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 on Thursday 23rd August (Agenda) and Thursday 13th September (Agenda) in Brayford Village Hall at 7.30pm.
 
Interactive Speed Sign
In spite of correspondence from the Parish Council and telephone calls from parishioners, the interactive speed sign to the south of the village on the A399 has now been out operation for most of the last three months. Jonathan Collier will contact Tony Bradford of the County Environment Department to see if the problem can be rectified.
 
Affordable Housing
The planning application for 5 affordable houses and one dwelling with detached garage off Little Bray Lane is scheduled to be discussed at the Planning Committee Meeting on Wednesday, 25 July.
 
Play Area
There will be a family sports day on 18 August, weather permitting, in the school field and in partnership with the Flower Show. Watch for posters regarding the start time. Also, there will be a family quiz night at the end of September, date to be advised. We will have a play area for children as well, so all will be welcome. We are planning a family New Year’s Eve party in the Village Hall for all the village. More details in the next Newsletter, but for anyone wanting to celebrate without travelling far and with nothing planned, put the date in your diary now!! All these events will be in aid of raising funds towards the Village Play Area.
 
Neighbourhood Watch
PC George Furneaux our beat policeman attended the Parish Council meeting on Thursday night the 19th July 2007 and before he was called away to attend police business, told those present of three cases of theft in our immediate area in the last month. Once again these crimes were of theft from sheds and outhouses where good quality power tools were stolen, and in each case locks and chains were cut; the equipment taken was not marked. George suggested shed alarms were available locally and were not expensive and it would be a great help too if property were marked effectively in some way.

Electricity
You might be interested to know the following Guaranteed Standards which relate to distribution system performance issues as published by Western Power:
 
1.  If a customer loses supply due to operation of his main fuse, we will visit within 3 hours on weekdays and 4 hours at weekends. If we fail, we will pay the customer £20.
 
2.  If our supply network fails we will restore supplies within 18 hours of the fault being reported. If we fail, we will pay the customer £50 (£100 for business customers). We will pay a further £25 for every additional 12 hours that a customer is without electricity.
 
3.  If we need to interrupt a supply for testing or maintenance, we will give the affected customers at least 5 days notice. If we fail to do this, customers can claim £20 (£40 for business customers).
 
4.  If a customer contacts us about a problem with their supply voltage, we guarantee to reply to the enquiry and investigate within 7 working days. If we fail, we will pay £20.
 

Gardening Club
Our well-attended June meeting was a really excellent talk on Fuchsias by David Johnstone from the North Devon Fuchsia Society. David presented his subject with enthusiasm and clarity, and we all learned a lot.  In July we had a very enjoyable group visit to RHS Rosemoor that fortunately coincided with a brief spell of warm and sunny weather!
 
This year's Flower Show is on Saturday 18th August at the Village Hall, opening to the public at 3.30pm.  The Schedule and Entry Form should be included with this Newsletter (Schedule), so let's hope for lots of entries and a repeat of last year's very successful show.  On Wednesday 19th September at 7.30pm in the Village Hall we have a talk on Fruit and Shrub Pruning by Stuart Holder from Chivenor.

Brayford School
Many thanks for all who supported the school fete. We had a beautiful sunny day, luckily! We raised £450. The school play this year was ‘Up The Beanstalk’. The afternoon & evening performances were enjoyed by all. A jolly good show with lots of beautiful singing. The lead ‘Jack’ played by Ben Thorne was hilariously funny. Well done to all the children. We say goodbye to 3 year 6 children, who are moving on to South Molton Community College in September. We hope they enjoy their new school. We are sorry to be losing the Hillyer family, who are moving to Westward Ho. We look forward to welcoming a possible 5 new children in September. The first day of the Autumn Term is Tuesday 4^th September. There will be some building work taking place at the school during the summer holidays. Although ‘down yonder’ is available for playing football, please encourage the children to stay away from the school buildings. Many thanks to all who volunteer regularly at school and to all those who have supported events at the school throughout the year.

Brayford Boomerangs
The Children have enjoyed their "holidays" topic this term leaning how to pack a suitcase, design and send a postcard and even how to pitch a tent! Next term they will be learning more about "The Community". During the holidays the children (and siblings) are going rockpooling with Ioni Wilcox (Exmoor Ranger), which should be great fun. Wish them well. Following consultation with parents, we have decided to change our session days to Tuesdays and Fridays weekly as Sarah could no longer run the Thursday sessions. We are pleased to welcome Fiona Tyson as our new Committee Chair and our AGM is due to take place on Monday 24 September (for more information about that, please contact Carole). We are putting together a fundraising recipe book, so if you have any favourite recipes which you would like to share, please contact Carole. We would like to thank David Swash for kindly helping us set up our new website (www.brayford-boomerangs.org) which should soon be up and running. 

Please take a look and tell your friends and family about the pre-school.  Contact Fiona or Sarah (during term times). Note for your calendars please – this year’s Christmas Fair is due to be held at the Village Hall on the afternoon of Saturday 1 December. If you would like to book a stall, please contact Carole.
 
