News: Templeton News - Summer 2026: News: Templeton News - Summer 2026

News: Templeton News - Summer 2026

Date Added: 01/07/2026 @ 1:00am

Welcome to our summer issue of Templeton news!

Now that the days are getting longer, warmer and drier, there’s more opportunity for us to be outside, to spend time in the garden, to meet up with family and friends outside, to go for long walks, and enjoy picnics and barbecues… and to be prepared for unpredictable changes in the weather! We must make the most of it whatever, as the summer will fly by!

Church and churchyard:

Our church always needs attention. After having the walls painted by an expert team a few years ago, the paint is now peeling off the walls and a mould appearing on the walls. This has led our churchwardens, William and Reg, to test out some sealing paints and also seek further advice from the experts. 
The churchyard is also awaiting a big clear-up of brambles and overgrowth around its perimeter.  Reg and William will be calling for help from a team of us to get the churchyard in order.  The wild flowers in the churchyard are beautiful and blooming. We are grateful to Pete who has maintained the churchyard so well over the years. We would appreciate your views about how you feel about some parts of the churchyard being left unmown so that wild flowers and insect life can be encouraged? Contact Reg or William to let them know your thoughts. 

The Sunday Services at St Margaret’s Church are usually held twice a month, with a mix of lay-led services and group or cluster services, rotating between all the nine parishes. 
The Services in Templeton and the other parishes over July and August are shown on the centre pages of this magazine. 

Past events in Templeton:

Templeton PCC Annual Parochial Church Meeting:  On March 19th there was Cruwys Morchard, Withleigh, Templeton, and Washfield’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting at St Katherine’s Church, Withleigh, led by Steph. We are grateful to Reg and William, who have agreed to continue as our Churchwardens. The other Templeton PCC members are Lynda, Val, Laurel, Ginah, and Bindy.  
Templeton’s Bluebell Walk on Sunday 10th May was a perfect day! We all met at Templeton Village Hall to enjoy bacon rolls, tea and coffee and then walked down to Templeton Bridge and up through the woods to The Beeches for more refreshments and cake served from Bob, Claire’s mobile cafeteria! The final leg of the walk passed St Margaret’s Church returning up the lane to the Village Hall. Thank you Laurel, Jo, Val, Sue, Shaun, Julie, Claire, Nina, Sara, Jane and many helpers, for organising a lovely walk around our beautiful Templeton, with bluebells and wild flowers everywhere, and for providing delicious refreshments.

Village Hall and Social Club AGM: On May 27th Templeton Village Hall and Social Club held their Annual General Meeting: Several valuable suggestions were offered on this evening. The committee all agreed that the Village Hall has had many improvements and expenses with the repairs to the leaking roof, but it still awaits some important work and the need for fund-raising to be able to pay the increasing charges in gas and electricity. We are grateful to Templeton Parish Council for their financial support towards the repairs to the hall.

Future events this year – put these dates in your diary: 

Monday 15 June at 7.30pm: Defibrillator and Basic Life Support training at Templeton Village Hall! By the time this magazine goes to print, the Devon Ambulance Service will have kindly provided twelve residents in Templeton with training in basic life support and will have helped us to be more familiar with the four defibrillators that we are lucky to have positioned around the village (one at the Village Hall, in the church, at Mill Cottage, Templeton Bridge, and at Lower North Coombe Farm). Thanks so much to Templeton Parish Council and the British Heart Foundation for helping Templeton to be well equipped with defibrillators!

Saturday August 8th - Templeton Summer Fete from 1.30pm at Templeton Village Hall. Don’t miss this popular community event! This year’s Summer Fete will include cream teas, hot dogs, pay bar, bric-a-brac, nearly new clothes, books, produce, tombola and games ….and so much more. Please take a look through your cupboards now and seek out any items that you no longer need. We need lots of volunteers to help with the stalls and make the day great fun for everyone! If you are able to spare some time during the afternoon of the fete, or on the evening before to set everything up, or if you want to find out more, please email templetonvh@gmail.com. 50p tokens will be available to buy with your bank card if you don’t have enough cash with you.

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October - Harvest Festival weekend! This will begin with a celebratory Harvest Supper at Templeton Village Hall on Saturday evening and Harvest Festival at St Margaret’s Church on Sunday morning, with donations displayed in the church for CHAT.

Friday 23rd October: Halloween Party at Templeton Village Hall for everyone – that includes adults as well as children! Plan your scary costumes now!

Saturday 31st October (date to be finalised) Bonfire and firework display at Templeton Village Hall from 6.30pm.  This very popular event will take place at Templeton Village Hall.  People really do come from far and wide to see it. The bar will be open and there will be delicious hot dogs on sale. 

Sunday 8th November: Remembrance Sunday Service at St Margaret’s Church, Templeton honouring the efforts, achievements and sacrifices made in past wars.

Friday 20th November: Wine and Cheese evening and Art Sale on the Friday, and Art Sale all day on Saturday 21st November at Templeton Village Hall. There will be an amazing display and sale of paintings, drawings, cards, and other gifts created by Templeton’s talented Art Group.

Sunday 13th December: Christmas Children’s Party - at 3pm at Templeton Village Hall! - with a visit by Father Christmas! A wonderful annual family event organised by Tony Loosemore, with a disco, party food and fun. 

Regular groups:

Garden Club. 
Our garden club goes from strength to strength with numbers increasing monthly. The heatwave proved a challenge for keeping the seedlings etc from being scorched as with the rest of the gardens. We welcomed the rain with open arms 💦!  Some of us visited Holcombe Court recently which was a delight and we have other places to visit throughout the year. If anyone would like any information about the club please email Ginah at ginahpalmer@gmail.com .

Templeton Art Group.
The art group has been a huge success and thank you so much Lynda for leading this. The art group meets at Templeton Village Hall fortnightly on Tuesdays from 10am until 12 midday. Everyone is invited. No charge.  Just bring yourselves with whatever art work you are doing or want to have a go at, with Lynda there to help if needed. Coffee and cake provided.  If you want to know more, contact Lynda.

Book Group.
The Templeton Book Group meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 3pm at Templeton Village Hall with coffee, tea and cake. It’s a great time to share and talk about a wide variety of books.  If you’d like to join the book group or would like to know more about it just get in touch with Julie.

Knit and Natter.
Templeton Knit and Natter is on the last Friday of each month between 10.30 to 12 midday, in St Margaret’s Church, Templeton. Why not bring any of your repair work, knitting or embroidery with you, or just come along for coffee, biscuits and a chat. Contact Bindy if you need to know more: belinda.linden1949@gmail.com. 

Templeton Village Hall and Social Club.
If anyone wants to use the hall at any time, for table tennis, darts, skittles, a last-minute barbecue, or just a get-together, please just contact Bindy (01884 860655) who will open up the hall for you, providing there is not already a booking on that day. 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. Club Membership is only £2 a year.

Welcomes!

Welcome to Tracy and Simon, and their two beautiful Dobermans, Barron and Vegas, who moved into Uptop in the beginning of May. They have been very busy working on the house and garden since they moved in.

Also, welcome to Albert (Alby) who was born on May 6th and congratulations to mum and dad, Flo and Daniel and Alby’s big sister, Olivia, who live at Dart Cottage, Templeton Bridge. 

Thoughts and prayers.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with Martin, Phillip and Jane whose mother, Frances sadly died on 27th May after a short period in hospital. Frances has lived in Lower South Coombe in Templeton for many years and will be so missed by her family, grandchildren, friends and many of us in Templeton.

Our thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with all those who are unwell, who are receiving or awaiting treatment, who have been in hospital, recovering from surgery, or going through a tough time.