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BRAYFORD

A rural parish in North Devon, England including Brayford village, High Bray and Charles, and a part of Exmoor National Park

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From the October 2004 Newsletter:

Parish Council News

Affordable Housing
Following the presentation by Falcon Housing in July, Vaughan Lake of Hastoe Housing Associations gave a presentation to the August meeting of the Parish Council. Hastoe has been in business for 20 years and has built over 700 properties in the South West. The majority of these properties are rented but they do offer a shared ownership agreement and this is becoming increasingly popular. Properties are let to local people who are on the Council Housing List. At the September meeting of the Parish Council it was decided that Hastoe would best suit the requirements of the Parish, at this stage, as the company is able to be more flexible, particularly with regard to working with land-owner/builder, as well as liaising with officials. It is proposed to produce a Planning Application for Affordable Housing and one larger dwelling on land off Little Bray Lane opposite the Methodist Chapel. This is a separate application to the Outline Planning Application to build five affordable dwellings and a shop with flat above on land behind The Old Post Office.

Brayford Primary School
The Head Teacher has taken early retirement following ill health over the last year, and the position will be advertised in due course. Meanwhile, the school continues to move forward under the Acting Head Teacher. The recent Ofsted Report was satisfactory.

Devon in Touch Roadshow
The Roadshow will be at the Village Hall from 11 am to 4 pm on Wednesday, 3^rd November. You will be able to use the computers on board, explore the internet for free and talk to Radio Devon.

Parish Council Meetings
If you have a view, opinion, idea or comment on anything that impacts on the parish, the PC want to know about it. Read the minutes of each meeting posted on the notice boards and if you agree or disagree with anything you see, don’t be afraid to mention it. Either attend the public participation part at the beginning of each PC Meeting (see diary for dates) or if you can’t get to the meeting, tell your local Parish Councillor.
Agenda for meeting on 25 November

Gardening Club
The AGM was held on 15^th September. The Chairman of the Flower Show and the Club was warmly thanked for all her hard work. The Officers of the Club agreed to retain their roles for a further year. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 20^th October at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall when Nick Oliver from St Johns Garden Centre will be talking about greenhouses and house plants. All are welcome – it will be an enjoyable evening. The November meeting will be our Christmas Meal and will take place on the 17^th. The venue is still to be decided.

Flower Show
On behalf of the Flower Show Committee, many thanks to everyone who helped, entered and supported the Show. Without your continued support the Show cannot run smoothly. This year entries were up, with high standards achieved and good comments from the judges. The Children’s Section especially delighted the judges.

Quiz Night
There will be a quiz night held on 1^st October at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall. There will be a bar and nibbles provided. Everybody is welcome with teams of up to 6 people. The tickets are £5 per. All proceeds will go toward the Pre-school and it looks to be a great night out.

Travel Club
The recent trip to Worcester was a great success and very much enjoyed by all who went. The Porcelain Factory was well worth the visit.

Fashion Show
Following its massive success back in March, the Travelling Trends Fashion Show is returning to Brayford. This time, ladies, we have been promised a larger selection of clothes, including larger sizes and clothes for the more mature lady, all of which will be available to try and buy on the night. Tickets are now on sale at £5, to include a glass of wine and festive nibbles. There will be a raffle on the night and bargains guaranteed. The show takes place on Thursday, 18^th November at the Village Hall, doors open 7 pm, show starts 7.30 pm and is in aid of Brayford Primary School.

Sponsored Cycle
Well done to Kelly, Bethany, Chilli, Jessica, Edward and Charlotte who took part in a sponsored cycle on 31^st July. They rode 10 miles along the Tarka Trail from Barnstaple to Braunton and back, raising a massive £258.70 for a new bike rack/shelter for the school. They would like to say a big thank you to everyone for supporting them and to Squires Fish and Chip Shop, Braunton, for donating their lunch.

High Bray Church
Harvest Festival will be on Sunday, 10^th October at 11 am, when Bishop Michael will be with us, with lunch after.

Methodist Church
Our Harvest Celebration will be on Sunday, 3^rd October at 11 am and 6.30 pm. The Exeter Male Voice Praise will be coming to the Chapel on Thursday, 11^th November at 7.30 pm.
Everyone is welcome to join us on both these occasions.

