Oscar Jones
Oscar Jones
Oscars for Oscar
A bit of proud parent stuff here – and quite right too - but we thought you might be interested in Oscar Jones’s latest achievement in the Poole GMPD (Gymnastics and Movements for People with Disabilities) competition in October.
He’s a member of the South Devon School of Gymnastics in Paignton and Oscar came away from the competition with a silver medal in floor routine and bronze in vault. He also entered the Special Olympics GB 2012 National Gymnastics Artistic Competition held in Cardiff on 3/4th November and came home boasting 5 silver medals! Well done say we.
Sue Holman
Former Torbay JP and local businesswoman, Sue Holman died peacefully in Torbay Hospital on August 15th, aged 86.
From the late 1950s until the mid 1970s she was a director of J W & A Upham in Brixham where they built many classic sailing yachts designed by her brother-in-law Kim Holman. Her family developed Darthaven Marina Ltd from small beginnings to the busy place it is today on the river Dart in Kingswear. She took an active interest in the Yacht Harbour Association – a section of the British Marine Federation.
She was very involved in local life – at one time she was the Chairman of the Dart Harbour Commercial Users’ Group, a role she took very seriously. She was also on the selection committee for the Harbour Board for many years.
At one time she was sitting on the Magistrates’ bench in Torbay for at least 2 days per week. She was particularly involved with the Juvenile Court and the Licensing Panel.
In recent times she has not been mobile enough to get about much but many local people on both sides of the river and in the Bay will remember her with fondness. She was a dynamic character who will be much missed by her family and friends.
Furnace of Learning
This looks a bit like Gareth Malone 2 conducting the Kingswear Kiln Choir! Well it wasn’t quite like that, what happened was that 50 children from Dartmouth Academy travelled over the water with their teachers and others to study the natural life in Waterhead Creek. Part of that life was Rob Lovell and Mike Trevorrow who turned into teachers for the morning in order to help the children understand a bit better what a creek was and how it was important to the local environment, and what the lime kiln was used for historically. There were ‘no wrecks and nobody drowned’ and the children were very interested as their letters of thanks testify.
Christmas Creeping Up
Yes it’s nearly Bah Humbug time again and the village is about to be dazzled by as many as several lights for the festive season. The switch-on time is 6:00 pm on Friday December 7th so do please make sure you are there in your thousands to hear the Kingswear schoolchildren sing carols and to see our streets cheered up by colourful light at this gloomy time of year. We may be in the village hall this year but if all goes well we’ll meet at the normal place outside the station. All will be obvious on the night.
They tell me that Father Christmas is going to be there and if the children are all good – which of course they will be – there may well be presents in the village hall afterwards with drinks and biscuits. Adults may be cheered-up with minced wine and mulled pies to start the total descent into bacchanalian gluttony to ease us through the darkness and cold. Ah Christmas! See you there.
Carlow Lunch
This year’s Carlow Bequest lunch for the more senior members of our village is to be held on January 9th 2013 at the yacht club. There will be a three course lunch which will cost the diners only £6 or thereabouts. (Final financial decisions were still going to the Court of High Chamber as I write!) Entertainment is to be enjoyed from Elle’s Angels who will charm the event with seasonal singing.
Tickets for this event can be bought at the Post Office as soon as they are printed. Please do not buy tickets for people who are not from the village as this is completely counter to the purposes of the Carlow Bequest, it also prevents residents from getting hold of tickets which, I think you will agree, is hardly fair.
Kingswomen
The management has sent me the current Kingswomen newsletter which I will pass on to you in full rather than trying to chop it about:
Kingswomen are up and running again after a rather extended Autumn break. Sadly the ‘summer weather’ played a part in sabotaging plans for a Pimms Garden Party and we never had another settled spell of sunshine to reschedule so fingers crossed for next year.
Members of Kingswomen went to Brixham Fish Market at the beginning of September and despite the ungainly early start it was deemed to be a great success. (Apologies to members from Dartmouth who couldn’t get across the river in time). We also had a visit to The Flavel to see the excellent Meryl Streep in Hope Springs.
And of course the Book Group is still well supported.
And so-into the new programme.......
We kick off on Thursday November 15th at 7-30pm in The Sarah Roope Room with a ‘November Natter’ – with cheese (and wine of course). We hope this will be a chance to get together for a good goss and an opportunity for members to put forward any ideas for future plans.
For our Christmas Party this year Hilary has again generously offered the use of her house for a celebration on Wednesday December 12th. It would be helpful to know numbers for this event to help with the catering so put the date in your diaries and watch this space for more information nearer the time.
On Wednesday January 17th due to popular request we have again booked a date with Holly and David Jones at Manna from Devon for an evening of gastronomic indulgence. We will need numbers for this event which will probably cost in the region of £20. We would also welcome suggestions on the theme – we have done canapés, fish, Asian spices and outdoor oven cookery in the past.
Wednesday February 13th will be an evening with a romantic theme to put you in the mood for Valentine’s Day.
And in March we thought it would be fun to do a Ghost Walk in Brixham followed by a fish supper at the new Fish Quay restaurant - but details have not yet been finalised.
We do hope there is something here to appeal to the ladies of Kingswear and we look forward to seeing you at some or all of the evenings.
New public bridleway on Slapper’s Hill
You may not realize that Kingswear has the second highest horse population in the South Hams parishes with approximately 156 horses. However finding routes which are both safe and picturesque for horse riders, walkers and cyclists is like looking for gold dust.
This combined with the thousands of visitors from the Caravan Club who are keen to enjoy the countryside has resulted in the opening of a new public bridleway alongside the B3205 – locally known as Slapper’s Hill - from the Toll House to the Caravan Club at Hillhead.
The route has been 3 years in the making following meetings between Devon County Council (who funded the initiative) and the local National Trust (who provided the land). The commitment of the 2 organisations led to the legalities being finalized and the path was opened on 3 August 2012 for all to enjoy.
At present the bridleway stops at the Caravan Club but it’s hoped that it will eventually join up with Penhill Lane potentially creating a circular route towards the coast and Mansands Beach, allowing walkers and horse riders a safer off road route from Kingswear to Hillhead.
And for those who are wondering – why the name Slapper’s Hill? We’re presuming it comes from urging the horses and carts up the long hill using the long reins as persuaders – but if you know otherwise let us know!
WI Coffee
I am told that the ladies of the WI raised about £280 at the recent Saturday morning coffee event. Well done ladies, and lang may yer cakes bake, as the poet Aelfred never said as he watched the spider burn!.
Carol Concert
This year’s FroST Christmas concert is to be held in St Thomas’s church Kingswear on Thursday December 20th at 6:00pm. There will be the usual delights in music and words, so come along all and get right in to the festive spirit.
Brains of Kingswear
The winners of the Brain of Kingswear trophy for 2012 were Holly and David, Cat and Denise who formed the winning killer team. Second came Mike Goodearl’s team who had probably had too much beer and cake anyway! Well done all, and thank you organisers.•
