PRESENTATION

As President of the W.I; the organisation that entered St. Tudy for the Best Kept Village in Cornwall competition, it was my duty to organise this presentation for the Village of the Year Competition.

However, that was before I realised that the time, about a fortnight, allowed for the preparation, coincided with my long planned holiday to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Indeed I returned only last Thursday, 19^th October.

Yet, what you are about to see and hear proves the strength of this community. I was able to call in a small group of most competent and willing helpers, who, under the direction of Sue Dibble, with her expertise and amazing enthusiasm and vision, has co-ordinated this presentation this afternoon.

It is with great pleasure and gratitud that I hand over the proceedings to Sue – Mrs. Sue Dibble.

We have shown you the lovely buildings, lanes and amenities, but now I would like to tell you about the most important part of any village – THE PEOPLE. This village has a reputation for being a very friendly place, help is always there for anyone who needs it, no-one need ever be lonely, but if you value your privacy, then this is respected. Full use is made of the village amenities, first impressions might be that this is a very quiet place – but you couldn’t be more wrong, there is something going on here practically every day for people of all ages. Buildings such as The Clink are not just there to be admired, it is used on numerous occasions for coffee mornings, the R.A.O.B. use it every week for their meetings. This village hall is used by practically every village organisation at one time or another.

There are representatives from most of the organisations here today and they will be happy to give you more information and answer any questions you may have after this presentation. I would now like to tell you a bit more about the various organisations, and I will break them down very roughly into age groups – although, of course, a lot of them cater for people of all ages

The Playgroup and Toddlers Group, sessions for 2 ½ - 5 yrs are held on Monday, Wednesday & Friday 9.30am 12noon and on Mondays between 1pm & 3pm for under 5’s in the village hall. Parents encouraged to assist.

The playgroup provides a caring and stimulating environment for an average of 12 children per session.

The group has received a grant of £400 from the ‘Isles of Scilly Community Fund’ towards a shed for ride-on toys and a £2350 grant from the ‘Lottery Millennium Awards for All scheme’ for extra equipment. This year their Summer Fete raised £650 towards new play equipment. The playgroup has just been accepted into the government Early Years Scheme

A very important part of the village is our school, a delightful school which has been in existence since the 1860’s, it has wonderful, caring, staff who bring out the best in our children

as can be shown by the extraordinary ‘Binding Threads’ performance, it showed what can be achieved when you capture the children’s imagination. I hope, if you have time, you will be able to have a look at the video we of their performance. The beautiful painted map that you can see was made by the children and was hung from the church tower during the performances, it looked magnificent.

The school has an average of 50 children up to the age of 11 with four full-time teachers, a part-time secretary & four ancillary staff.

Junior Youth Club 7 – 11 age group meet on Fridays 6.30pm – 8pm during term-time. Play games such as table-tennis, table football, basket ball, & snooker, there is usually a craft organised and cookery.

Senior Youth Club for the 11 – 15 age group, who also meet on Fridays between 8.15pm & 10pm at the Village Hall. 2 voluntary supervisors, play games, listen to music, outings, sometimes join up with Juniors. Both the Junior & Senior Clubs enter the Carnival, something they all thoroughly enjoy.

The Football Club started in 1997 age range 6 – 16 yrs. Over 80 youngsters, girls as well as boys, train 3 nights a week, approx 30 youngsters each session. With a lot of fundraising and volunteer labour Floodlighting has recently been provided which is a great help particularly during the winter months, and they are now raising funds for a new ‘Pavilion’ for the playing field. Four of their members have been selected by Plymouth Argyle to attend their coaching sessions which are held at Bodmin & Newquay.

The Young Farmers clubs actual title is The St.Mabyn Young Farmers, but many of St.Tudy’s young people belong. It caters for the older teenagers and those in their early 20’s. They meet weekly on Fridays but most Saturdays they are involved in some activity or other. They raise a great deal of money for charity, this year about £5.000 which was donated to various charities including, the R.N.L.I. Mount Edgcumbe Hospice, Cornwall Air Ambulance & the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Appeal. This club was formed over 60 years ago, and one of the founder members, Wallis Masters is still a resident of the village.

I suppose the next age group roughly encompasses people from the age of about 20 – 40 ish

The Young Farmers, I have already mentioned them, but as their age range is teens to 25 I think they should be included in this group as well.

