Exe Valley Mission Community

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Happy New Year 2023 from Templeton

Happy New Year

Happy MMXXIII everyone. Now that the festive season is over, this time of year can seem like a bit of an anti-climax. However, as can be seen from all the activities in November and December last year, there is a lot going on in Templeton. We are so lucky to have St Margaret’s Church and Templeton Social Club as both are a great way to meet the neighbours and the wider community. We are also looking for new ideas for new clubs and activities. If you would like to get involved, the church services are published in this magazine and all the clubs below welcome new members so why not come along? We look forward to seeing you.

St Margaret’s Church and churchyard

During 2022, there was an effective team effort by many people from the village to prepare the churchyard and the newly extended area ready for the Bishop of Crediton’s visit on December 1st to consecrate the land. Thanks to all the local help and support, a beech hedge and a copper beech tree were successfully planted, the churchyard was cleared and a perfect spot found for a solid wooden bench to allow visitors to sit in quiet contemplation and enjoy the peace.  More recently, Adrian Hunt and his team have expertly stripped and re-plastered the back wall of the church. We are also very grateful to Lynda and Chris who organised the purchase of a new rope for the third bell in the bell tower. More work will be carried out in the year ahead. St Margaret’s is a church for our community and it is comforting to know that it is there for us and that it is being looked after.

Remembrance Sunday

Remembrance Sunday was held on 13th November. The congregation paid their respects to all those who have died in conflicts around the world, and observed the two minutes silence at 11am. Reg Coffin took the service and recalled, in his youth, having met a First World War veteran, who took the time to talk to young Reg about his personal experiences, the horrors of the trenches, and his luck at surviving the war. It is so important that these memories are shared and retold and not forgotten by future generations.

Christmas Eve Service

We were very pleased to welcome Steph to St Margaret’s on Christmas Eve. Steph joined us to lead our Carol Service. This was a wonderful, and much missed opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate by singing our favourite carols and to create treasured memories again.

Sunday Services

The Sunday Services for January and February are published in the centre pages of this magazine. January 1st will be a lay-led service; January 15th a Cluster Communion Service with Steph and Dave Edwards; February 12th a morning service and February 26th a Group Service with Holy Communion with Steph, Claire and Dave Edwards. All services are held at 10.45 am.

A special thank you to our organists

We would like to thank Margery and Eleri for their time and expertise in supporting us so wonderfully by playing the organ for our church services over the past year. Live music is wonderful so Margery and Eleri are much appreciated.

Templeton Firework Display and Bonfire Night on 5th November

This was a wonderful evening to remember. The weather was kind to us on the night, the bonfire was impressive and the firework display was spectacular. The hot dogs were delicious, and the bar was packed. Everyone had a great time. So strange to think that the last time this event took place was 2019.  A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in making the event such a success; including those who provided the wood and the cardboard for the bonfire, helping to build the bonfire, preparing and serving food and other refreshments, stocking the bar and serving drinks, selling tickets, organising the gate and car parking, and those who organised, arranged and set off the fireworks, and cleared up afterwards! It takes a village to put together an activity like this and we are so lucky to have such a community spirit in Templeton.

The Children’s Christmas Party on December 18th

The highly anticipated and always wonderful Children’s Christmas Party was organised by Tony Loosemore for the children of the village and included a disco and party food for the children plus tea and coffee and the bar for the grownups. The children loved the magical visit from Father Christmas, who gave them all a present. Thank you, Tony for your many years of putting on this lovely family event.

Hornets: The Gentle Giants - talk in January

On December 15th Stephen Powles was due to give a wonderful talk entitled Hornets – the Gentle Giants, at St Margaret’s Church, which sadly has had to be postponed due to the freezing weather conditions, It will now be held on Thursday 19th January 2023 with mulled wine and mince pies!! This talk has been triggered by the many hornets visiting our church last year.

Stephen knows everything there is to know about these fascinating insects. A former vet, Stephen changed career to pursue a lifelong passion for wildlife, including wildlife photography, filming and conservation. Stephen’s work has featured in the national press and on TV on a number of occasions and he has won major awards for doing what he is so passionate about. His photography concentrates on interesting and challenging wildlife subjects, many of which live in or close to his home. This will be a fascinating and entertaining talk which Stephen will provide free of charge. There will be a collection at the end of the evening to support St Margaret’s Church repair fund, and Stephen's wildlife cards will be on sale.

Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

Last year, Templeton Village Hall and Templeton Parish Council purchased an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Matthew arranged for his colleague Lee Dyer to provide basic life support training for us, which Templeton Village Hall paid for. There were four training sessions, and, to date, 42 people in Templeton have received the training. There will be refresher sessions in the future. There is also a lot of interest in also running first aid courses in the future. Many thanks to Matthew for arranging the sessions and to Lee for his excellent and informative training.

World Cup Football

They think it’s all over – it is now. Templeton Village Hall opened in the evenings from late November until mid-December for football fans to come up and watch the World Cup matches on TV. Many thanks to Mark for organising this. There was great community spirit as everyone enjoyed the beautiful game although it was strange to be doing so in the dark. At the time of writing, England had just got through to the knock out stage so it is safe to say that whatever happened next was an emotional roller coaster.

Annual Christmas Bar Games

Every Saturday evening from 3rd December until the grand final on 17th December, the annual Christmas Bar Games were held. These games included table tennis, pool, darts and skittles - always great fun for everyone.  Many thanks to Mark for organising this.

Future Events for 2023

Safari Supper – Saturday March 11th

A safari supper is a great social event where different courses of a meal are eaten at different people's houses. In this way, the cooking is shared, and it’s a perfect way for people to meet up with neighbours. So put the date in your diary now!

Templeton Tractor Run

Roland and Reg will be arranging a Tractor Run for some time over April or May. This is a fund-raising event when tractors, old and new, are invited to take part, and the owners drive their tractors along a planned local route, often with lunch and refreshments served before or after the tractor run.  As soon as a date has been finalised, we will let you know more details, including the time and the route.

Templeton Trail - Sunday March 27th

The popular annual Templeton Trail will again be held by Exe Valley Rotary Club on Sunday March 27th 2023 – with runners setting off from Templeton Village Hall. Last year’s event was a great success with 50 runners for this exciting cross-country fun run, and feedback was positive about the experience. Individuals, families and fellow runners are all invited to take part and will hopefully help make this year’s event bigger and better than ever. Once again, the event will be mainly off-road, principally using the attractive private (and otherwise inaccessible) woodland roads and tracks of the Cruwys Morchard estate. If you visit the Rotary Club’s website nearer the time you will find more details about the run.

  • Soap Box Run – date to be confirmed
  • Templeton Village Fete - August 12th
  • Harvest Supper Saturday - October 30th

Regular clubs

Templeton Garden Club

This club has been running for over a year now with a growing number of people who love to grow plants, meet up monthly and talk about gardening over a cuppa and cake! More information will be circulated when the group restarts in the spring.

Templeton Book Group

This club meets on every 2nd Wednesday of each month at 3pm at Templeton Village Hall with coffee, tea and cake. The group has doubled in size since it started a few years ago. However, there are a couple of spare places if you are interested in joining. Each member of the group selects their reading choices from a wide range of books available from Tiverton library. A small annual payment is made for the monthly loan of the books from the library.  Please contact Julie on 01884 233507 if you would like to know more. The next dates for book group are Wednesday 11th January and Wednesday 8th February.

Templeton Knit and Natter

This popular club is held on the last Friday of each month at 10.30am to 12 midday, in St Margaret’s Church, Templeton. Bring any of your repair work, knitting, or embroidery with you or just come along for a cup of coffee, biscuits and a chat. The next dates for Knit and Natter are Friday 27th January and Friday 24th February.

Templeton Village Hall and Social Club

This is your village hall so please come up and use it over these winter months for a game of table tennis, darts, pool or skittles. Everything is there for you to enjoy, or for a family get-together! Just call Bindy on 01884 860655 if you would like to use the hall, and we can check that there is not already a booking. The Social Club is open every Monday and Saturday evening from 8pm to 11pm – with a wide range of drinks available at very reasonable prices.

Protect our dogs – and livestock

In November, there were reports of people in a car in the North Molton area trying to steal dogs, which is a sobering reminder for everyone to keep their animals safe.

There have also been reports of dogs running loose near farmland in the Templeton area. This is of concern to farmers who have to spend time checking their livestock for fear of their animals being attacked. Please can everyone be sure that their dogs are secure and kept under control when they are near any farmland. It is a criminal offence if someone’s dog “worries” livestock. And of course, although we live in the countryside, please be sure to ‘bag it and bin it’.

Thoughts, prayers, best wishes and farewell

Our thoughts, prayers and best wishes go to anyone in the parish, and beyond, who is unwell, in hospital, receiving or awaiting treatment, or going through a tough time.

We also said farewell to Kate and Andy who moved to Cornwall but have promised to eat their cream teas the correct way. We hope you will be very happy in your new home but we will miss you.

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