Welcome to the South Hill Connection Newsletter

A Newsletter produced by and for the Parish of South Hill

Welcome to the South Hill Connection Newsletter!

Newsletter number 74, December 2019

In the latest edition of the South Hill Connection:

Lots of events in December and January
Christmas at St Sampson’s Church
U3A
News from our advertisers
Our regulars:
- SHARE- free trees on offer
- Recycling
- Church Matters
- South Hill Parish Council and Parish Hall
and more…

Wishing all our readers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The South Hill Connection Newsletter would like to introduce a guest editor to assist the news team.
Assemble the articles and advertisers into a new design or follow the existing guide lines, your choice. You will be supported by others and proof-readers to produce the April/May edition or pick other months. Why not?
Give it a go. Email newsdesk@south-hill.co.uk

Newsletter full version – click here… Newsletter condensed version – click here…

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. 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.

Details of events in and around South Hill can be found on our Events Calendar

Business advertisers can be found on our Local Business page

Save

Colouring Fun

Have fun colouring this image then take to the Parish Hall Golberdon and leave in the box on the porch seat. We will post the best on the web site and the next newsletter. Put your name and contact details on the back so we can THANK YOU 

St Sampson’s Unlocked Project

The Sampson’s Unlocked Project CRUX (Cherished, Restored, Unlocked, Church) team would like to thank you all for helping to make this first year of its fundraising activities more successful than we ever imagined possible. Almost £8,000 has been raised so far and is being put to good use preparing St Sampson’s pathway for both lighting and a mains water connection. This should be started in the new year. Many thanks to Baker Estates who have donated five dumpy bags of sand and 100m of water pipe. We feel very encouraged.

Some of the highlights: To help the major funding applications, everyone in the community was invited to a ’Community Meeting’ at South Hill Parish Hall, Golberdon in November 2018, to discuss ways our communty could use the church.

An Information Open Day was held at St Sampson’s at the beginning of December where people could come in, chat and find out what the funding need was all about. CRUX then having distilled the results of these, formed an action plan for the year.

First of all on 25 March 2019, a ‘Toddle Waddle’ for JAMM (Just another manic Monday) families was held at South Hill Parish Hall on the theme of St Sampson’s adventures in Cornwall. This was followed in May by an adult equivalent called ‘Beating (walking) the Bounds’ which involved a 3 to 11 mile circuit around the parish. That evening, the Bulls Head hosted a Quiz night for St Sampson’s Unlocked. Then, after a perfect ‘Open Gardens’ event in part of what was the Old Rectory garden at South Hill, in mid June we decamped to the Old Rectory garden in Stoke Climsland for a Vintage Fête, the high point of the year’s activities and which so many people helped to make a great success. A new ‘Open Garden’ in Callington quickly followed this, and then in August a Painting event for young and old was held on the grounds of St Sampson’s. Half a pig was roasted at the South Hill Horticultural show and finally, bringing us up to the present, a fun games night was on order in October at South Hill Parish Hall, Golberdon. Lots of events are being planned for 2020, starting in January when it is our turn to organise the monthly quiz night. We will also be holding a meeting early in the New Year about the suggested community project to manage the churchyard for wild flowers and wildlife.

Conversations with our architect and specialist advisors are ongoing concerning the installation of toilet and kitchen facilities, window and ceiling repairs, heating and flooring. In addition lots of funding applications are being written. Keep in touch by following St Sampson’s Unlocked on Face book. If you have any suggestions or would like to get involved in any aspect of this project, please do get in touch with Judith or Miranda judithayers@yahoo.co.uk 01579 384617 mlawranceowen@icloud.com 01579 382863

SHARE November update

Free Trees Four hundred tree saplings are available to SHARE members and friends. Last year SHARE applied for and were successful in obtaining saplings through the I DIG TREES project. Members planted them on hedges, footpaths and at the Recreation Field, this year we have another 400 to plant and have secured more great locations, DO YOU want some, would you like to plant some? WE WOULD LOVE the children to be involved, so they can watch their trees mature . With the devasting Ash Die Back many of our parish trees will have to be felled before they fall down, our views and hedges will be altered significantly.

Here’s what we have: • Parkland trees – Common Alder, Green Beech, Silver Birch, English Oak and Hornbeam (20 of each) • Large garden trees – Downy Birch, Wild Cherry, Rowan, Sessile Oak and Field Maple (30 of each) • Small garden trees – Grey Willow, Rowan, Hazel, Crab Apple and Bird Cherry (30 of each) If you have room in your garden, on hedgerows, or better still a plot of land for a small wood, please email share@south-hill.co.uk or phone Sue or David on 382397.

