The hero returns!

On Saturday evening Trevone was festooned with balloons and streamers and a gang of villagers in party mood waited outside the village hall for the triumphal return of their hero. Excitement mounted as we were tipped off by Dave Cowling who had overtaken them in his cab saying, "I just passed them on this side of Little Petherick!"

An excited young Charlie Reynolds screamed, "They're coming! They're coming!" from his vantage point further up the road, and those armed with champagne vigorously shook their bottles in anticipation of the Formula One-style welcome while everyone else began whooping, cheering, clapping and shouting John's name.

Marathon charity cyclist John Bullingham and his pals Jenna, Jeff and Nick swept through the finishing tape having completed the 500-mile cycle trip from Trevone to Birmingham and back in 4 days (John's friend Nick joined them in Okehampton).

It had begun three days earlier with a dawn 'coffee and croissant party' send-off at Andy and Alison Nicholls' house. The cyclists had to battle with head winds almost all the way to Birmingham and on the return journey they suffered three punctures and terrifying flash flooding in Gloucester which put the whole venture into question. Other friends, Melvin, Ashley and Mike joined the gang from Birmingham to Tewkesbury and John is immensely grateful to Richard and Dave who drove the support vehicle.

Talking of the high and low points, John said, " The psychological strain was worse than the mental one. There was none of the usual joy in speeding down steep hills on the way there because we knew we would have to struggle back up them again two days later, but physically I feel great."

John raised at least £1,500 and there is still money coming in for which he sends a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Congratulations John! Where next?

PATCAG AGM

The PATCAG AGM is at Padstow School at 7.30 on Wednesday 24th June. All welcome.

To check the PATCAG block click here

OPEN FORUM

The TaWRA Open Forum on June 17th was a chance for residents to meet representatives of various working sections of the community - the RNLI, the Beach Ranger Service, the Community Police, representatives of the Church, and local councillors. This was an opportunity to put faces to organizations and to forge more direct lines of communication. It was also a chance to brainstorm ideas for improving village life and to demonstrate that the village has a pulse and is developing new ways to disseminate information - not only to permanent residents, but also to second-home owners.
There are now two transport surveys (under 60s and over 60s) which are a PATCAG (Padstow and Trevone Community Action Group) initiative available in the village and we hope that there may be a shuttle service between Padstow and the outlying villages as a result. Residents were able to make suggestions to TaWRA committee members about future developments and concerns and we will be processing any other ideas left in the suggestions box as soon as possible.Bobby Renaud from the RNLI updated the village on lifeguard cover, and Steve Latham (Beach Ranger) gave a short presentation about litter and beach safety. Fortunately Trevone beach is, for the most part, frequented by responsible people who take all their litter home with them.A date for the diary:The PATCAG AGM is at Padstow School at 7.30 on Wednesday 24th June. All welcome.

Early birds catch the worms - and the gulls

A group of Trevone 'early birds' marched up Porthmissen hill and out onto the cliffs this morning with our binoculars to learn more about fulmars, herring gulls, kittiwakes, shags, razor bills, corn buntings. We also spotted peregrine falcons, sky larks and kestrels - all of which we were able to see in brilliant close-up through Tricia's tripod-mounted telescope. We 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed at the fledgling herring gulls and learned how the meadow pipit falls "as if in a parachute" from the sky. We were told how fulmars spit from nostrils which are placed half way up their beaks ("Euuggh") and how the oyster catchers send out the alarm to the other birds. All this in a couple of hours of good company, turquoise sea and sparkly sky. A great success.

In addition we foraged in the hedgerows to see if we could name all the various flowers and identify anything that was edible. We managed to get a nibble of samphire, sea spinach, wild parsley and, the most exciting of all, sea radish which felt a bit like eating neat wasabi sauce. The swots in the group who had remembered to bring their Mitchell Beazley Wild Flower companion book were completely outdone by Ruth Binney who was visiting for a few days and joined the walk. She pointed out shyly that she had edited the book and there, sure enough, was her name on the credits.

Thanks Tricia, we look forward to another bird walk soon.

VILLAGE OPEN FORUM - Wednesday 17th June

By popular request, TaWRA is holding an Open Forum in the Village Hall from 7.00 pm onwards on Wednesday 17th June. This is a chance to find out more, chat to members of the Committee, put forward suggestions (in person or into an anonymous suggestion box) and help us to help the village as much as we can. Coffee will be served and there will be presentations of some of the issues we have addressed so far. Quite an eventful week with the Big Breakfast on Sunday and the Bird watching Walk on Tuesday, apart from all the regular events, but try to pop in even if it's only for a short while. We would love to see you there.