Having given Peter all sorts of apparently plausible reasons as to why I have been unable to provide him with written reports for the last few months, I feel very exposed to be back here again with nothing very much to say.

But then, when has that ever stopped me?

August 2004.

My excuse in August was that, with Jane swanning off on holiday (again*), I had volunteered to relieve the pressure on her by editing the September 2004 version of ‘The Beacon'. Not having done it for a couple of years I was very rusty and, as I suspected it would, it took much longer than if it were routine.

The biggest problem was printing out the master version for copying. WYSIWY D G to use the jargon (What You See Is What You Don't Get). For some extraordinary reason the printer decided that the text had to be squashed up a bit to fit on the pages, which is why you will find large margins on your September copy of The Beacon. I kept stretching the text out on screen but the printer completely ignored this and continued to squash it all up. With so many options and combinations I could not fathom out what was causing this to happen. I did eventually - but too late for the master version.

I apologise, by the way, for the squiggly lines on the front page. I just got fed up with putting in straight dividing lines. Why do they have to be straight all the time?


*Pace Jane – just a joke!

Saturday 4 September .

This turned out to be a delightful, if somewhat hectic, day.

It was the day of Charlotte Meardon's wedding and Moor Harmony had been invited to sing at the ceremony. We were very pleased to do so especially since both Charlotte and Wendy are choir members. We sat in the choir stalls so we had a far better view of proceedings than anyone else and I must say it was a touching experience. Moor Harmony gave it all as much as possible and it was uplifting to hear the Church full of sound instead of the usual wheezy rattling and droning that tends to prevail these days.

Then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, we had to roar off to the Tedburn St Mary Fair where I was to be Hector in the Mummers' Play and a brawler in the mediaeval dances. Arriving just in time, Issy then announced that she had left all her brawling clothes at home, the divulging of which information caused the temperature to rise even above the level that it was already.

I think we enjoyed it all, being pretty thick skinned, but we got a little frustrated by the master of Ceremonies who kept insisting that we were from Southend or somewhere, the concept of South Zeal not being something he could encompass.

Then, in the midst of some passionate acting from Clive, an aeroplane flew by with an elderly lady standing on the wings. It flew by. Then it flew by again. And then it flew by again. And again. And again and again. And again for good measure.

But we didn't mind. We had a few more beers and restarted and Clive gave the performance of his life …. as did the brawlers who, because they were on a slope, gradually disappeared from view altogether. Perhaps they are still out there somewhere.

None of it mattered. We all had a good time and so did everyone who was there.

Saturday 11 September 2004 .

Okehampton Camp was open to the public, I believe for the first time ever. There was a military vehicle display and Tony had suggested I get the Champ up there to join the other old vehicles. I had not really thought about it so when I got there and saw the pristine condition of some of the vehicles I raced in, screeched to a halt vaguely amongst the other vehicles and shot away from the Champ as fast as I could pretending that such a shabby vehicle was nothing to do with me and if asked about it I tutted and shook my head along with everyone else.

I slunk about a bit in the NAAFI. That brought back memories. Do you remember pubs/cafes in the 1970's? Formica tables; chairs that have become unstuck and fall to bits; dark brown but somehow flowery carpets that look suspicious; obviously fake laminated wood; polystyrene cups; pink coloured overalls (think Victoria Wood); and a gigantic modern flat screen television suspended from the ceiling by way of reminder that, despite appearances, this was the 21 st century! Nothing wrong with this, but it is so much of its period it is almost worth preserving! Almost.

In the afternoon I had to join Meg in conducting a walk around South Tawton . We make quite a good double act. Meg actually knows something about the history of the village so she did the serious bit whereas I picked up all sorts of colloquial information from Mike Brint, John Cooper and David Sampson. I might possibly have added embellishments during my incoherent presentation. It was pouring with rain but as usual for these parts nobody minded.

I learnt that, during the war, a bomb was dropped in the middle of South Tawton by a German bomber that also dropped bombs along a line roughly from Wood up to the Throwleigh Road . Only one person was killed – no one in South Tawton - but apparently a number of cattle were blown up. I gather the bomber was shot down. Exactly why the bombs were dropped is not clear. Perhaps the Seven Stars was targeted as a means of trying to lower morale. Does that seem very likely?

I would love to get hold of pictures that might have been taken here during the war. If you have any, or know anyone who does, please let me know.

John Cooper was waiting to ring the church bells as we went by and I introduced him to our party as “one of the village's ancient monuments”. I am not sure how kindly he took to this little gem.

Every Wednesday.

Moor Harmony is beginning to learn new carols for Christmas. We could do with more members - especially ladies (though we would never say no to tenors - well we've never said no to anyone ever!). It is all very informal. No experience is necessary. It can be very satisfying. Just turn up at Battershay (up the drive opposite the Kings Arms) every Wednesday at 7.45. Or ring Jeremy on 840741.

p.s. When I bumped into Robin & Sue at the Vintage Farming event last week, Sue said to me; "Remember when you said I should do the dry stone walling course, when we met at the DNP taster day in July- well, I did!"

pete