Simonsbath Festival 2012 coming this spring

Simonsbath is to hold a festival this Spring from 7 May to 23 June. The focal points of the festival will be the newly-renovated church of St Luke’s and the historic Sawmill, which has also been recently renovated. The festival will be launched with traditional May Day celebrations at the Sawmill with its riverside field. Live music, dancing – including maypole dancing by the children of Exford School – food and drink will herald the arrival of spring on Exmoor.

A variety of social, cultural and recreational events will follow during the festival period, including classical, jazz and world music concerts and talks by well-known local people at St Luke’s Church, with extra activities and events laid on at the Sawmill and Exmoor Forest Inn.

Among the star attractions, the Russian Orthodox Choir from the Hermitage in St Petersburg will be performing on Saturday 12 May at St Luke’s, followed by a concert by harpist Keziah Thomas on Saturday 19 May, while Ricky Romain and Jon Sterckx will perform Indian classical music, playing the sitar and tabla, on Saturday 16 June. Music students from Trinity College will also give a concert, and the Alan All Stars Dixieland Jazz Band are set to make a welcome return to St Luke’s during the course of the festival.

The festival will close with Midsummer’s Day celebrations on 23 June with all the traditional trimmings, a live band, dancing, Morris Men, food and drink at the Sawmill and the riverside field.

To join the Simonsbath Festival mailing list and be kept up-to-date with events, or if you would like to be involved, please contact Victoria Thomas on 01643 831343 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Snowdrop Valley arrangements 2012

Snowdrop Valley, near Wheddon Cross on Exmoor, will be open to visitors from Saturday 4 February until Sunday 4 March 2012. For years this remote valley with its magnificent blanket of snowdrops was a secret known only to locals. However, as visitor numbers increased, so did congestion on the single track sunken lane leading to the valley, obstructing access to houses and farms, and damaging the roadside verges. To combat this, Exmoor National Park Authority began a park and ride scheme, which was taken over by Cutcombe Parish Council in 2008.

The service transports passengers down into the valley, runs from the village car park at Wheddon Cross, next to the Rest and Be Thankful Inn. For the more energetic, there is a marked walking route down into the valley. “We hope that we offer something for everyone” explains scheme co-ordinator Nic Wigley. “Everyone gets to walk among the snowdrops, but there is the option of either the bus or the footpath to get down to the valley and back."

Buses will run from the village car park regularly from 10:30am to 3:50pm with the last bus back from the valley at 4:35pm for the first three weeks of the scheme until 26 February. The final week allows walking access only to the snowdrops. The return bus journey costs just £4 for adults, £3 for Senior Citizens, and £2 for children aged 5 – 15, with children under 5 travelling free.

The village car park will be used as a short stay car park, with long stay and coach parking at the livestock market 150 yards further down the road towards Dunkery Beacon. The walking route into the valley will be specially waymarked from the long stay car park, and all visitors should wear appropriate clothing and footwear for winter walking – this is Exmoor after all! The weather can be brilliant sunshine, thick fog, horizontal rain or deep snow all in one day. Walking boots or at the very least a good pair of wellies are essential. “The walking route uses local footpaths and a bridleway, and with the warm and wet weather we have had this year, there are some muddy areas, but I think that all adds to the character of the area. Exmoor is a fabulous place to live, and Snowdrop Valley is just the first of many superb events we have every year,” comments Miss Wigley. “The camaraderie involved in a local scheme of this kind is truly wonderful. Snowdrop Café, in the Moorland Hall at Wheddon Cross, is run entirely by volunteers, while Cutcombe First School pupils spent last autumn growing potted snowdrops for us to sell this year, raising money for their school gardening club.”

Full information, as well as regular updates throughout the scheme can be found on the website

Snowdrop Valley is run by Cutcombe Parish Council with support from Exmoor National Park Authority, Defra's Sustainable Development Fund (administered by Exmoor National Park Authority), Badgworthy Land Company and Exmoor Farmers Livestock Auctions.

Get a spring in your step and organise a walk for Canine Partners

National charity Canine Partners, which provides specially trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities, is calling people to organise a bluebell walk in their area. The Charity has set a goal of a walk in each county for the 2012 Bluebell Walk Campaign, to help raise additional funds to train more dogs to help people with disabilities.

Now in its ninth year, the Bluebell Walk Campaign has to date raised more than £100,000 for Canine Partners and plays a significant part in the Charity’s fundraising calendar. Interested parties are encouraged to organise a walk in April or May, whilst spring flowers are in bloom. Walks can cover any distance and organisers will be provided with a free information pack on how to make the walk a success, as well as merchandise, entry forms, how to utilise www.visitwoods.org to locate nearby woods and more.

Isabel Campbell, director of fundraising and marketing at Canine Partners, comments, “Last year there were 24 walks in 10 counties, so our aim in 2012 is to expand that as far as possible – ideally having at least one walk in every county. A bluebell walk is a great day out for all the family and many organisers tie them in with a BBQ, pub lunch, garden party, afternoon tea and other such great ideas. If you feel inspired to join our team of walk organisers, please do get in touch.”

Nicola Daniels has multiple sclerosis and graduated with canine partner Nutmeg in 2011. “Thanks to Nutmeg I now stand 10ft tall, where before I would feel as small as an ant. When I drop my phone or any item, Nutmeg will stop to pick it up for me. If something has fallen, she will bring it to me to tidy up. When I need the home phone, she gets it for me. When the postman comes she will bring me any letters or small parcels. When I need to talk she listens – I am never alone.”

If you would like to get involved and organise a bluebell walk for Canine Partners, please contact Libby Rome on 01730 716013 or visit the website www.caninepartners.org.uk

New artwork for Watchet

A crowd of around 150 turned out on Tuesday 27 December for the unveiling of David Milton’s Seascape in Esplanade Lane, Watchet. Alec Danby the Town Crier called on Chairman of Watchet Conservation Society, Molly Quint, to welcome everyone and open the unveiling ceremony for what she described as a great gift to Watchet.

Professor Eric Robinson, Watchet’s enigmatic geologist, and Alan Woollam of the Harbour Community Bookshop drew back the curtain to reveal “Seascape” to gasps of admiration. Prof ER said that the standing stones are an important geological contribution to Watchet and that something vital has been added to what visitors take away with them. He congratulated David Milton on sourcing the muddy sandstone and other local stones to make this so magical and spectacular. Alan Woollam said “Seascape” not only symbolises Watchet’s connection with the sea but is proof that residents of Watchet pull together for the benefit of the town.

Paul Upton who had project-managed the venture spoke of how the Romans celebrated their artists and honoured them with a crown of laurel. As David Milton sat on a chair bedecked as a throne he was crowned as Watchet’s Sculptor Laureate. After a speech by Paul Upton in Latin and used in Ancient Rome the audience was required to end the crowning ceremony by saying together “Vivat Laureate” – and they were most happy to honour the Sculptor Laureate as such. David Milton then responded by saying that Watchet always pulls the stops out. He finished with his own tribute to Nick Cotton who started him on his artistic journey many years ago when they met on Watchet beach.

Jan Simpson-Scott, Secretary of WCS, said it was a day to be proud to be a Watchet resident and a part of a Conservation Society which could help to achieve such a wonder.”