House prices

Latest prices of properties sold in St Mabyn

Opera in St Mabyn

The magic of opera came to St Mabyn Church on Sunday 25 May when the Duchy Opera presented ‘A Gala Evening at the Opera’. Over seventy opera buffs and opera novices enjoyed a programme of operatic gems, some familiar and some less familiar. Handel walked hand in hand with Mozart; it didn’t matter if you could not tell your Die Fledermaus from your Guiditta but everyone recognised Summertime from Porgy and Bess and the hauntingly beautiful Flower Duet (Lakme) was instantly recognisable as the music behind the British Airways advert.
Cornwall has a fine musical tradition and it does not come any better than the Duchy Opera, with some of the South West’s premier singers. Currently in rehearsal for their forthcoming production of Semele, members of the company enchanted, thrilled and delighted a receptive and eager audience and breathtakingly high notes were enhanced by the amazing acoustic qualities of St Mabyn Church. Interval refreshments were provided and served by Friends of St Mabyn Church.
Do not despair if you missed this amazing concert; there are more concerts to come in the Summer Season of Music in St Mabyn. Jazz on the Green organised by the Friends of St Mabyn Church will be held on Friday 18 July at 6.30pm on the Village Green. Picnic baskets, tartan rugs and folding chairs are a must. This event will take place in the church if wet. The Italian Nightingales, from St Petersburg to St Mabyn via the Edinburgh Festival will perform on Sunday 31 August at 7.30pm. This group of internationally acclaimed opera singers from St Petersburg opera will present a varied programme of operatic favourites.
For ticket office and information please contact:
Jenni Tarring (01208) 841329

Young Farmers

Around 5000 young farmers from all over the country attended a Young Farmers weekend in Blackpool between May 2-5. Various competition finals took place such as Stars in Their Eyes, YFC member of the year, Pub quiz, karaoke and the National Entertainment Competition Also taking place was the agriculture and rural affairs forum and the annual general meeting. Each evening there was a dance with a live band and disco.
On Sunday, May 6 the entertainment finals were held. Five teams were represented: Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Llanfyllin and Somerset.
Cornwall were the last on stage, but the wait was well worth it for all the Cornwall supporters when they came first, nine points ahead of second place!
The atmosphere was fabulous with a brilliant turnout of supporters from friends, family and other club members of the YFC cabaret team.
Mike Meers was the producer of the performance; this win was Cornwall's fifth consecutive win in the entertainment final. Copies of Cornwall's performance and results are available for £15 each or, all counties and results for £25, from The Filming Company, 12 Cedern Avenue, Elborough Village, Weston-Super-Mare. BS24 8PA. Cheques to be made payable to 'The Filming Company'.

Friends of St Mabyn Church:

The Friends of St Mabyn Church is a charity, whose aim is to provide the long term funding needed for major repairs to our beautiful Grade 1 listed parish church.
They are now 100 'friends', who have raised £25,000 over the last four years. Most of this fund will shortly be given to the Roof Restoration Appeal that, besides re-roofing the three north facing roofs, will also make urgent repairs to the church tower and modernise the antiquated heating system.
If you would like to become a 'friend' please contact Gage Williams on 01208 841378.
On Monday, May 5, Sir David Brewer, a Cornishman and former Lord Mayor of London who now lives at Helland Bridge, gave a most interesting talk on his year as mayor, in the village hall at St Mabyn.
The get-together, with a buffet supper, was combined with a quick short AGM followed by Sir David's talk. About 60 people enjoyed a delightful evening.
The Friends have the art of serving the most scrumptious lunches at their events in our village hall.
For £12 for those who are not 'friends' these events continue to be a great success.

Parish Council

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 3 at the village hall.Your parish council welcomes your input and presence at these meetings.
Parish council meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm.

St Mabyn Village Hall

The next coffee morning will be on Friday, June 6 between 10.30and 11.30am. There will be coffee, tea and biscuits and chat. The cost is £1 per person. Everyone is welcome.
A big thank you to all those who continue to come along and enjoy the company.
On average these coffee mornings make £18, all in aid of the upkeep of our village hall.
Particularly welcome are those who have just moved into our village, we look forward to introducing you to our friendly coffee mornings.
It is worth noting that our hall can be hired for various functions, and not only by parishioners but by anybody who has a need to hold a function and requires kitchen facilities too. Contact the caretaker on 01208 841781.
The AGM of St Mabyn Village Hall will be be held at the hall at 7pm on Wednesday, June 9.
Regular users of the hall, which include the pre-school, the school, garden club, YFC, parish council and snooker club have all nominated representatives who are invited to this meeting.
All parish residents are warmly invited to attend. Tea will be served at the close of the meeting.
The hall is well used and much appreciated with its upgraded modern facilities, is a popular venue for private events and activity classes, and regular users are invited to nominate a representative for the committee.
The present office bearers are: chairman, treasurer, secretary.
The caretaker, through whom bookings can be made is Beverley McNary on 01208 841781.
The election of a new committee (we need additional new committee members) will take place at the AGM. Nominations will be accepted at the meeting.
One of the main items of business will be a review of the costs for hiring, given the recent high increases in the cost of heating fuel.
Helen Barrett, chairman 01208 841342.