The Allen Valley Singers choir was formed in 1994 and includes enthusiasts of all ages. They practice in the Chapel Sunday Schoolroom every Tuesday, and give concerts all over the County and beyond. They enter local music festivals but like to consider themselves to be a concert rather than a competition choir. They provide an enjoyable and memorable leisure and cultural activity for both participants and listeners.

The Fitness League, quite a few members are older than 40, but you could say that it is League helps to keep them young! Sessions are held on Tuesday in the village hall from 10am - 11.15am.

Members pay £20, , per term - approx. 10 lessons. £12 for concessions The league is an organisation that is dedicated above all to the expert development and promotion of health and well-being through safe, effective exercise and movement in a sociable, fun environment.

Yoga – Classes every Wednesday evening during term time in the school. Each session costs £23 (£5 for the school and £18 for the teacher) and this is equally divided amongst the members of whom there are approx 10 who come to tie themselves in knots for 1 ½ hours!

The Carnival Committee, about eight dedicated members. Provide a wonderful Carnival annually in the summer, something that the whole village looks forward to. They also provide a lovely Christmas Tree each year which is usually situated beside the clink and makes the heart of the village look very festive. They also persuade someone each year to play Father Christmas at the annual Christmas Fayre

Garden Produce Association

The Garden Produce Association, this has been going for many years and has membership of around 50, meeting every second Monday from October through to March, they have 3 shows each year, Spring, Summer and Autumn and also organise competitions that the whole village can take part in. The hanging basket and planted trough competition is one of the highlights of the year and certainly encourages people to make the most of the homes and gardens.

For the ladies we have The W.I. a thriving organisation with 45 members, which encourages newcomers to join and make friends – something that I am very glad I did when I moved here just under 4 years ago

The Bell Ringers, there are 8 ringers at the present time, seven men and one lady. They practice every Monday night and are often called upon to ring at other churches particularly St.Mabyn, St. Breward & Blisland. Next Saturday, the 28Sep, they have the honour of ringing the bells at Truro Cathedral.

Playing Field Trust, the members of the Trust are responsible for raising funds for the upkeep and enhancement of this amenity which was purchased in 1932 for use in perpetuity as a recreation area for the village. Together with the Football Club they have provided the floodlighting and are now also raising funds for the new pavilion.

Luncheon Club

The Luncheon Club, they meet on the 4^th Thursday of each month, the numbers have to be limited to 50 by necessity and the meals are prepared, cooked and served by a dedicated team of 7. This meal costs an extremely reasonable £2.50 per head. A special Christmas Lunch is provided, complete with crackers and festive table centre pieces, wine and a gift for a lucky ticket holder. At this lunch everyone brings a small gift which is put into a sack which becomes a ‘lucky dip’ at the end of the lunch, and the event is rounded off with carol singing. Needless to say there is always a waiting list to join this particular Club.

Patchwork Group started in 1993 by Nora Sheer, it is held in her home and the only fee is 25p, supposed to be towards the cost of a cup of tea, but in fact this money is saved and sent to charity. They hold exhibitions of their exquisite work, again for charity and to date they have raised the marvellous sum of £1052.50.

The patchwork produced by the members is wonderful, not just traditional designs, some of them are most innovative and anyone who has not been to one of their exhibitions has missed a treat.

Dance Club, this is held every Thursday from 7pm - 10.30pm. for Old Tyme and Modern Sequence Dancing. About 20 members come each week, some from as far as Bude. They pay a weekly fee of £1.30 which includes tea & biscuits, tuition is free. I have been asked to mention that the Club is very impressed with the first class facilities provided in this Hall and to pass on their thanks to Miss Mary Winn who always makes sure that everything is ready for them. The Club always welcomes new members, particularly younger people so that hopefully they will be able to continue for many years to come.

The Over 60’s, just last week they had their annual dinner which was, as always, a resounding success. An outing is organised each year in May.

Now we come to the Other Organisations which are not covered by any particular age group as they encompass everyone.

Our Parish Council has 10 members and amongst their recent projects have been the new kerbing & tarmac by the War Memorial and the Binding Stone re-instatement at the Forge. Earlier this year there were tentative plans for the Queen to visit the village on her way to the Royal Cornwall Show, but unfortunately this didn’t materialise, she doesn’t know what she missed!

