powderham castle
Powderham Castle
Around Kingswear
Thooper Thmooth
Mike Goodearl, he of the nifty guitar and the shiny clean oven, has asked me to tell you about the soon to come concert at the village hall. The concert is to be known as ‘Super Smooth’, well, with ’im organising it it would be! It features vocalist Maggie Reeday in an evening of Swing, Latin and Blues played by ‘The Session 8 Band’ and promises to be a cracking night out.
Tickets are £10, including supper, and are available at The Ship Inn, The Steam Packet Inn, the village stores and the post office. All proceeds are to go to ‘Help The Heroes’ and the Dart inshore lifeboat. This is to take place on Saturday July 23rd at 8 pm – 11:30 pm. Be there or .... be somewhere else!
May Concert
Sheila Little has asked me to let you know about the lovely concert held in Kingswear Church on May 22nd; I’m afraid I didn’t receive the report until after the deadline for June’s copy of By The Dart. Sheila says, “In the church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Kingswear, last Sunday afternoon, an audience of about 85 was entertained to a delightful concert by Ell’s Angels, a choir mainly of Kingswear ladies. There were 12 choristers.
The choice of songs for the entertainment was extremely good, and the music catered for everyone’s taste, with some songs of good church music as well as well-known oldies. The London Medley included ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square’, a song made famous in war-time on the BBC by a lady who was the wife of one of the officers of the Secret Fleet which operated from Kingswear during the War, who went to France dropping-off agents to work in France and bringing back pilots who had been shot down, and escaped POWs.
The money raised by the concert was to be shared between Rowcroft Hospice and Kingswear church, much appreciated by the people of Kingswear. We count ourselves lucky to have such a lovely little choir in Kingswear, and Ella Gadd does a wonderful job in leading them.”
Lower Greenway Farm
The last event organised by Kingswear Historians will have taken place on 27th June by the time you read this. It is to be a visit to the very rare Lower Greenway Farm which was set-up in 1849 as a model farm of its time. Because of market forces, the need to make maximum profits, the changes in farming procedures, the improvements in technology virtually all farms have changed, most out of all recognition, since Victorian times. Because, I suppose, of the ‘alternative income’ earned by the Greenway Estate’s former owner, Agatha Christie, the farm has remained as it is – a snap-shot of 1849. In the next issue I hope to give you a report of the actual visit.
Boats and Trailers
Graham Sowerby has asked me to let you know the following about moorings and keeping places ‘We currently have drying moorings available in Waterhead Creek for residents and non residents alike.....plus pontoon berths for village residents. To apply for a mooring in the creek or on the Parish Creek Pontoon people need to apply to Emma.
We currently have a waiting list for berths on the Parish River Pontoon and pound spaces for boats and trailers in Jubilee Park. These two facilities are only open to full time parish residents. If residents want their names added to the waiting lists they should contact Emma.’
‘Emma’ is, of course, our parish clerk and can be contacted on 01803 392265 or at kingswearclerk@yahoo.co.uk
WI Visit to Powderham Castle
The Kingswear WI meeting on Wheels in June headed up the River Exe to the magnificent home of the Earl and Countess of Devon. A guided tour led members through spectacular rooms brought alive by fascinating stories of the De Courtney family-incumbents since 1391. Of course the early summer gardens were at their blooming best and the deer park safari through the grounds was a memorable end to the visit. Lots of lovely things to do on the estate made Powderham a great location for a summer outing.
Kingswomen go gardening
Last month, members of Kingswomen were privileged to be invited to visit a fantastic garden in Paignton belonging to Mike and Riitta Bonstow. This beautiful private garden has a Japanese theme and members spent a glorious evening exploring a variety of ‘garden rooms’ with a series of coy carp ponds, sculptures and wonderful bonsai trees-a tribute to Mike’s skill and expertise.
The next meeting for Kingswomen will be on Saturday July 9th on Jubilee Park where picnicking members will attend the Countess Wear production of Romeo and Juliet and possibly wine will be consumed!
Hawks
The other day we were driving back from shopping and as we entered Higher Contour Rd. we saw what looked like an injured buzzard on the side of the road, it was still moving. I stopped and reversed back to it to see if it was in distress or if we could help it – thinking all the while of its beak and talons and exactly how you ‘help’ a hawk if you ‘re not David Attenbrough – but when we got close it became apparent that it was not a hawk but two hawks having a little hawky punch-up. Very fortunately Jan (Wife) had her camera present and she took this unusual shot of a hawk, very close up. Soon after this the hawks must have decided that two large humans and a looming silver Volkswagon were more of a threat than each other, so they had a parting peck at each other’s flesh and then legged it, or rather winged it, over the road, up and away. Quite an awesome experience for us, if not them
Reminder of Shakespeare
Last year we didn’t support them very well so let’s try hard to do better this year – so very, very much work goes in to putting productions together and the group always entertains us very well indeed. This year’s Countess Weir Players’ production is Romeo and Juliet, a story most of us know and love well, so let’s pack the posh picnic, throw in the bottles of wine and have a great night out in the open at Jubilee Park on Saturday July 9th at 7:00pm, I believe. Tickets can be bought on the night. Bring your own chairs and warm gear.
First Published July 2011 By The Dart
