BRAYFORD      

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

 
BRAYFORD PARISH COUNCIL
 
Parish Council Meetings
The next Parish Council Meetings will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 17th April and Thursday 15th May in Brayford Village Hall.  The April meeting will be preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting.
 
Neighbourhood Watch
The police reported no less than five Road Traffic Accidents on the A399 in the past month in the section between the Brayford turn-off and Lions Rump. Otherwise they say there were two unspecified domestic disturbances. The graffiti incidents in the area of Bray Cross which took place over two nights have not been repeated; our two PCSO's Mike Livett and Jerzy Rozputzynski were active both in the investigation and in the clear up, but were not able to trace the culprits.
 
Interactive Speed Sign
The interactive "slow" sign as one enters Brayford from South Molton is still not working correctly. Mr Bradford of D.C.C. has reported this to the sign’s manufacturer.
 
Pot-Holes
Barnstaple Hill has had many of its pot-holes repaired and the Parish Council is again writing to D.C.C. to say that the condition of the A399 is very poor.
 
Archæological Dig
A reminder about the local archæological event from 21st to 26th April, with an Open Day on Saturday 26th April from 11-00am until 3-00pm at Charles.
 
Affordable Housing
Hastoes Housing Association expects the finalised Planning Permission and 106 Agreement to be signed off next week, and that work will commence by the end of April.
 
Devon Boundary Committee
The new Boundary Committee has been set up to explain the new structural review of Devon. The Committee is undertaking this review in order to respond to a request for advice made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Committee has agreed to consider whether there could be an alternative unitary proposal for Exeter and the surrounding Devon county area. This could result in great changes, and the nearest meeting to he held on this subject is at Chittlehamholt Village Hall on Monday 7th April starting at 7-00pm.
 
Play Area
Progress is being made and the 15-year lease has been signed. Alan Boddington will be running this project for the Parish Council with the help of David Gosling who started the project and is happy to assist in any way he can until the play area is working.
 

Brayford Duck Race
Brayford Duck Race is on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon 26th May.  The Village Hall Committee are looking for helpers.
 

 
Brayford School Reunion
Brayford School Reunion will take place on Saturday 10th May at 6-00pm in the Village Hall. Please bring a plate of food.
Please make a note of the date and let as many people know as you can.
 
Brayford School
All the children have been enjoying tennis coaching this term and swimming starts after Easter.
 
The theme this term has been ‘When I Grow Up’. There have been visits by several professionals including a Vet, Physiotherapist, Policeman, Electrician, Archæologist and Ranger.
 
The Annual Easter Service took place on Thursday 20th March at the Methodist Chapel. The children walked in silence from the school.
 
The juniors held an exclusive dinner event on Wednesday 26th March where they served meals from around the world which they created themselves. This was a community event for ‘Hope 2008’. They also organised a car wash in the Village Hall car park on Thursday 27th March.
 

 
The junior class will be going on a Residential trip at the beginning of April. When they return it will be the start of the 2-week Easter break.
 
Whilst the juniors are away, the infant class will be taking part in a number of exciting activities planned by Mrs Wildig. They will be having a café afternoon on Monday 31st March at which they will be serving healthy snacks to each other, designed by themselves.
 
Many thanks to Linda Moore, who has been running an after school craft club, with the children learning new crafts and making some lovely items. Lisa Ward has now started a Gardening Club after school on Tuesdays. If anyone has any gardening tools or equipment surplus to their own requirements the school would be happy to receive them. With spring on its way the flowers in the grounds are lovely. We look forward to future planned growth.
 
Don’t forget to watch ‘Johnny’s New Kingdom’ on Tuesday 15th April at 8-30pm when the programme will be featuring Brayford School.

 
Brayford Boomerangs Pre-School
On Friday 29th February children enjoyed making sandwiches and decorating little cakes for our Mothers Day lunch. Thank you to the special ladies in our community who joined in sharing this with us.
 
Our children enjoyed fun activities for World Book Day on 6th March. A farm visit to Middlecott to see the lambing, and vegetable planting are also on our activity list this term.
 
Deacon Rona reminded us about the Easter story. Some of our children joined Brayford Primary School in their procession through the village to the Easter service at Brayford Methodist Chapel on 20th March.
 
We are delighted to welcome Anne who has joined us this term.
 
Thank you to North Molton Young Farmers Club for their fantastic support recently from their Pledge Evening.

Gardening Club
Our February meeting was an interesting talk on topiary by Hilary from Trelawney Garden Centre, who bravely stood in at the last minute for the scheduled speaker who was unable to attend. In March we had a sunny morning visit to Ruth’s lovely garden at Holewater. After coffee and cakes we had a look at the hellebore collection, followed by a guided tour of the rest of the garden. Special thanks to Ruth for her hospitality.
 
On Wednesday 16th April at 7-30pm in the Village Hall we will having a hands-on session, planting up Summer Baskets and Tubs with David Hopkins. Plants and compost will be available to buy, but please bring your own baskets and tubs. 
 
On Wednesday 21st May, Marigold Badcock will be giving a talk with slides on Clematis. As always, everyone is welcome.

Women’s Institute
At our March meeting, Darren Windett gave a very moving account of his rescue and restoration story at Phi Phi, an island near Thailand, very badly damaged by the Tsunami in 2005. In a newspaper report following Darren’s return to England when he raised funds for further help, Nick Harvey M.P. praised his work and said his efforts were "amazing."
 
The W.I. April meeting will be held on Wednesday 9th April at 7-15pm when Mrs. Joan Philp, Group Secretary of the National Osteoporosis Society, will be giving a talk on Osteoporosis. It will be a very interesting talk. Everyone is welcome.
 
The Spring Council Meeting, held in Exeter, is on Thursday 17th April.
 
The Spring Group meeting is being hosted by Heasley Mill W.I. on Friday 25th April.
 
Walkers meet up on the last Wednesday of each month, weather permitting, for a walk, either locally or a little further afield.

Mothers’ Union
Rosemary Tull talked about "Relationships" at North Molton. Madelaine Brownell talked about how people went to America and settled, and the long winters of snow and hot summers.
 
Ruth and Joan went to the Council meeting at Crediton and the Commissioning Service of Pauline Lewis and Diana Draisey as M.U. Chaplains by Bishop Michael.
 
We will be collecting dried food or tins for Chris Sunder Soup Run which he does 5 nights a week.
 
On Tuesday 15th April at 2-30pm Rev Peter Attwood will talk about his ‘Trip to the Holy Land’ at Joan Greenwood’s.
 
On Tuesday 22nd April there is a Deanery meeting at South Molton.
 
On Tuesday 20th May at 2-30pm Chris Saunders will talk about the ‘Ovis Project’ at South Lydcott.

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

 
Bristol Channel Tunnel Feasibility Study
Summary conclusions of the Bristol Channel Tunnel Feasibility Study have been released by the Department for Transport.   Details
 

Supported by Brayford Parish Council