Welcome to the South Hill Connection Newsletter

A Newsletter produced by and for the Parish of South Hill


Latest Newsletter!

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Newsletter number 100, May 2022

In this 100th edition of the South Hill Connection:

  • 100 editions, 15 years – a trip down the Connection memory lane
  • In-depth articles from advertisers and users of the Parish Hall
  • Photos from the Connection Easter Egg Trail
  • Parish celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
  • Parish Hall news and AGM details
  • Horticultural Show – early details
  • Volunteers needed for Community Speedwatch
  • Latest from the St Sampson’s, SHARE, Recycling for Charity & Parish Council

And much more…

Next Edition will be a Jubilee Special.  If you’d like to make a contribution, please email editor@south-hill.co.uk or call THE NEWS DESK. Ali 07305 044049 or Areina 07788 300025.

Please email editor@south-hill.co.uk or call THE NEWS DESK. Ali 07305 044049 or Areina 07788 300025

Newsletter full version – click here…  and Condensed version here (with no adverts and fewer pictures, for slow internet connections!)

Please tell us what you think of it by contacting editor@south-hill.co.uk

Archived newsletters (all of them!)
can be found in our public Google Drive folder – here…

Some news articles are also posted here as a blog on our News page. The latest will always be at the top. If you want to search for news articles you can do so using the Search box on the right, or by selecting a News Category from the drop-down list.

Business advertisers can be found on our Local Business pageSave

SHARE Update May 2022


South Hill Jubilee Orchard

On April 24th, volunteers were invited to help plant a sapling hedge alongside the new parish Orchard.  Altogether, 15 people turned up to help for varying amounts of time, and we were able to plant more than 420 trees in just over 4 hours.  Species included Rowan, Elder, Dog Rose, Crab Apple, Blackthorn and Hazel.  Refreshments were provided and, after a damp start, the weather was kind to us.

On April 24th, volunteers were invited to help plant a sapling hedge alongside the new parish Orchard. Altogether, 15 people turned up to help for varying amounts of time, and we were able to plant more than 420 trees in just over 4 hours. Species included Rowan, Elder, Dog Rose, Crab Apple, Blackthorn and Hazel. Refreshments were provided and, after a damp start, the weather was kind to us.

The new hedgerow will form a boundary between the Jubilee Orchard and the new allotments, and a wildlife corridor along the internal boundary of the orchard.

A Grand Opening is planned at the Orchard on June 3rd as part of the South Hill Parish Jubilee Celebrations, with information for the public and entertainments for young and not so young.

Energy Crisis

Recent events have thrown into sharp relief the reasons why SHARE was formed by a group of concerned residents 7 years ago.  Our mission statement, “Powering renewable energy into a secure and sustainable future for all”, set us on a path which saw the installation of 40kW of solar PV panels at Church Park, South Hill.  To date this has generated 22.6MWh, saving 4.81tonnes of CO2 equivalent.  Unfortunately the abolition of the Feed-in Tariff made further similar installations financially unviable.  However, we have high hopes that in the near future it will be possible to have local energy networks, in which power generated locally can benefit local households directly through cheaper tariffs.  Totnes Renewable Energy Society (Tresoc) are on track to deliver this in Totnes, and we are watching with interest.

Meanwhile, what can we as individuals do to reduce our energy usage (to save both money and CO2 emissions)?  A recent post by Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert outlined ‘90 Ways to Survive The Cost of Living Crisis’, which includes many hints and tips for energy saving.  The Consumers Association website, which.co.uk is also a good source of advice e.g. ‘Ease the squeeze: how to save on your energy bills’

The Hydro-power struggle

More recently, regulars will have read about our attempts to measure the generating potential of a small river in the parish.  It seems we’re not the only ones to have our hopes dashed by the regulations and fees imposed by the Environment Agency.  Tresoc have recently had to abandon their hopes for a hydro scheme on the River Dart, a much more promising project than ours, at a location which had historically generated electricity for the Dartington Estate in the 1930s.  You can read about it here…  

To quote Rupert Armstrong Evans of Evans Engineering (Water and Power engineers since 1810), “Decades of environmental legislation designed to protect rivers have inadvertently caught small domestic scale waterpower and watermills in their web and will kill them off in a few years if nothing changes.”  Rupert’s home, Trecarrell Mill, a working mill for around 500 years, was one of the first to feed ‘green electricity’ into the National Grid.  Rupert was upgrading it to produce enough electricity for around 30 homes when the EA imposed new conditions that rendered the project unviable.  Trecarrell is only one of many historic water mills across the UK with the potential to become sources of renewable energy.