Tavistock Energy Fest SHARE would like to congratulate Tamar Energy Community on their interesting and informative event in Tavistock on Saturday November 23rd. Alongside stands explaining energy use and carbon footprint in the Tamar Valley, and local renewable energy and tree care businesses, SHARE partnered with the Tamar Valley AONB to promote our Recycling for Charity initiative. The Tamar Valley Centre, at Drakewalls, is a collection point for our crisp and snack packets, biscuit and sweet wrappers, toothpaste tubes, pet pouches and more. For a full list of items and collection points visit www.south-hill.co.uk/charity-recycling and join our FB Group

Visit to Cotehele Mill, Friday December 6th, leaving Golberdon at 11.30am – to find out how they produce hydro-electricity. A few places are still available – please email SHARE@south-hill.co.uk or phone Ali on 07305 044049 to arrange car sharing.

Firewood and wood chippings for Sale phone Ali 07305 044049

Parish Carbon Footprint SHARE has requested an audit to be completed and will discuss the results at our meeting on Wednesday 8th January 7:15pm at the Parish hall, Golberdon.

Reduce your Carbon emissions from driving Inspired by the “10 Climate Pledges”, SHARE Chairman Geoff Hardman designed the following poster with a number of ways to reduce our carbon emissions when driving:

Parish Council Update

South Hill Parish Council November Report

A vacancy on the South Hill Parish Council has arisen due to the resignation of Cllr. Nick Easton. Cornwall council has advised that there has been insufficient demand for an election and the Council can now fill the vacancy by co option at it’s meeting to be held on 21st January 2020. Interested parties should apply in writing or by email. For further information about the role of a parish councillor and the co-option process please contact the Parish clerk.

Remembrance Service – The parish Remembrance Service held on Saturday 9th November 2019 was well supported and we thank everyone for attending. To reduce waste, the wreath will be removed and stored to be used again next year when the Council will still make its usual donation to the Royal British Legion.

Phone Box – Jody the mannequin that disappeared from the phone box has now been replaced with a new model who looks quite at home in her new residence. It was due to the kindness of a local parishioner that a new mannequin was found and brought back to the village. Replacing Jody was by far the most popular idea put forward for the phone box. A suggested book exchange, while a commendable idea, wouldn’t work here because the slugs and snails can easily get in.

Recreation Field /Play Area – The Council are looking at options to create a natural habitat wildflower area at the top of the recreation field, so if you have any ideas please let us know. The fencing around the children’s play area is in need of repair and the Council are looking at options and costs to get this replaced early in 2020. Minor repairs are carried out as soon as they are identified. The grass cutting contracts will be coming up for tender in the New Year and a decision will be made on costs and “best value”.

Climate Change – At the start of our November 2019 meeting, the Chairman Cllr David Skelton gave a short presentation on climate change and how we can all do our bit to help stop a world-wide climate emergency. Several members of the public attended and shared ideas on what measures could work in South Hill. Those present were challenged to make the top 10 pledges, see here and also to find out their own carbon footprint using one of the easy to use carbon calculators such as https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/ or https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Temporary road closures – Over the next couple of months some temporary road closures are happening in the parish to enable utility companies to carry out some much needed maintenance work. We are currently aware of the following, but there may be others that transpire over the coming weeks:- o Junction North of Newlandcombe to Frogwell Road, Trevigro on 9th – 22nd December 2019 (24 hours) for Western Power works. o South Hill to junction south of Egypt on 23rd and 24th January 2020 (24 hours) for South West Water.

Potholes and Blocked Drains – If you come across a pothole, blocked drain or any other highway issues, the best way to report this is directly to Cornwall Council. The easiest way is to use a smart phone or computer. You will soon see if it has already been reported and you will get updated when the problem has been inspected and the work done. You can also phone 0300 1234 222.

Footpaths – The Council can now accept the help of volunteers to trim the public rights of way and complete minor maintenance work. To those who have already expressed an interest in helping with this work, thank you, and we will be starting early next year. For anyone who is interested please get in touch with Cllr Andrew Budd. You do not have to commit and volunteers will be supervised, and work in groups.

