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Callington U3A Feb article


‘The Mystery of the Royal letters’

On a dismal January day we were cheered by a very professional and entertaining talk by Janet Cowlard. Janet, who had an interest in the Royal family, was delighted when her husband bought, at a stamp auction, 5 letters written from various royal residences. None of the letters had envelopes or a clue who they were from. Some had dates but no year, and only through thorough research did Janet find out the years they were written. She was able to do this by the events mentioned in the letters. For instance one black edged letter, used after a bereavement, brought her to conclude it was in memory of Empress Eugenie, so she had a clue about what year it was written.  Janet even wrote to our late Queen Mother for information as to who might have written them.

The letters from a mother to her daughter were full of local gossip, news of weddings, and of shopping trips with Queen Mary.  Janet told us about the Queen being careless about acquiring items she coveted, sometimes even resorting to kleptomania! Our present Queen Elizabeth has in fact returned many of the treasures to their rightful owners. Much more careful research and background checks led to the conclusion that the letters were from Lady Elizabeth Dawson to her daughter Kaitilin. Lady Elizabeth was appointed as a Lady of the Royal Bedchamber in the early 1920’s. In her position she was able to tell her daughter of happenings at court, and of visits to Sandringham and Balmoral. We heard about the clothes and jewellery of guests, family sickness, and their connections to European royalty.

Lady Elizabeth died aged 55, a short while after she fell and broke her hip while out walking at Balmoral. Her daughter Kaitilin went on to marry into the aristocracy and became the mother of an alleged notorious murderer. We were asked not to reveal the end of Janet’s story, so you will have to watch for one of her talks, and be surprised at what a load of research and 5 hand written letters can reveal.

By Jane Black   Callington U3A   www.callingtonu3a.org.uk

Monthly meetings the first Monday at Callington Town Hall 10am next meeting 6th Feb.

Church Matters Feb 2017


Within global Christian circles there is quite a remarkable woman called Heidi Baker. Heidi is a Christian missionary to the country of Mozambique, and with her husband Rolland set up Iris Global, which is a non-profit Christian ministry dedicated to charitable service and evangelism. Through its work within Mozambique, Iris Global has provided orphanages, free health clinics, village feeding programmes, well drilling and operates primary and secondary schools. They have also created over 5000 churches. www.irisglobal.org

Heidi was born in Laguna Beach, California in 1959. Having gained degrees in Arts she went on to study Systematic Theology at King’s College in London, emerging as a Doctor of Philosophy in 1995. Systematic Theology sounds a very highfaluting term – it’s basically a discipline of Christian theology that steadily works through things to provide an orderly, rational and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. To gain a Doctorate in such a discipline is no idle task. It speaks highly of Heidi’s academic prowess – she is well versed in rubbing shoulders with academics.

And yet her work in Mozambique is far removed from academia. In August last year I attended a conference in York where Heidi was one of the Christian speakers. The conference had already provided many positive and stretching things from a faith perspective, but when Heidi walked out on the stage and immediately knelt down in prayer you knew that this was going to be different. Heidi is definitely “out there” in terms of her relationship with God and devotion to Jesus. Continue reading →

From Cllr. Steph McWilliam – February 2017


I am going for a good news sandwich this month. Firstly, as I have said before, there are many things that Cornwall Council does well. My current favourite is a competition to build a rocket car with the prize being a trip to South Africa to see the trials of the Bloodhound programme. Many schools are involved with this and it is a great way to encourage the study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. I have stood next to the Bloodhound at an Expo at Newquay Airport last year and can assure you it is even more impressive close up. Good luck to everyone involved. Continue reading →

SMART Phone article from parish resident


Smartphones are thieves of time, and this new year, I want to take it back.
I sit with a friend but the second she gets up to go to the toilet, I reach for my smartphone. Instead of taking it out and idly filling the two minutes she’s gone, I flip it to silent and scan the room instead. I’m practising for 2017.
We all love smart phones and they are very useful devices. Smartphone owners use them for over three hours per day. Even by the standards of say five years ago, the current handheld devices are extraordinary pieces of technology with great capabilities. Belying all of this glossy capability however, there are more perturbing elements to the devices so many of us are carrying with us everywhere we go. From worrying reports of smartphone addiction, to the identification of smartphone faux-pas such as “phubbing”, to the news that seven in 10 Americans have used a smartphone while driving and one in 10 people check their phone during sex, the belief that smartphones are harmless is increasingly untenable. The fact that our government can now legally hack them hardly makes things any better, nor do ethically dubious manufacturing and supply chains. Continue reading →

tvhPPG Feb update


The Future of the Health & Social Care in Cornwall by Fred Shotter, tvhPPG Secretary

You are probably aware there are serious difficulties with the provision of Health & Social Care throughout England. That is not a new problem.
When the Health Service was set up some 60+ years ago the situation was substantially different. Our life span was not many years after our retirement, we had limited knowledge about ailments which are now major problems. We did not have the technology and equipment to deal with/cure people of these ailments.