Congratulations from SHARE to South Hill Connection 


100 editions of the newsletter – what an achievement! SHARE is proud to be a regular contributor to the Connection since our early days in 2015.  We registered as a Community Benefit Society that year, and together with the Parish Council, installed our first solar PV array on the Parish Hall roof.  This continues to supply power for the Hall and will do so for years to come.

May 7th 4 1/2 miles details of walk


From South Hill church take the road towards Mornick. After a few 100 meters turn right onto a farm track and follow to the end. Turn right onto a path, at the metal gate take care as it’s off it’s hinges and needs lifting to enter the field.

Keep the hedge on your left side and follow a worn footpath, as you drop down through an uncultivated area and step over the stream and the stile. Keep the hedge on your left to a metal gate with a great view of the church at Linkinhorne.  Go through this gate and veer to the right, there’s a newly enlarged gateway that brings you to the road.

Turn left and follow the road to Linkinhorne. You can take a detour to the church or at the junction, go straight ahead and enter the cemetery, the path takes you to the top where you join the road. Go left around the corner, past the turn on your left and at the junction of the turn on your right. Go though the metal gate, marked with a FP disc. From the gateway you can see a small pedestrian gate in the hedge ahead to your right. Aim for this. There were friendly young cattle here when I walked through, who were vaguely interested.

Go through the gate, look left and ahead to see a wooden gate, with another wooden gate immediately behind it.  Go through these and keep the hedge on your left to the gateway and track that runs alongside some buildings and brings you to a gate at the main road. TAKE CARE and cross over.

Go through the small metal gate here and drop down to the road at Lanhargy Old Chapel.

Turn right and follow the road to Bray Shop.

Turn left at the main road and at the junction, turn left. Bray Shop Old chapel is on the left and alongside is a small path that takes you to the cemetery.

Cross back over the main road to the notice board, the building there is the old Sunday School.

From the notice board follow the pavement to the junction and turn right, on Trefinnick rd, signposted to South Hill.

Stay on this road back to South Hill church.

Kit Hillbillies Rock Calstock


On Friday March 4th 2022, the amazing Kit Hillbillies played at Calstock Arts, at the Old Chapel, Calstock.

A great time was had by all, and a generous collection for the UK Red Cross Ukraine appeal raised £1500.


How to describe the Kit Hillbillies?

Old-timey, good-timey bluegrass!
With rousing vocal harmonies that smuggle in occasional quirky local references.

Instrumental tasting notes: Banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar. Irresistibly tappy on the toes, with a crisp percussive finish.

Think Betty Stogs, rather than Harvey’s Bristol Cream!

In their words: “We throw in some original bluesy songs with many a knowing nod to the backwoods and badlands of Devon & Cornwall. These *usually* avoid causing offence (happily people don’t always listen to the words!). We always do some 20thC classics by the likes of Johnny Cash & Steve Earle. And like Hayseed Dixie we throw in songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Clash and even Radiohead – all delivered in good-time string band style. In short, it’s the makings of a rousing, stomping night of tunes.”

Pooh Sticks!


SHARE Hydro Feasibility Update, March 2022

Regular readers will remember earlier articles describing our initial investigations into the potential of water turbines. For the benefit of newer readers, those investigations involved installing a measurement weir structure, however this unfortunately came to a premature end when the Environment Agency took an active interest. Temporary measurement weirs are permitted, however in this instance the EA considered that expensive licences would be needed, and that special provisions would have to be put in place to enable eels and migrating fish to move upstream unhindered.  To our knowledge, eels and migrating fish haven’t been seen in this tributary of the Lynher in living memory, however the possibility that Samantha Salmon might take a wrong turn and find her path obstructed was enough to keep the good folk at the EA awake at night. Also, the required licences were unaffordable, and so the measurement weir had to go. Continue reading →

Community Walk March 27th


Sunday Morning Meander  5 miles or less, on parish lanes and fields

Dogs on leads welcome and children under control, plus Mums on Mothers Day. Some stiles need climbing.

Starting at South Hill church Sunday March 27th 10:45am

We aim to be back by 1pm, Bring your own drink.

All welcome, a chance to catch up with each other and have fun.