Parish Precept – The parish precept for 2020/2021 (from 1st April 2020) has been kept at £9,500. This enables us to run the parish, pay for the clerk and any general expenses associated with the Council. Parishioners may find that when your council tax statement is received in March 2020, it may indicate an increase in the parish element although this is not the case as far as the precept is concerned. The figures calculated are reflected on the calculation of not only the number of homes in the parish and their individual banding, but the amount of homes that are discounted for single occupancy, holiday homes and empty properties. Information and contacts –

Information on the Parish Council, including our meeting agendas and minutes, can be found on our website www.south-hill-pc.gov.uk

Sharon Daw is our Cornwall Council Ward Member and her email address is sharon.daw@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk

This just leaves me, on behalf the Parish Council, to send all our parishioners Seasons Greetings for a very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2020.

Jenny Hoskin (Parish Clerk) telephone 01208 72789 or email southhillpcclerk@gmail.com

You will see that the parish council is advertising a vacancy because of the resignation of Councillor Nick Easton at the end of September. I’d like to thank Nick for his time as a Councillor. Nick spent many hours maintaining the play area and encouraging others to help too. I could depend on him to remind the Council if we weren’t following our own policies correctly and to suggest ways that we could make the business of the Council more transparent. Nick would always talk to his neighbours and others from the parish to get their opinion on matters the council were discussing. An important part of how we best serve you. David Skelton Chairman – South Hill Parish Council.

Duchy college visit to Battling On

Duchy College Military & Protective Services Academy Rural Remembrance With Battling On

Last month Level 3 and Level 3 Extended students supported a community engagement Rural Remembrance event at Merryhue farm with Battling On. Battling On The courage and devotion of our forces is recognised without doubt, however, it has also been recognised that some service personnel find it difficult to settle back into civilian life after leaving the forces. Battling On was established to support members of the British Armed Forces who have retired from the services and are struggling to re-adjust to civilian life.

Battling On is situated between Callington and Liskeard, on a tranquil hundred and twenty-four-acre Care Farm called Merryhue, and is staffed by predominately ex-forces who have experienced the difficulties associated with returning to civilian life. Merryhue Farm is home to a wide variety of livestock and animals including alpacas, pigs, goats, horses, geese, ducks, chickens, dogs and cats many of whom have been rescued or rehomed.

As a training centre Battling On has the use of dedicated workshops and teaching spaces situated across the farm which is a mixture of grassland, meadows, semi ancient bluebell woodland and has the river Lynher running through it providing a tranquil environment to learn, relax and heal. Battling On uses the best practices of green space eco therapies to help tackle issues from low self-esteem and confidence to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At the heart of Battling On is the concept of community participation and civic responsibility. Much of the vocational training is delivered through helping with community projects. These range from the management of wildlife areas in local primary schools to the maintenance restoration and repair of designated conservation areas.” From WW1 field kitchen, WW2 battle trench, rural experiences of the blitz on local areas to fieldcraft – all attendees learned about the local population’s efforts and heroes.

Recycling for charity

SHARE is saving valuable resources being wasted. These plastic items are sent to TERRACYCLE to be made into new products like park benches & waterbutts and credit KICKS COUNT charity, who aim to reduce the UK’s still-birth rate.

We have set up a number of collection points to drop your items

– at the entrance to Green Meadows PL17 7LT – the porch at the Parish Hall in Golberdon – the porch of St Sampson’s Church, South Hill – by the bench at Trevigro – at Beeching Park Stores, Kelly Bray – and many more https://south-hill.co.uk/charity-recycling/

Competition Time: We’re rewarding our best recyclers and best locations, so please write your name on your bags or pop a note inside so we can Thank you.

We’ve also visited the local schools to encourage more recycling. If you are connected to a school please get involved and support them, there’s a competition for them also.

The items we can accept UPDATED: o empty lipsticks, balm, gloss, mascara, eye shadow compacts, facial wipes packs o tubes from creams, gels, lotions, ointments, plastics in hair dye kits o all biscuits and crackers wrappers, inc multipacks and individual cakes, mini rolls o all crisp and snacks packets inc popcorn, pretzels, peanuts and pringles o all sweets and confectionery wrappers (no trays, paper or foil) o baby food pouches and lids and snacks like Ellas, Kiddicious, Goodies o triggers and pumps off bottles, disposable latex style gloves o plastic air fresheners and plastic packaging, inc plug-ins o dishwasher salt & tablet packs, stain remover & cleaning wipes packets o used toothbrushes, electric heads, tooth paste tubes & dental floss packs o pet food pouches, must be clean, dry and bagged + plastic biscuit & treats bags ALL PETS.

o WE CANNOT TAKE anything not on this list, the manufacturers that sponsor the programs are very specific about what can be accepted. o WE CAN NOT ACCEPT pill blister packs, fruit & veg bags, Quorn packets, any yoghurt packaging, cheese packets, bread products, coffee & tea packets, coffee pods, cling film, shrinkwrap, plastic from flowers & cards, any cereal packets, any frozen bags, trays, foil, paper, cardboard, kitchen/toilet roll bags, muesli, granola, pasta bags, rice packs, cornflower/complan packs, Capri Sun pouches. o

Please bag like items together to help with sorting and join us at Green Meadows on Fridays at 10am to sort and box up. It’ll be an eye opener !! SHARE@south-hill.co.uk, FB group web page on line here Text Ali 07305 044049

I’m also collecting for Hill Pony Resources :- o used stamps, old mobile phones, gadgets, cameras, sat navs, unwanted jewellery, any banknotes even if obsolete.