Now
We live into our 80’s. We succumb to ailments which can be dealt with, with increasingly positive outcomes, and our families have moved away. This obviously puts a great burden on the health and social services. In many parts of England these are still separate organisations. With devolved powers allocated to Cornwall they have the opportunity of co-ordinating these services so they work together and hopefully more efficiently. Cornwall Council are in the process of developing a Sustainability and Transformation Plan for the next five years.

By the time you read this they would have published various documents and held public
(www.cornwall.gov.uk/shaping-the-future) meetings to present their draft proposals. Currently they show that if they continue the operation as it currently exists there will be a deficit of £277m by 2020/21.

They have a plan that will eliminate this deficit and this plan has some major changes to the way services are provided.
1) Do we want to pay more for the services?
2) Do we want services on our ‘door step’?
I guess the answer to 1 is NO and to 2 is YES.
There has to be give and take on both sides.
They can’t afford to provide every specialist system in every hospital – which would not be fully utilised. A bit inconvenient but do we want treatment NOW but 100 miles away or in 6 months’ time but 10 miles away??
It’s now up to the specialists in the health and social care to come up with a solution.
YOUR INPUT COUNTS – But don’t forget, unless you have a deep pocket they cannot provide a utopian solution.

Also Tamar Valley Health Patients Group, with the assistance of Tamar Valley Health Centres, participated in the successful Calstock Christmas Tree Festival, held in December 2016 in Harrowbarrow Church.  It’s estimated that around 450 visitors came during the five days the 26 trees were on display, with many very appreciative comments being made. Hot drinks and cakes were also available, giving visitors the opportunity to sit to peruse the trees whilst listening to organ music. The aim of the festival is to add to the pre-Christmas atmosphere in the parish and encourage visitors to the three churches in the Calstock Parish. Visitors were very generous with donations of approximately £660, which will go towards making improvements to church facilities. The organisers wish to make it known how grateful they are to both the entrants and visitors for their contribution to making this a very special event.

The tvhPPG tree was decorated with all medical items.

Cornish Clayton Crafts


From Liz Clayton: In March 2013 I was the 1st  ‘Made in Cornwall’ member to introduce a new line of stock as in Warming, Cooling and Massaging Cherrystones Pads. These Pads are a replacement of my previous Wheat Pads. My Cherrystones Pads are filled with thoroughly cleaned cherrystones/pips. The covers are made of 100% cotton, fully lined and very importantly, washable. Since I introduced them, I have been so pleased in the many ways they are helping people. Apart from easing aches and pains I have had some delightful feedback for some of the not so common conditions. Polymyalgia Rheumatica / Fibromyalgia Pelvic Girdle Pain in Pregnancy / Breast Feeding discomfort Sports Injuries Stress Busters for ADHD / Autism Cooling for Radiotherapy / Warming for Chemotherapy Comfort Pads for Dementia Precious Pet Pads. Continue reading →

History Events


Cornwall Record Office, Old County Hall, Truro TR13AY People, Places & Religion in 1642 Free Event Monday 6th February, Cornwall’s Protestation Returns and how to use them! The workshop starts at 10am and will include an overview of how to use the online map, as well as a chance to explore original related documents and see behind the doors of the strong rooms. Pre-bookings essential, as places are very limited Call 01872 323127

Local History Talk by Brian Oldham    Thursday 16th February 7:30 pm   “ The remarkable Daniel Gumb” at Liskeard and District Museum. Free event- donations warmly received

Stoke Climsland Local History Group meet at The Old School Stoke Climsland the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm > Feb 28th Talk on Bells and Bell Ringing > March 28th Talk on The Hurlers  > Summer Walks to local places of interest.

Linkinhorne History Group meeting at Rilla Mill Village Hall Wednesday 15th 7-30pm a talk by Martin Ronchetti. “Life as a Rural Doctor”

Caradon Archaeology monitors the condition of scheduled monuments (over 700) in the Caradon Area. Reports are used by Historic England regarding the archaeology in the area and inform how to improve it. Can you help us? Our AGM is on 23rd February  7:30pm Darite Village Hall Membership is free and we are a friendly bunch! with Brian Oldam and Iain Rowe

2016 Review


2016 Review

There were some highs and lows during 2016, the same as most years I guess.

But it’s not every year we can celebrate the Queens 90th birthday which we did in style at the Parish Hall in April. Many of us were glued to the Rio Olympics in July, and TEAM GB astounded us with their performances and medal tally. We also followed Tim Peake and the International Space Station Expedition with wonder and a new interest in the Juno space probe.

But the year kicked off with David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both dying within days of each other, countless more famous (Muhammed Ali, Terry Wogan, Rick Parfitt, Caroline Aherne, Victoria Wood, Frank Sinatra, Arnold Palmer, John Glenn, Fidel Castro, Prince, Zsa Zsa Gabor, George Michael, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds) and those not so famous but our friends and family who passed away over the year.

Brexit and the election of Donald Trump were among the biggest news stories. Continue reading →