Archaeological Dig
Join us on an archaeological and geophysical survey on Thursday 2 August at Welcombe Farm, Charles from 10.00 am. Please ring Jim Knights in advance to reserve a time during the day.
 
History Society
Malcolm Faulkner and John White are contributing to a History Day project organised by the South Molton and District Archive and Local History Society to be shown on the morning of Thursday, 9 August in the Assembly Rooms in South Molton. The project is centred on local agriculture covering the period 1930-1960, so anyone interested is welcome to go along.

Methodist Church
The Sunday Club is making good progress. Remember, this Club is for anybody and parents are invited to visit, sit in, and decide for themselves if they with their child to attend. The Club meets every Sunday, except the last Sunday of the month in the Schoolroom attached to the Chapel. If you are interested, just turn up on a Sunday at 11.00 am or contact Tracey Thorne. Anglo-Methodist Conversations. It has been decided to build on the good relationship we have with Charles and High Bray Anglicans and it is hoped to give more details in the Autumn. Visiting the Sick. We as a Church are always wanting to carry out this Ministry, but we need your help. We need to know if someone you know needs to be visited, whether at home or in hospital. Our representatives are Mrs Barrow or Deacon Rona.  Brayford Harvest Services are on Sunday, 7 October at 11.00 am when the preacher will be Rev. Terry Spencer M.A., of Christ Church Barnstaple, and at 6.30 pm which will be a South Molton Methodist Circuit service.
 

High Bray Church
On Friday 10 August, at 6.30 pm, we will be having a Garden Party and Barbecue by kind invitation of Donald and Hilda Bawden. There will be a Bring and Buy and other stalls and we look forward to seeing you there. The Church Walk will be on 8 September. It’s always good fun and an easy route, so please get in touch and come and join us. Bring a packed lunch.
 
Charles Church
Farming and gardening have been greatly affected by the continuing wet weather, but congratulations to those with handsome baskets and tubs. Brayford Flower Show on the 18 August will be a new challenge, but hopefully everyone will rise to the occasion. The Church Patronal Festival was a lovely occasion, complemented by the North Molton Church Choir, and a stimulating visit by the Archdeacon of Barnstaple, The Ven. David Gunn Johnson. Two musical events in the Church were much enjoyed – a concert given by the Moorland Singers, followed by a return visit from Mean Time, a group of very talented recorder players.

Community Harvest Service
This year’s Community Harvest Service will be in the Village Hall at 7.00 pm on Tuesday, 9 October.
 
 
Coffee Mornings
The monthly coffee morning will not be held in August but will resume on the first Wednesday, 5 September, in the Methodist Schoolroom from 10.00 am to 12 noon. Please come along for a chat.
 
 
MacMillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning
We had a wonderful effort last year and thanks to your support and generosity were able to raise over £600. This year, we thought we would have our coffee morning on Saturday, 29 September at 10.30 am. We plan to have cakes and plants, raffle and bring and buy. We will be pleased to collect any saleable items nearer to the date. Thank you for your support in the past. For more details, contact Ruth Knights.

Womens' Institute
Christine Doe spoke on the subject of English Lace at our July meeting. This was very interesting and lovely pieces of lace were on show. A short demonstration was included and the skill of lace-making was much admired. Some W.I. ladies enjoyed a happy lunch party in Stoke Rivers to raise funds for The Calvert trust in the delightful garden of Jilly Schumacher. July Parking is talking on "Brayford Memories" on 12 September. Visitors are welcome. (There is a charge of £2.50 for visitors, but this includes a delicious tea!)
 
 
Get Well Soon
We were sorry to hear that Jonathan Brownell had a nasty riding accident whilst on a visit to the USA. He is now back home and we all wish him well for a speedy recovery.

Goodbye (and Hello)
We wish Mandy, Beth and Kelly every happiness as they leave Broomhill to live in South Molton and welcome Paul and his family to Broomhill.
 
Wedding Wishes
Best wishes to Sarah and Neil (son of Brian and Hilary Ayre) who are to be married on Saturday 1 September. We hope they have a very happy day.
 
Sympathy
We were all very shocked at the sudden death of Jeff Clarke, who we all knew and loved. He was a big man full of gentle humour, a much loved husband, Dad and granddad. We send our deepest sympathy to his family. How we shall all miss him.
 
Thank You 
What a super job Tony makes of keeping the garden around the Bridge looking neat and tidy for us all to enjoy – thank you.

Congratulations
Janet Raymond would be the last person to say much about the MBE she was awarded in the last Queens Birthday Honours list in June, her focus is more likely to be on preparation for her next assignment in her work with Medecins Sans Frontieres.  This medical aid organisation sends its doctors nurses logisticians and field staff to places no-one else knows or cares about, and Janet as a highly trained nurse and midwife has been to several of them.  Sudanese refugees in Chad, earthquake victims in Kashmir and mothers and their babies in Ethiopia, it seems Janet is ready to go anywhere she is sent with a minimum of notice, in fact she is now a member of the MSF quick reaction team. We are extremely proud of her, offer her warm congratulations on her well deserved honour, and wish her well on future missions.

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

Supported by Brayford Parish Council