Community Harvest Celebration
You are invited to a joint Harvest Festival Celebration with High Bray and Charles Churches and Brayford Methodist Chapel on Tuesday, 5^th October at 6.45 pm in the Village Hall. This will include a short service of thanksgiving with Reverends Mark and Clay, to be followed by a "bring and share supper". Flowers and vegetables from the Methodist Chapel will be sold and the proceeds will go to Christian Aid Funds. A warm welcome is extended to all.

Christmas Fayre
The Boomerangs’ Christmas Fayre will be on Saturday, 27^th November in the Village Hall. There will be lots to buy and do, so please come along.

Brayford Boomerangs
The new academic year has got off to a flying start. The AGM was on the 15^th September. We are sorry to see some members of the committee go. These are Sarah, Tracey and Samantha. They have all played big parts in the pre-school and we would like to say thank you to them all for their help and support. With the committee for the pre-school in mind, we are very desperate for some new blood. We need more people to be involved. You don’t have to take a huge part, just be able to attend the meetings, which are held once a month generally, and perhaps lighten the load when there are fundraising events, etc. going on. Kerry has also decided to step down as Chair for the time being for her own personal reasons. Her husband, Darren, has taken her place, so all correspondence, etc. can still be sent to Kerry.

Barnstaple Carnival
Congratulations to Brayford Boomerangs Pre-School for taking 1^st Prize in this year’s carnival for their entry "Can’t Wait Till Christmas". Photos will be on display on the Boomerangs’ notice board in the Village Hall.

Mothers and Toddlers
We carried on Mother and Toddlers through the holidays with the older children able to attend and take part in different activities. This proved very popular. Although the group was busy through the summer, things have gone quiet again now the children are back to school. If you know of anybody with an under 5 who might be interested in coming, please let them know. It runs on a Thursday afternoon from 1.30 to 3.15 pm.

Brayford Television Association
At the AGM in August, the Chairman and Treasurer were elected. Any problems or queries should be reported to Donald. We would like to thank Mike for all the hard work he has put into the Association over the years. The next AGM will be in January 2005, when it will be decided how much the next subscription will be.

Mother's Union
Thanks to everyone who came to the Picnic. £97 was raised towards the caravan at Dawlish Warren. On October 20^th at 2.30 pm, Jane Templeton will be giving a talk on Rehabilitation at South Lydcott and on November 17^th Rosemary Tull will be talking on "A Joy Shared" at Mrs Greenwood’s in North Molton.

Women's Institute
The annual lunch at South Deans, hosted by Jim and Ruth in their lovely garden, was a very happy occasion and much enjoyed by everyone. The September meeting was also fun. Unusual jewellery – each item telling a story – was produced by some W.I. members. The meeting to be held on October 6^th(one week earlier than usual) is an OPEN MEETING (including menfolk!), as it is thought it will appeal to everyone. Barbara Hadrill will be here from Devon Marine Life (Devon Wildlife) and is well-known for her informative and extremely interesting talks. Visitors are most welcome. There is a charge of £2.50 per person, inclusive of supper, and the talk will start at approximately 8.00 pm. To re-launch the North Devon Home Economics Area, a "Pudding Party" was held at Fishleigh Farm House Foods on 13^th September – an afternoon of culinary indulgence!

Thank You
The Boddington Family would like to thank everyone who attended their open invitation in August to a Cream Tea. There was a large turnout and the afternoon raised a massive £1,177.91. In addition, Sheila raised £115 from the proceeds of a plant/flower sale and this will be added to the total. The money will be paid into the Valerie Boddington Living Memories Fund at the North Devon Hospice.

Ray and Ruby are very grateful for the wonderful support for the MacMillan overnight stay and social evening, very especially to Ray Hobbs for giving his time to play the music. The evening raised £425, so thank you to everyone who contributed.

Broadband for Brayford
Yes, it’s coming at last and will be available from 6^th October, 2004. Broadband offers a high speed connection (up to 10 times faster than dial-up), which gives you the ability to get high quality video and audio, and receive emails and downloads faster. It is a permanent connection to the Internet: no need to dial-up. You can use the telephone and the Internet at the same time.
To encourage you to sign up for Broadband, most Internet Service Providers are offering introductory "deals", including free connection (saving you £50), firewalls, virus scan, web site space, and other goodies.

Special thanks to the Newsletter Editor for providing extracts from the October Newsletter.