The village’s spiritual needs are cared for through our Parish Church and Methodist Chapel. Congregation numbers, as nationally, are not as great as they were in the past, although the Chapel in particular has recently seen an increase in their congregation, partly due to the newcomers to the village; but those who take part make up for lack of numbers with their enthusiasm and dedication as the recent Flower Festival at the Parish Church and the wonderful Harvest Celebrations and exhibition held at the Methodist Chapel can testify. We have representatives from both who can give you more information if you would like to talk to them.

The Village Hall Committee is made up of 9 elected members and 1 co-opted member and a representative from each village organisation so a total of about 30. We are very proud of this hall, it is used practically every day for something. The 1953 building was renovated in the 1980’s. Funds are raised by letting out the hall for various functions, coffee mornings and various other fund raising activities. Very recently with the help of a Lottery Grant a new storage room was added. They are responsible for raising funds for and organising the bonfire and fireworks on November 5^th, the displays are so magnificent that very few people bother to get their own, they come along to the Playing Field and join in the fun. The village Christmas Fayre is also organised by the Hall Committee.

Now I would like to give a special mention to one of our local farms – Penhale Farm run by Tony & Joy Weaving. It is the first DUCHY dairy farm in Cornwall to be given organic status. A 536 acre dairy farm, of which 344 acres are now fully organic and a further 192 acres are being converted. Their herd of 260 dairy cows produce 1 ½ million litres of organic milk per year. Their land includes a section of the Camel Valley which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. And they have an application pending for the Country Stewardship Scheme under the auspices of the Bodmin Moor Project. This is a very old farm, some of their field boundaries are considered to be at least medieval. In June this year they received a special visit from H.R.H,. Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall. Joy Weaving is here today and would be happy to tell you more about their farm and farming methods.

Finally – while we have been talking, you will have noticed that Bill has been gradually putting together our jigsaw, the idea originally came from Jackie Long the school headmistress, it was built & cut by Bill Hodge, my only contribution was to paint the background, the wonderful photographs and the central map were produced by Bob and Jane King and it was all put together in Mavis Kingdon’s Linhay.

‘This last section completes our jigsaw, just as the people complete the village. Without them it would just be a collection of pretty houses and lanes. A village needs a community, something that is very evident here. We are proud of our village, we care for each other, welcome incomers. We take pride in our heritage, but young and old embrace new technology, as our new village web site can testify. This is a very special place, warm, welcoming and alive.’

On Tuesday 5th December, Mavis Kingdon and Sue Dibble attended the Awards Luncheon held in the Great Hall at 1, Gt. George Street, London. They were joined on their table by the MP for North Cornwall, Paul Tyler. After a delicious lunch there were speeches by the editor of the Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore and Director of Forum for the Future, Jonathan Porritt followed by the awards.

Sadly we did not win the overall title of Village of the Year, but we can congratulate ourselves on winning the South West and Western England regional title, receiving a plaque and a cheque for £500 which has to be spent on a village project. This is what the judges had to say about St Tudy.

“An intimate and leafy village and a community that seems busy and happy with its lot - not withstanding its isolated position and difficult logistical problems of accessing essential services.

Full of vitality, St Tudy is successful in squeezing every ounce from its own resources to ensure everyone receives the care and attention they need. The list of so many activities and interest groups in a population of around 600 means that few can “escape” committee duties of one sort or another, but all seemed to accept their responsibility very willingly. The benefits of good school and youth facilities have been recognised and there are ambitious plans to enhance the facilities for these age groups.

It might be that in a community where everyone knows each other, it would be difficult for newcomers to integrate. The opposite is true in St Tudy. The village welcomes new residents and will no doubt be quick to utilise any talents.”

As one of the seven regional winners, we were automatically excluded from the category prizes covering Environment, Businesses, Young People, Older People and Community Life (this last category we won in 1998), but to get to be a regional winner we had to excel in all these five categories.

The whole village should be congratulated on their efforts. We did extremely well considering that we were on of the smallest villages taking part. The eventual winner, Great Bentley in Essex has a population of 2,177 and the largest village green in the country, covering 43 acres!!

Everyone involved in our entry has worked extremely hard and given their time and expertise without complaint. WELL DONE!

PRESENTATION

by Mavis Kingdon and Sue Dibble

Junior Youth Club 7 – 11 age group meet on Fridays 6.30pm – 8pm during term-time. Play games such as table-tennis, table football, basket ball, & snooker, there is usually a craft organised and cookery.

Garden Produce Association

Luncheon Club

Now we come to the Other Organisations which are not covered by any particular age group as they encompass everyone.