One of the lovely things about summer is that we get to walk some of the routes which are more off the beaten track and generally not navigable during the winter months. Recently we met at The Half Moon Inn, Sheepwash. Having followed the road through the village for a short way we turned off onto tracks, woodland and fields and came across a field which had been used by Standard Airlines as a runway from 1984 to 2021. The runway was entirely grass and, as the field is certainly not flat, unusually the landings were uphill and take off downhill. Some flight guides warned that the strip was also prone to wind and turbulence! We found it very tranquil with wide-ranging views too.

One of our other recent walks was in Cookworthy Forest, which was all on hard surfaced tracks. These woods, along with various others around the area are currently being harvested by Forestry England, for the timber. This was after all, why the forests were planted in the first place, in order to replace timber felled in WW2. The areas cleared of trees tend to look rather bleak but new trees are being planted, with borders of native trees and within a short few years the areas will look completely different.

Congratulations to Sue who is now a qualified Walk Leader.

We have a varied programme of walks planned for this month including my favourite, Buckland Filleigh, and Meldon Valley and Dam. The Dam looks spectacular following heavy rain but hopefully we will not be getting that in July.

All walks start at 10.30am and are free. Membership forms are available from our Volunteer Walk Leaders prior to the start of the walk.

Our website holsworthywalkandtalk.co.uk has lots of up to date information, together with our current programme of walks.

Contact [email protected] or call Gillian Aston 07584 677784.

The Holsworthy Hamlets Flower Club June meeting demonstrator was Janet Ward with her title "June Wedding"

The theme, flower choice and designs were admired by all.

A brides hand tie used South African foliage, eucalyptus, proteas and cerise pink spray carnations.

The second display used beautiful acer, camelia and alchemilla mollis, red roses, and red ribbon to enhance the heart shape design.

The table settings used mixed foliage with peach spray carnation, alstroemeria, and gerbera.

The container for the final arrangement was a garden urn.

The green foliage showed off the double white lilies, stocks, and spray chrysanthemum to perfection. Sylvia Harris Club Chairman both welcomed and thanked Janet.

The demonstrator for our next meeting on September 9, 7.30pm in the Methodist Hall will be Sue Neale whose title is "Nature's Beauty".

Ruth Bealing welcomed everyone to Chilsworthy Methodist Chapel on Trinity Sunday and handed over to Peter Green of Marhamchurch who led the service.

Peter's ‘anticipated’ theme was ‘The Every Day Spirit – catching the breeze’ and he wanted us to be open to whatever the Lord's direction was for our time together and we were open to His leading. We came expectant for what the Lord has in store for us!

Peter gave an introduction and coming into God's presence.

The singing was led by Dionne Bere on the keyboard and with Avril Glessing as vocalist.

There was a time of Prayer and an open sharing of thoughts about the Holy Spirit. Peter's talk was entitled‘Every Day Spirit’.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the service.

Refreshments were served after the service.

Members of Trevone WI spent a wonderful afternoon learning about drawers, corsets, petticoats and chatelaines (not to mention Lobster Tail Bustles and how Lucy Locket may have lost her pocket) as Emma Hughes, aka The Lady Time Traveller, demonstrated how to dress a Victorian lady.

The next meeting on July 17 will feature Simon Dell talking about the Fair Arm of the Law, a history of women in the police force.

If you are interested in learning more about Trevone WI, why not come along as a visitor? Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month. Email [email protected] for more information.

When you are walking through the green spaces in the Bude and Stratton area, do you notice the life around you? Following Hilary Phillip’s talk to the Bude and Stratton District U3A June meeting, ‘Nature Beyond the Garden Gate’, several members said they were inspired to pay more attention in future – and to take their cameras with them.

Hilary, a keen photographer and self-taught naturalist, led a 2023 volunteer team in a nature survey of the Summerleaze Downs, when just under 100 species of plants and animals were identified. She has been photographing nature subjects for many years and takes little credit for her excellent photos – they are the result of happenstance, being in the right place at the right time. The selection for her presentation were all taken at local sites within approximately ten miles of Bude. As she showed her photographs she stressed the importance of biodiversity in the food chain, with insects being dependent on certain food plants for adults and larvae and themselves providing food for larger animals and birds.

Moving back to Bude, the cliff tops at Summerleaze and Efford and along the canal. Since the 2023 survey the species recorded at Summerleaze Downs has risen to 139 including five species of plantain. Not only are these food plants for insects, they also have medicinal properties, and cows will eat them. Spring squills can be found flowering near the new watchtower site, and other plants in this area provide food for painted ladies, meadow browns, blues, small coppers, orangetips, red admirals, peacocks, small tortoiseshells, and others. Nettles are a main food plant for several caterpillars, knapweed and thistles are also important, and bramble fruit provides food for butterflies and other species.

Hilary has captured the moment when a female emperor dragonfly was laying eggs in the canal, lizards basking on canalside benches, as well as grasshoppers, crickets, shield bugs, and a weasel carrying away its prey – a watervole. The grand finale was a short video of two stoats playing on the rocks in a stream.

Hilary had brought a pair of specialist close focus binoculars with her, inviting members to use them to look at their feet. Creaky joints are no excuse for not having a good look at what is happening at ground level, you can see perfectly well without bending!

The talk ended to enthusiastic applause, thanking Hilary for sharing her knowledge and lovely photographs.

Other Bude U3A news: At the next Open meeting on July 17 David Carter will give a talk on Appledore Smuggling and Shipwrecks - everyone is welcome. There is no Open Meeting in August. Full details of groups and other activities are available at www.budeu3a.co.uk.

Variety is the spice of life! I should add herbs to that as this was the message given to us at our last meeting. Our speaker was Jane Hanscomb who has been fascinated by herbs and spices most of her life using them for cooking and medicinal purposes. We learnt that spices mainly come from the bark and roots of a plant whereas herbs come from the leaves and stems. Also, herbs have a tendency to come from the temperate lands whereas spices come from the tropics.

We know that herbs were used in the Iron Age and were also mentioned in the Bible. The Egyptians used them in mummification and the Romans used seeds, sourced from their trading routes, and introduced us to herbs such as ground elder and nettles. The Vikings used cardamon but not much is known from the Dark Ages. The Crusaders certainly brought back peppercorns. They were extremely valuable, hence the phrase “peppercorn rent” as they could be used instead of money for rent. Cooks will know that ground pepper is added for heat whereas peppercorns add piquancy.

After Christianity reached these shores the monasteries had an incredible influence on daily life including using herbs for healing. After the dissolution in the 16th century a lot of this knowledge was handed down by Old Wives but they risked being accused of witchcraft. Unfortunately so much knowledge was lost until modern day scientists realised that many of our herbs could provide the basis for the medicines we use today. When Christopher Columbus first discovered the New World he brought back All Spice from the West Indies. The whole pepper family was then brought back including chilies, black mustard and paprika. As new lands were gradually discovered, the various European countries even went to war trying to control the spice trade from these countries because of the riches to be made.

Having been given a brief history, members were then given the chance to smell and handle a number of herbs and spices that Jane had brought with her including some from her own garden. A useful tip was that powdered spice doesn’t keep as long as seeds.