‘JOYFUL’ was the one word which described the service organised by 1st Hemyock Scout Group in conjunction with St Mary’s Church and held to celebrate St George’s Day.

In glorious sunshine the young people, with flags flying, paraded from the village primary school to the church for the service led by lay team member Becky Doble, which, while thoughtful, was full of laughter and enjoyment.

During the service each section of the group, Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, and leaders, renewed their Promise with members also leading prayers and giving the reading. The talk was given by Rikki, aka John Northam, who gave a short history of the group which began with a cub pack led by a local teacher. When she left the area the late Cecil Ron Lowman, known to all as Skip, took over.

He proved to be an inspirational leader over many years and was awarded the BEM for services to scouting and in particular to the Hemyock group. Skip would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year and it was a delight to have one of his nieces and her husband at the service.

Rikki led the congregation in a number of well-loved action campfire songs ending with the Elephant Dance - a tribute to Skip Lowman - ending with more than 50 youngsters, choristers, and congregation members walking around the church singing the well-loved song.

Presentations made and included Chief Acorn Award - Aubrey Williams, Jude Redwood, and Otis Legge; Chief Bronze Award - Willow Blackmore; Chief Gold Award - Patrick McNabb.

A retiring collection of £85 will be donated to the Children’s Hospice South West.

THE Wellington Basins Volunteer Group (WBVG) held their AGM on April 17.

Jeny Vickery (chair) thanked the committee for their support throughout the year, in particular the Tuesday Team who work so hard at the Basins area. The treasurer reported that expenditure in the past year had been low and funds remained healthy in the bank account. The committee was unanimously elected to stand again for another year.

The AGM was followed by an ordinary meeting. The committee noted with pleasure that the bench, known as 'Alfie’s bench’ had been replaced. The new bench was much admired for its workmanship. Discussion took place about the stall at May Day in the park. Plans for the occasion were well in hand and it was hoped that it would be a very enjoyable day.

Darren Hill joined the meeting and gave an update on several Green proposals and actions in the town, in particular, he spoke of a proposal from Ben Fox that a memorial bridge could be built in memory of Richard Fox at the weir near Linden House gates. It was hoped that funding could be obtained for this.

Much praise was given for the bridge which had been placed in the field below Linden House.

THE Nynehead Parish Council convened its regular monthly meeting at the Memorial Hall on Monday, April 20.

Two suspects were identified and arrested for multiple burglaries following a recent increase in burglaries in the locality.

A cheque for £2,400 was received on April 14 from the Avon & Somerset Police Community Fund to cover the cost of the Evolis battery for the Speed Indicator Device (SID) excluding VAT. Installation of the posts to which the SID will be attached has been made possible due to a generous donation from a long standing local resident.

Mr M Vest and Somerset Council Highways officer Kate Brown recently met to confirm the final positions of the new flood depth markers and signage. There will be three additional depth gauges and ‘Road Liable to Flooding’ signs installed at both the Hornshay and Ash river crossings.

The new seven-year Memorial Hall lease to the Memorial Club was signed. The new document has the Memorial Hall Trust document attached to show the inter-relationship between the Memorial Hall, the Memorial Club and Nynehead Parish Council. NPC is very grateful for the legal expertise of resident Mr Peter Swinburn in drafting this document.

Following a successful Internal Audit Report for 2025/26, the Annual Governance Statement, the Annual Accounting Statement and the Certificate of Exemption for 2025/26 were all approved by the council.

Plans were discussed for the Annual Parish Meeting on Monday, May 18, at 6.30 pm. All Nynehead residents are invited to come and meet their councillors, catch up on news and ask questions. Wine and light snacks will be available.

The next meeting of the Nynehead Parish Council is scheduled for Monday, May 18, following the Annual Parish Meeting at the Nynehead Memorial Hall beginning at 7.30pm.

FOLLOWING a warm welcome to the meeting by president Christine and singing Jerusalem, guest speaker Sally Smith was introduced.

Sally, a journalist and writer said that we had all heard about Francis Drake, Captain Cook and Ferdinand Magellan – men who went around the world and are our history. But what about the women? Sally’s book ‘The Women who went Round the World’ sets the record straight with stories of 10 pioneering women and their extraordinary journeys around the world. Sally spoke about Jeanne Baret, born in 1740 near Paris who dressed as a man, cut her hair, and became the first woman to sail around the world.

Ida Pfeiffer, an Austrian explorer, travelled around the world both ways at the age of 45 and was horrified when arriving in China in the 1840s to see the tradition of girls’ feet bound tightly to make them smaller. A sophisticated and wealthy lady, Annette Meakin, whose ambition was to be a writer, travelled to Japan in the 1890s by the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest railway in the world, to gain inspiration for a book.

The first woman to circumnavigate the globe by car was Harriet White Fisher. Her travelling companions were a maid, a mechanic and handiman and amassing two dogs and a monkey on the way! Lady Grace Drummond-Hay was the first woman to fly in a Zeppelin airship, and Valentina Tereshkova was the first ever women to voyage in space.

Members were thanked for donating items for our Table-top Sale in aid of the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance to be held on Saturday, May 9, from 10 am to 12.30 pm at The Scout Hall, Fore Street, Wellington, with home-made cakes.

Several additional activities have been arranged to celebrate West Buckland’s 90th Anniversary Year (1936 to 2026) including a visit to a Spring garden at West Bagborough in May, a day trip to Sidmouth in June and a Garden Party afternoon tea in August.

Volunteers are still required to help and bake cakes for the Somerset Federation WI refreshment stand at the Bath & West three-day show in May.

Meetings are held each second Tuesday in the month, 7 pm for 7.30 pm at West Buckland Village Hall, TA21 9NA, and our next open meeting is on Tuesday, June 9, when our speaker will be Jo Jeffrey. (May meeting is the AGM for members only).

SUSAN Bellringer welcomed members to the meeting.

Our speaker Jo Jeffreys gave us a very interesting talk entitled 'All that glitters'. Jo explained that she had a recurring dream about lovely jewellery and soon after she was gifted lots of vintage costume jewellery from her friend Mary who had collected it through her life. All of the jewellery is replicas of the originals worn by film stars and celebrities. The first piece that Jo showed us was a magnificent Maltese cross made by the American costume jewellery designer K J Lane, who also made buckles for shoes and highly decorated bangles.

Jo asked one of our members to model the Marcasite necklaces. Marcasite goes back to the Inca's who thought that it staved off negativity and anxiety. As well as the jewellery Jo had some evening bags from the 1920's with the obligatory cigarette holder and case.

During the business part of our meeting the usual club dates were given out and a request for cakes and helpers for the Spring Fayre in Wellington Park on May 3 where we are holding a stall. Our monthly competition 'Any item relating to Denmark' proved to be harder this month but there was still a diverse range of items. The winner was a model of The Little Mermaid, the famous bronze statue. The second place was a Danish pastry with a pottery plate coming third. Social time this month was a display of more than 80 compact cases collected by Linda.

The meeting next month will be the AGM and members will also discuss accessible toilet facilities and Action on Women's homelessness. Sampford Arundel WI meets on the second Tuesday each month at The Beambridge Inn, 7.30 pm. If anyone would like to find out more about being a member of the WI contact Heather on 01823 666439 or email [email protected]