On  Saturday August 7th we had the third annual Cider Festival held at the Gerrard Arms in Colyton. Several members of the Umborne Valley manned the door & enjoyed an afternoon of competition as 29 different ciders were judged to produce a trophy winner, the judge was noted to be grinning & staggering at the end ! All 23 Cider makers were from an area bounded by Chideock in the east, Stockland to the north & Sidbury to the west. The resulting range of ciders gave an indication of the effects …

This event takes place in early September either on the Umborne Brook near Easy Bridge or as in the last two years at the home of Ann Shepherd (Pottlelake Cottage) about 200 metres from the hall in Umborne. There is a BBQ, Bar, raffle and of course the little yellow ducks which enter the many duck races. We also have a home made mini raft race which can feature ingenious creations or just a plastic bottle if you are very lazy.
The weather can be very unpleasant at times! – but …

So you can plan well ahead, here are the dates for the carnivals in East Devon, West Dorset and South Somerset for this autumn season:
Saturdays                                  Carnival
28th August                               Bridport 
4th  September                         Seaton
11th  September                       Colyton
18th September                        Axminster
25th  September                       Wellington & Frome
2nd October                               Shaftesbury & Ilminster
9th October                                Exmouth, Chard & Gillingham
16th October                              Taunton & Castle Cary
23rd October                              Honiton
30th October                              Ottery St Mary
5th November                            Bridgewater
6th November                            North Petherton
13th November                          Glastonbury
20th November                          Torquay

 
Shute Church
 
Christmas Craft Fayre
 
Saturday 13th November
 
10am to 3pm
 
Cards, Christmas Gifts, Crocheted
Blankets, Cushions, Earrings,
Embroidery, Handbags, Handmade
Soap, Honey, Beaded and Semi
Precious Jewellery, Jams, Knitting,
Pickles, Patchwork, Pottery, Scarves,
Soft Toys, Stained Glass, Woodwork
and a cake stall.
 
Entrance £1.
Tea, coffee, homemade cakes and light
lunches will be served throughout the
day.
 
Tables to sell crafts £10, contact Jenny Ford on
01297 32404.
 
All proceeds towards the Church Disabled Toilet
Facilities.
 
 
 
 

The latest Hall news update from Rob:
 
Last Saturday (August 7th) saw the third annual Cider Festival held at the Gerrard Arms in Colyton. Several members of the Umborne Valley manned the door & enjoyed an afternoon of competition as 29 different ciders were judged to produce a trophy winner, the judge was noted to be grinning & staggering at the end ! All 23 Cider makers were from an area bounded by Chideock in the east, Stockland to the north & Sidbury to the west. The resulting range of …

   Weather report for July 2010          The impressions that we are having a ‘good’ summer are borne out by the statistics. Rainfall on only ten days, largely centered around the middle of the month, and a modest total of about 54mm. Probably a little under average, but not as dry as 2006. Earlier in the century, July was seen as getting warmer and drier nationwide, and this seems to be more the case this year.  What a contrast to the soaking of the previous three Julys. 2007–105mm; 2008–135mm; and 2009–a …

The “Steam-up” is an annual event held early summer in the grounds of Liz and Tony Gosling’s house, Penventon, in Shute. This is a whole family occasion and the great attraction is the opportunity to have a ride on Tony’s miniature steam train as it huffs and puffs around the immaculate gardens of the house. Liz provides her famous Devon cream teas. There is a raffle and ice cream and cakes are also on sale. Children can  be amused with Rob’s giant “noughts and crosses” and “splat the rat”. This year, …

The following  maps are dated 1904:
Seaton Junction

East of Deer Park

Shute Deer Park

southeast of Little Umborne

Shute Marsh

south of Pottlelake to Parehayne

Big Umborne to Parkhayne

Patches to Lower Watchcombe

 
Lexhayne Lane north of Railway

 
 
Axminster to Exeter. road map. 1720  Owen & Bowen  Britannia Depicta

road map-Axminster, Kilmington, Honiton.    1818   Edward Mogg

I can’t wait – the garden needs a bit of rain…
 
This year’s Summer Barbecue took place on:
Sunday  18th  July  at 6.00pm      at:
Little Yardbury – in the garden of Rob & Fran Summers.
If you are not sure where Little Yardbury is, you can find it close to the T Junction 2 miles north of Colyton called Three Sycamores. Parking in the field.
Fun and games – such as giant Noughts & Crosses, Splat the Rat etc.
There was a bar, a barbecue a raffle and lots of fun in the glorious summer sunshine – see …

         Here are some weather figures for June 2010.           It will be no surprise to know that June 2010 was the warmest June for four years, but possibly the sunniest for much longer than that.  And with only six days with measurable rain, June continued the trend of the last three months for drier than average conditions. Thanks to one hefty fall of 33.5 mm (1.3 inches) on the 7th. the monthly total, at 42.2mm was 10mm more than it was in 2006, when coincidentally rain fell on 6 days and …