding by almost two thirds. So what does this mean? Our water is more polluted than ever before-in 2024, water companies dumped raw sewage into England’s rivers and seas for the equivalent of 3.61 million hours. My nearest river, the River Otter, has been directly affected by this-in 2024, South West Water released untreated sewage into the river for more than 9,500 hours. I grew up on these river beds, regularly paddling and playing with minnows in the river when I was younger, though now the once biodiverse waters appear murky and sludgy. My nan used to say she wanted her ashes scattered in a specific area of the River Otter where she used to play as a child, though I doubt she would want that now, since the darting kingfishers and aquamarine dragonflies have been replaced with dirty toilet roll and used sanitary products. Devon beaches like Dawlish have also been damaged-earlier in June, the Environment Agency announced ‘no swim’ warnings in Teignmouth, Dawlish, Seaton and Exmouth because of water pollution. South West Water has received a red rating for its environmental protection for fourteen consecutive years, responsible for 189 separate major pollution incidents.
In January, a government white paper titled Vision for Water sparked hopes about the future of the UK’s water system. The government’s key intentions are to reshape regulators under a more centralised system, create regional water bodies and ensure that water companies plan ahead on a twenty-five rather than five year time scale. Vision for Water is a step in the right direction particularly regarding the financing of water companies, with proposals for a requirement for regulators to agree specific percentages of return for investors. However, the white paper has been criticised by prevalent campaign groups like Surfers Against Sewage for being too vague and for altering the regulation process rather than the role of privatised water companies themselves. The 2025 Independent Water Commission chaired by Sir John Cuncliffe received similar criticism for its emphasis on regulating private water companies instead of nationalisation. Surfers Against Sewage have instead called for the government to take failing water companies under their control using their Special Administration Regime powers.
The new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has an interesting track record regarding the water sector. His only direct commitment is nationalising Thames Water, stating it’s “what should be done”. However, he also said about the entirety of the water sector, “I don’t think you necessarily nationalise the whole thing straight off, because that’s complicated and probably expensive but you look at the different situations in different parts of the country”, perhaps eluding to some of the problems Welsh Water has faced since nationalisation though maintaining his commitment to devolution and “more public control, more public ownership” on a long-term timeframe. The water sector in England remains a mismanaged ‘dirty business’, though increased public awareness and scrutiny is promising. In short, I’ll stick to drinking tap water-for now.
I hope you found this an interesting and informative read, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue! Feel free to send me an email (my address is ) or contact me on Instagram or Substack (@maypuckey)
Gittisham Sky Watch: What to look for this Month
As we move from the warm, hazy days of August into the slightly crisper evenings of September, the night sky begins to change its character. The nights are getting noticeably longer, which means prime stargazing hours start earlier!
- Did You Catch the Eclipse? We hope you all managed to safely enjoy the spectacular partial solar eclipse on August 12th! We were unbelievably busy at the observatory!
- The Milky Way at its Best: Late August and early September offer some of the best views of the Milky Way of the entire year. To see it, you need a moonless night, so aim for the last week of August or the first week of September. Look straight up and towards the south—if your eyes are adjusted to the dark, you will see a faint, glowing “cloud” of billions of stars arching across our Devon skies.
- Saturn’s Summer Show: This is the perfect time of year to spot Saturn. Throughout late August and September, the ringed planet reaches “opposition”—meaning it is directly opposite the sun from our perspective. It will be at its biggest and brightest for the year! Look low in the southeastern sky after sunset for a bright, steady, golden-yellow “star.”
- The Harvest Moon Approaches: As we head into September, we start looking for the famous “Harvest Moon.” While it officially peaks later in September, you will notice the moon rising large and golden in the east just after sunset. Historically, this bright moonlight helped farmers work late into the night to bring in the autumn harvest.
Thank you to everyone who contributed pieces to this Gazette. If you would like to submit something for next month’s issue, please email .