Church Matters December 2019

So, we’re back into the Christmas season again, and one that might prove just a little different from recent years. As I write this article I have yet to see the 2019 John Lewis TV advert, or indeed any promise that it will arrive this year (a quick scan of their website is remarkably lacking in any information), so that may be different. But perhaps TV may not be so dominated by the retail sector this year.

It will of course have an air-time rival – the General Election called for 12 December. And I don’t think that it will be just air-time that is challenged, but perhaps the thinking capacity of many people across the nation. We have become so conditioned to think about Christmas from Halloween and Fireworks Night onwards, I suspect that having a General Election placed in its path may delay any thoughts of Christmas preparations. Perhaps John Lewis are playing a canny hand. If you’ve followed the political debate, perhaps wearily, over the past months and years then there’s no doubt that an Election offers some hope of a new form of government that might move beyond the division, wrangling and unpleasantness that we now experience at Westminster. I’m sure that those who are closely involved in political parties are convinced that success in the Election will bring a decisive break-through, but I’m not so sure.

I recognise that in all my voting life there has always been an element of favourable presentation of statistics and political spin, but it now seems to be a valued art-form, with clarity and truth hard to come by. To me, from an earthly and human perspective there are no obvious answers to the challenges this country faces, irrespective of which party wins. If you’ve ever been to a carol service you may have heard the following: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” This comes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who himself was writing in troubled times. He was speaking about the birth of Jesus, and how his birth will bring something new into the world. I find it intriguing that amongst the many things that Isaiah could have said about the birth of a child, he was prompted by God to speak of government and peace. Many Christians will understand exactly what Isaiah was saying. When someone accepts the gift into their lives that Jesus is, then often what happens is a gradual change from chaos to peace – a sense of earthly affairs coming under the beneficial governance of God. I think it’s a gift that’s available to individuals, organisations, counties and nations – and to neglect the gift courts problems. To paraphrase one of the Psalms – unless the Lord builds it, the builders build in vain. My closing prayer for us all at the end of 2019 is that the light of Jesus Christ may truly dawn in our lives, homes and this nation. May you have a blessed and peaceful Christmas.

Tony Stephens 01579-371496 revtonystephens@icloud.com

Recycling for Charity 6 months in

We have just redeemed our 1st 6 months of recycling and have earned 76,811 points (£768.11) for Kicks Count charity.

Points Earned via the 13 programs we were signed up for:- Crisp Packets 16,590 Toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes 4,900 Sweets 3,808 Bread Bags 4,443 Biscuits, crackers, cakes (inc mini chedders) 27,940 Personal Care and Beauty 1,780 Home Care (triggers, wipes) 1,490 Disposable Gloves 2,257 Pringles® Cans 2,776 EllaCycle baby pouches n snacks 3,584 KP Snacks Nuts, Popcorn, Pretzels 6,781 ACUVUE® Contact Lens 462 There is no PET FOOD recorded, as I use another KICKS COUNT collector, but we have gained over 14000 pts (140 quid.)

MOVING FORWARD: CONTACT LENSES can only be recycled through opticians now. BREAD BAGS should be recycled at TESCO and other major supermarkets with carrier bags and all other stretchy plastics .THANK YOU ALL, and please stick to the accepted items, if you’re not sure, we probably dont take it.

COME TO A SORTING SESSION, see what we do every Friday morning 10am till 12 noon at GREEN MEADOWS Golberdon email SHARE@south-hill.co.uk or text Ali 07305 044049

If you want to set up your own collection point or help with an existing site please let us know !!

SHARE will be promoting our project at LAUNCESTON TOWN HALL Nov 12th 10am – 4:30 and TAVISTOCK TESCO Nov 14th from 10am. PLEASE pop along and say HI.

