News:

Although March is the first month of Spring, it is also traditionally wet and blustery at this time of year. March 4th is a day that is also an instruction. More greenery and a bit less mud will be a welcome change as our country lanes, and possibly our gardens, start to come alive with the colours of Spring bulbs.

March brings breezes loud and shrill, Stirs the dancing daffodil. (Coleridge)

Now we know why they are dancing.

St Margaret’s Church - upkeep and services

Work on St Margaret’s Church and the churchyard continues. Last year, we had experts who worked on the interior of our church; stripping, plastering and repainting part of the rear wall. This exposed the beautiful stonework around the window frame. The PCC is planning more work to be carried out on the walls and stonework surrounding the window behind the altar.

On March 12th there will be a lay-led family service at 10.45am at St Margaret’s Church. There will be services in March in other parishes, including a Holy Communion cluster service at Cruwys Morchard on 19th March, and a group Holy Communion service at Washfield on 26th March - both at 10.45am. 

On April 2nd (Palm Sunday), at 10.45am there is a lay-led Morning Service at St Margaret’s Church, Templeton.

There will be no Easter Sunday Service in Templeton, as there are Holy Communion services in Loxbeare, Stoodleigh, Withleigh and Washfield. Please check the centre pages of this issue for more details of the upcoming services.

On Sunday 16th April at 10.45am there will be a Holy Communion Cluster Service with Claire at St Margaret’s Church, Templeton.  This will be followed by Templeton's Annual Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting at 11.45am which should be straight after the Service. We do hope that you can join the meeting and have your say about church services, the maintenance of St Margaret’s Church and the churchyard.  At this meeting, the churchwardens will be nominated and elected for serving next year. The PCC members and deanery representative will also be elected, and the electoral roll will be revised.  

Hornets – the Gentle Giants

On January 17th Stephen Powles gave his much-anticipated talk on ‘Hornets – the Gentle Giants’, at St Margaret’s Church, which had been postponed in December due to the cold weather. It was very nice to indulge in festive mulled wine and mince pies in January before the talk began and it was well worth the wait. Stephen told us so much about these fascinating insects and shared his own hornet experiences which made for an informative and highly entertaining evening. His photography is wonderful and the methods he uses to capture photos of the hornets are amazing. We look forward to welcoming Stephen back for another wildlife talk soon!

Come and join the Safari Supper

On Saturday March 11th, there will be another Safari Supper in Templeton. This popular event is a supper where each course is eaten at different hosts’ houses during the same evening, allowing people to move from house to house and meet up with different guests and hosts for each course. Initially, everyone will gather at St Margaret’s Church at 6.30pm for a glass of Prosecco or soft drink and starters, before going on to other homes for the next two courses. You may choose to host either a main course or a dessert (usually about 6-8 guests per group) and be a guest for the other course, or you may prefer to be a guest for both courses. 

Do let us know if you're willing to be a host for one of the courses or if you'd like to take part as a guest for both courses so we can organise who goes where! Tickets are £10 each, and all proceeds will go to St Margaret’s Church Repair Fund, Templeton. If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact Laurel, Bindy, or Lynda.

Templeton Trail - Sunday March 26th

The popular annual Templeton Trail is a fun run organised by Exe Valley Rotary Club on Sunday March 26th 2023 with runners setting off from Templeton Village Hall. Individuals, families and fellow runners are all invited to take part and will hopefully help make this year’s event bigger and better than ever with a choice between a 5km or 10km run. The event will be mainly off-road, using the attractive private (and otherwise inaccessible) woodland roads and tracks of the Cruwys Morchard Estate. For more information or if you would like to register, please visit the Exe Valley Rotary Club’s website page: https://www.exevalleyrotary.org.uk/templeton-trail-april-2022/

Templeton Tractor Run

Reg and Roland will be organising a Tractor Run for some time in April or May. This is a great fund-raising event when tractors, old and new, are invited to take part. The owners drive their tractors along a planned local route, often with lunch and refreshments served before or after the tractor run at Templeton Village Hall.  

Events later in the year include:

Templeton Village Fete - August 12th

More information to follow. This date will be upon us before we know it!

Soap Box Race - Saturday September 14th 

Back in the day, people would stand on a soapbox - a wooden crate originally used for the shipment of soap, or a raised platform to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. Today, the crates have evolved and modern soapbox racing is all about the aesthetic, speed and road-holding of a handcrafted vehicle. A Soap Box vehicle has to be built by hand, be motorless and ideally have four wheels. It can be made from anything - cardboard, wood, or polystyrene, for example. The course will be the path leading down to Reg and Sue’s at Colston Barton Farm. More information to follow but why not start planning how to build your soap box now!

A Harvest Supper will be held at the end of September or beginning of October.

Regular Templeton Clubs

Yoga at Templeton Village Hall
Yoga Club started here in January and is already very popular. Everyone is welcome. Yoga sessions are held at Templeton Village Hall every Thursday from 3.30pm to 5pm.  Instructor Pat is based in Tiverton and is very experienced. Pat can accommodate all abilities and has already adapted the class so that those who find it tricky to get down and off the floor can be seated.  If you would like to take part, why not come along to Templeton Village Hall on Thursdays. You will need comfortable clothes, a yoga mat if you have one or a thick towel or blanket. A bottle of water is also a good idea. The cost is £9 per session. If you'd like to know more, please email Laurel at joeandlaurel @ ymail.com

Book Group
The Templeton Book Group meets on every 2nd Wednesday of each month at 3pm at Templeton Village Hall with coffee, tea and cake. Each member of the group selects their reading choices each year from a wide range of books available from Tiverton Library.  Please contact Julie if you would like to know more. The next dates for the book group are Wednesday 8th March and 12th April.

Knit and Natter
The ever-popular Templeton Knit and Natter is held on the last Friday of each month from 10.30 am to 12 noon, at St Margaret’s Church, Templeton. Bring your repair work, knitting or embroidery with you or just come along for coffee, biscuits and a chat. The next dates for Knit and Natter are Friday 24th February, 31st March, and 28th April. We look forward to seeing you there.

Templeton Village Hall and Social Club
Templeton Social Club is open every Monday and Saturday evening from 8pm to 11pm – with a bar and very reasonable prices. Membership is only £2 a year. The village hall has table tennis, darts, pool and skittles. This is a wonderful community resource and there for you to enjoy. It is also a great venue for a family get-together! Please call Bindy if you would like to use the hall so we can book you in.

Gardening Club
This very popular club will start again in the spring when the weather gets a bit warmer! Please watch this space for more news and dates.

Welcome to Templeton
A very warm welcome to Katie, Marc and family of Furzey View, and to Val and Richard at The Wolery. We hope you will all be very happy here.

Thoughts, prayers and best wishes

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

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