We’ll take the Bray Shop road to the entrance of Treven and turn left crossing fields to Baddaford, a short road walk towards St. Mellor’s church tower, at Linkinhorne, turning onto the footpath and aim at the wind turbine, striding over the stream and up to Mornick. Here we’ll take the road back towards the church and those that want a 2 ½ mile walk can continue back.

Otherwise we’ll be crossing fields and stiles to Trewassick then dropping down over the stream and up the other side, staying on the footpaths to Trewoodloe. Here we’ll head for Golberdon .. the last opportunity to cut the walk short.

We’ll take the “main” road for a short distance before taking fields to Manaton then the road to the final leg and final footpath from Tregate passing The Old School and returning to the church.

Emergency Information and Links


What can we learn from Storm Eunice? If there is a Weather Warning:

Inside

  • Fully charge your computers, phones etc. ahead of time. Remember you can use your car to charge these, make sure you have the correct adaptors.
  • Fill a flask.
  • If your water is pumped, ensure you have sufficient stored water.
  • Buy torches, candles, matches and batteries in advance and get them out.
  • If you expect a power cut (storm / high winds) or if there is lightning in the area, turn off your PC and other delicate electrical items because a power surge can damage them.
  • Switch off your appliances, so they do not start working in the event you’re out when the power comes back on.
  • If the power goes off, try to limit opening the freezer and fridge.  
  • If the power goes off, keep warm by wrapping up in extra layers of clothes, blankets, duvets etc.
  • Please stay safe, do not put yourself or others at risk by using unsafe forms of heat e.g. barbeques and patio gas stoves indoors.
  • Have emergency numbers to hand.  
  • Western Power have posted details to affected homes outlining the process for automatic compensation, without any requirement to make individual claims.
    • Storm Eunice was a category 2 storm so:
      • After the first 48 hours without power you are eligible for £70 compensation.
      • There will then be another £70 for every further 12 hours.
      • All eligible customers will receive a letter and a compensation payment based on the eligibility criteria set by Ofgem.
      • You should receive that within ten working days.

Western Power Distribution – Storm Eunice: Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards Compensation Scheme

Outside

  • Store and secure outside items so they do not become a danger to you or to others.
  • Take care of your pets, keep indoors if possible. If shutting chickens in etc., ensure they have ventilation, food and water.  
  • Be flood aware and find out how to prepare. If your home starts to flood call the Environment Agency on 0345 988 1188 (24 hour).
  • Collect your medications and essential supplies beforehand so you don’t need to travel.
  • Avoid travel, unless absolutely necessary.
  • If you do have to make a journey be prepared:
    • Take extreme care.
    • Take coat, sturdy boots and warm clothes in case you break down or have to leave your vehicle.
    • Expect road closures and disruption due to fallen trees and debris.
    • Expect road damage and hedges to be collapsed.
    • Expect falling tiles / branches / trees and flying debris.
    • Expect difficult driving conditions e.g. strong winds and driving rain.
  • Rail and bus services were disrupted, always check before leaving home.
  • Please stay safe and do not do anything to put yourself or others at risk.

Communication

  • If you receive The CONNECTION newsletter we can send updates by email, if you are not signed upsend your email to editor@south-hill.co.uk
  • Facebook, Next Door, Twitter etc.
  • Contact your neighbours:
    • To establish whether your issue is an isolated case.
    • To look out for and check on vulnerable neighbours.
  • Postal and rubbish collection services were disrupted. Please safely store your rubbish for next collection.
  • If you find yourself in a situation where you believe you are in danger, call 999.
  • Please contact NHS 111 first, unless you have a serious or life-threatening injury or illness.
  • Cornwall Council’s emergency line is: 01872 323752 Offers support and advice and passes specific needs on to other agencies or departments.
  • Cornwall’s 24/7 NHS Mental Health support line 0800 038 5300 FREE 24 hour, if you’re worried about your own or someone else’s mental health..
  • Report a fallen tree blocking a road or causing danger. Inform the owner, one of our parish councilors or call Cornwall Council on 0300 1234 222 (24 hour), or  www.cornwall.gov.uk/report-something/
  • If the tree has pulled down / damaged cables / poles these could be live. Do NOT touch them. Contact Western Power Distribution.

Call 105 or 0800 678 3105 105, www.westernpower.co.uk, info@westernpower.co.uk.

  • Home flooding – call the Environment Agency on 0345 988 1188 (24 hr). Report flooding to the Environment Agency Incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 (24hr).

Please email and let us know if we missed anything, your thoughts, your suggestions, any other comments or concerns to editor@south-hill.co.uk.

Thank You. Stay Safe.