Garden Club Spring Outing

On Friday, May 16, members and friends of St Mabyn Garden Club visited Bideford and Tapeley Park with Gardens at Instow, North Devon. We stopped at Bideford for morning coffee and a welcome stroll around this most interesting town.
At Tapeley Park we had lunch in the restaurant, and then a leisurely exploration of the gardens. Most impressive was the walled kitchen and the many bunches of grapes already forming on their vines in the greenhouses. There has been a house at this spot, which overlooks Instow and far out to sea, for hundreds of years. There is some beautiful William Morris furniture, especially the decorated grand piano. A fine day ensured every minute was enjoyed.
At May's meeting on 14th, the subject was "All Year Round Colour in the Border" with Tracy Wilson. Thank you to Tracy for a most entertaining and informative evening.

St Mabyn School:

Thanks to everyone who supported the 'safari supper' held on Saturday, May 17. All proceeds went to the school. Tickets were £10 for a four-course meal. Grateful thanks to hosts at 'Becoven' who provided the starter course, the main course at St Mabyn Village Hall, and yummy deserts at 'Greenwix Barn', then cheese and biscuits, coffee and mints and 'Tregarden'. Terrific fun and a great way to meet people in the village while supporting a good cause.

Midas Homes site meeting

There will be a site meeting for the proposed development by Midas Homes who are meeting on site on Thursday 29th May at 3.15pm

Goosey Cottage

Bencoven Farm St Mabyn Planning approval is sought for installation of two sets of solar water heating panels together with twin stainless steel flue for pellet fired room heater/water heater for Mrs L. Jones.
Full details

Church Flooded

I'm hearing reports that the church was flooded in the storms last night and that sadly there might have been some damage to the organ.

Walled Garden Tredethy

The walled garden Tredethy, Helland Bridge Erection of 11 holiday cottages for R Morris B Coombes. Arrow Land Trading Ltd of Wellesbourne Warwickshire. A re-submission of withdrawn proposal.
Full application here

Safari Supper

May 17th 6.30.- 7.00pm at Becoven, village hall, Greenwix Barn and Tregarden tickets £10 from the shop.

St Mabyn Church Guide

Pupils at St Mabyn CofE School have produced a charming and well-illustrated booklet Guide to the Church as their effort for the Restoration Appeal. The school uses the Church several times a week and the children are very familiar with the building but working on this project has helped them gain new insights and they share this with visitors who have already commented favourably. The modest charge goes to the Appeal - our warmest thanks to all involved for their hard work.

St Mabyn Fete

The Fete will be held on the Village Green (full wet weather programme in place!) on Saturday 21 June, Midsummers Day, and as Johnny Cowling is in the Church the following evening this will be a very special weekend. There will be all the usual attractions which make this one of the most popular fetes in the area, though this year there will be no film crew in attendance and Reverend Margaret will be our own local Tara Palmer - Tompkinson! Do come and join us, gates open at 2.15pm.

Church roof

The very inclement weather with high winds and rain made it too dangerous for several days to erect the scaffolding and consequently this is running two weeks behind schedule but the contractors hope to make up some lost time and finish by late summer. Save the Date! Sunday 16 November, the Patronal Festival Service for St Mabena will be the service of thanksgiving to celebrate the successful conclusion of the restoration of our historic parish church. Our Patron, Sir David Brewer, and representatives of grant-giving bodies will attend and a warm invitation is extended to all to come and join us at this joyful time.
Congratulations and Best Wishes to Sir David Brewer, Patron of St Mabyn Church Restoration Appeal on his appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Greater London.

Band Of Hope

St Mabyn " Band Of Hope" photograph taken in 1904
[The Band of Hope was formed to teach and impress upon children the importance and principles of sobriety and teetotalism.]
The people marked with dots are Hamley's. Arthur, [Sue's granfather] who emigrated to Australia, is sitting down the front. Above him to the right is his sister Maudie. Above him to the left is a sister Margaret. Far back 4th from left is sister Jessie & next to her another sister Sarah. Far back 2nd in from right is Hilda Hamley.
The lady in black with lace collar is Edith [or Elizabeth] Hamley. On her knee is Rhoda. The man standing on the extreme left with bushy moustache is Joseph Henry Rule Hamley.
Thank you to Sue from South Australia who sent me the photograph.