Recycling For Charity – help for the confused

See also our web page here…

in partnership with

The waste that SHARE collects for recycling is sent to a company called Terracycle, where it is sorted by type and then goes on to be made into other products such as picnic benches, furniture, garden planters, playground equipment, watering cans…

By agreement with certain manufacturers of plastic packaging, Terracycle collects very specific items. For example, the Hovis scheme takes all brands of bread loaf bags (not just Hovis ones), and Colgate offers a scheme collecting all brands of toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. There are also schemes for biscuit and cake wrappers, confectionery, crisps and snacks, pet food pouches, home care products and personal care products. Most of these items can’t be accepted in kerbside recycling collections.

The similarity of many plastic products can lead to some confusion. For example, is a bag with apples in the same thing as a bread bag? The answer is NO, because the Hovis scheme only takes loaf bags. It doesn’t accept bags from rolls, wraps, crumpets etc either!

Here is a note found at Stoke Climsland Old School collection point this morning:

This person had also left several bags of perfectly well-sorted recycling, which we are grateful for.

BUT… there were very few things in this bag that we CAN recycle – pictured here (also 4 or 5 crisp packets)

Sweets, personal care plastic packaging, crisp packets (not pictured)

There were several food trays that could have gone in the kerbside collection. And pictured below, quite a lot that we CAN’T recycle. These bags should go in your kerbside waste, and will be taken to the energy recovery centre at St Dennis. And I think old lightbulbs are often collected at larger supermarkets, along with batteries, or you can take them to your local recycling centre (Saltash or Launceston). The bread bag on the left of the photo is OK, but all the stuff in it was waste.

WE HOPE THIS ARTICLE HELPS TO REDUCE CONFUSION.

**NOT ACCEPTED BY TERRACYCLE**: cereals, frozen food bags, herbs, nuts, fruit bags, cheese packets, rice bag, plastic cup and light bulbs

We have collection points at: the Parish Hall in Golberdon, Callington Tesco, Nanny Oakleys Cafe, the Tamar Valley Centre at Drakewalls, Launceston Co-op and Pets At Home, Tre Pol & Pen, South Petherwin church, Coads Green phone box, Upton Cross community centre, Millennium House Pensilva, and more.

Thank you to everybody who brings their non-kerbside recycling to our collection points.

We sort and package everything once or twice a week to be sent off to Terracycle via UPS. This is a real eye-opening experience, and should be seen by everybody at least once.

If you would like to help (even just once, no pressure to commit regularly), please email SHARE@south-hill.co.uk or leave a message on our Facebook page

Church Matters – October 2019

The three words that can save your life – so ran the BBC news headline that recently caught my eye. Reading through the corresponding article I learned of a group of friends who had got lost in a forest on a dark wet night. They had no idea where they were and so, finding a spot with mobile signal, they dialled 999. On answer one of the first things they were asked to do was to download a smartphone app called “what3words”. Having downloaded the app they were able to give three words that precisely gave their location such that they were swiftly found by a search and rescue team.

Having read the article I promptly downloaded the what3words app onto my iPhone to see what it did. The developers of the app have divided the world into 57 trillion squares, each measuring 3 metres by 3 metres, with each square having a unique, randomly assigned three-word address. When you open the app on your phone you’re presented with a grid of squares with your location identified by a blue dot in one of the squares. You can also view the grid superimposed on a satellite picture so you can see exactly where you are in relation to your surroundings. For instance, as I sit here at my desk in the Rectory typing this article, my three-word location is jumps.rationed.nearly. From the satellite picture I can see that the whole Rectory has around 30 squares, and so if I moved to the kitchen I could find myself at refilled.factor.fights. If I were to head over to the Church and stand in the porch I’d be at crop.ballots.drifters.

It’s fascinating to explore the app, and not just to see the sometimes playful combination of words that have been randomly generated (there’s a location within the Stoke Climsland Old School that is executive.dime.agreed). You can see just how powerful it is and why the emergency services can be keen to see it installed on people’s phones. It is far more accurate in pinpointing a location compared with postal codes, and hence in an emergency situation it could literally be a life-saver.

This idea that three words can save your life got me thinking – within the Christian faith we also have three words the can save your life, and those same three words work wherever you are in the world. The words are “Lord Jesus Christ”. Lord – the acknowledgement that there is a God over and above us. Jesus – the earthly embodiment of God who shows us what God is like. Christ – the anointed one, the Messiah, who died for all sins, was resurrected and now waits for us to join him in heaven. For those who have come to understand the full significance of those three words it is not only a life-saver here in our earthly days as we see our lives transformed, but it is a life-saver for the whole of eternity.

Anytime, anywhere, the same three words apply. Lord Jesus Christ.

Tony Stephens