AGENDA
Starcross History AGM 2018 followed by Mosaic and Horses workshop. Wednesday 14th
March 2018 7:30pm . St Paul’s Church
1.
Apologies
for absence
2.
Previous
AGM was May 11th 2016. Hard copy of chair’s report 2016 will be
available
3.
Chair’s
report 2018 has been emailed to all members. Hard copies will be available
4.
Financial
report - hard copy available
5.
Election
of committee. Present committee: Chair: Monica Lang. Treasurer: Barbara
Rich. Tom Reeves. Barbara Wright.
Volunteers please for any role.
6.
Date and
time of next meeting
7.
Mosaic
and Horses workshop
Campaign to save Railway Carriage Camping at Dawlish Warren
The railway camping carriages and campsite at Dawlish Warren were bought
by the Stapleton family for £216,000 by the Stapleton family. The carriages
have been restored, and the site continues as the Brunel Holiday Park.
This
unique, family run park is believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK and
one of the last remaining places where you can holiday in a train carriage.
Our eight carriages date from the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's, and have been
enjoyed by countless holidaymakers for over 50
years. Each spacious carriage sleeps 6 to 8 people, and has a kitchen and
shower room…
Additional planning permission was achieved on 5th December
2017, to operate this site all year
round.
Re-create the Stairs Cross
This project about the origin of
the name ‘Starcross’ continues to be on our agenda.
Starcross Parish Council continue
to offer a place for a stone cross, if we can prove that; in the twelfth
century, the Bishop of Sherborne marked the landing stage from Pratteshide,
here at Woolcomb’s Island, with a stone cross at the top of a stone staircase.
Or could the Star in Starcross be derived from the Norse word stoth,
which meant simply a landing stage for loading and unloading cargo?
OED definition for staithe
noun (in the
north and east of England) a landing stage for loading or unloading cargo
boats.
o
‘With an almost flat bottom, the boat was
designed so that it could be pulled up the steep beach or staithe.’
Origin: Middle English: from Old Norse stǫth ‘landing
stage’.
Oral History
Some work was done during the Villages in Action’s Unearth project. Kate Green, from Villages in Action worked with children
from Starcross Primary School. Georgie Lax, the leader in history at the
school, is hopeful that further work can be done with Villages in Action and the
Hear and Now Talking Newspaper studio at Dawlish. This will enable the
children to record stories from the older residents of Starcross. Transcripts
and the recordings could be made available on disc and online.
The Peacock-Cookson Memorial
This pink marble memorial in St Paul’s churchyard, with its
broken cross symbol for a life cut short, is an important part of the Starcross
identity. Its condition will be monitored to ensure its retention
Activities
Starcross History continues to
have a presence on the internet. https://starcrosshistory.blogspot.co.uk/ had 60,546 hits on 30 January 2018
Parrots and Hats: Starcross
Village Activity Day, Saturday 14th May 2016
The organisers kindly allowed us
space in the pavilion. We encouraged children to be interested in our display
about Starcross history, by giving a free workshop to make parrots out of card,
lolly sticks, buttons and bits of material.
Hats leftover from our September Steampunk Hat Workshop were offered free
of charge to anyone who would make a scarecrow for Starcross Scarecrow Day on June
18th.
JUMBLE SALE in St Paul's Church EX6 8QB Saturday
June 4th 2016 from 2pm
Many thanks to everyone at St Paul’s who worked very hard to make
this happen.
This raised £100
Starcross Scarecrow Day Saturday June 18th
2016
The
Starcross History entry in the village Scarecrow Day was Mrs Peacock; an amalgam of all the tails from our Peacocks' Tails'
History Trail on St George's Day; April. 23rd.
All
the peacocks' tails from our Peacocks' Tails History Trail in April were turned
into a sculpture of a giant peacock’s tail. This was installed on Teignmouth
seafront for the summer.
Wednesday16th
September 2016, 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
Jon
Nichol Doing Local History
In just 2
days, Jon researched books, documents and the internet, took his camera and
notebook around the village; and gathered enough material about Starcross's
past to fill 6 large tables and a notice board.
Jon gave
the group half an hour to root about in the evidence presented; to discover
what Starcross would have looked like to Queen Victoria. Their searches
produced more questions: Was the quay Ashes Quay? The allotments were called
Ashes Field… so who was Ash? More local knowledge was added to the equation:
violet farming and salt mining.
We
were honoured with the presence of Isambard
Kingdom Brunel himself at this meet. Mr Brunel (aka Dave Grylls) spoke to
us about the Newton Abbot Town and Great Western Railway Museum - which is
ADMISSION FREE
Jumble
Sale. Saturday, 29th October
2016. 2:00pm. St Paul's Church EX6
8QB
Many thanks to everyone at St Paul’s who worked very hard to make
this happen.
This
raised £89.40p
Wednesday
9th November 2016, 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
Kate
Green from Villages in Action addressed our meet of Starcross History. The
Lottery funded Unearth project is
supported by South
West TV and Film Archive and the South West Heritage Trust. Starcross, Brentor,
Buckfastleigh, Chagford, Colyford and Colyton Parish, Crediton, Rattery and
Whimple will unearth their histories. All will be published online.
There will be a multi-media performance in each village, to illustrate the
history unearthed. Each village will also have a film night. The Starcross Film
Night (to be confirmed) will be in St Paul’s Church on Wednesday, January 11th
at 7:30pm.
It
was decided that a core group of researchers would meet regularly. The
bi-monthly meets of Starcross History will resume after the Unearth project.
see
appendix 1 for the log the Unearth project
Thankyou for the Music in St Paul’s Church Saturday, 20th
May 2017
As
part of this musical weekend in St Paul’s, Starcross History presented workshops to make a Glass Harmonica, and
Comb&paper mouthorgans
Wednesday
8th November 2017, 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
Starcross
History group was taken back to the 18th and 19th
centuries, as Kenton’s Ian Graham-Jones
presented an illustrated account, with music, of John Marsh’s visits to Devon.
Starcross’s Jon Nichol read extracts from the diaries in the voice of the
curmudgeonly John Marsh; (1752 - 1828) diarist, composer, writer and father of
6.
“ …[St Nicholas Church] Sidmouth… 2 psalms and an anthem sung by a
coarse sett of singers accompanied] as coarsely by some noisy and untenable
clarinets etc. ”
“St Sidwell’s in the suburbs, [of Exeter] a handsome church lately rebuilt with a
good organ badly played. ”
An
expedition to Mamhead, Oxton and Powderham describes the Reverend Swete’s Oxton
House as “a pleasant cottage”. The return journey was through Starcross to Dawlish.
Ian
Graham-Jones has some John Marsh scores for sale, and the deciphered diary
extracts in a bound cover.
Next meet
Please
does anyone know of a speaker for around May
2018? Should we try an afternoon meet?
Mosaics and Horses
Immediately
after this AGM, Alma Harding and Joanne Bickel will lead a workshop to create
mosaics and horses.
Mosaics
Mosaics
will be sited around the village, to commemorate Starcross’ history. This idea follows on from the Peacocks’
Tails’ Trail which took place during the
2016 St George’s Day Celebrations at St Paul’s Church. Led by artist Melissa
Muldoon, children at Starcross Primary School made Peacocks’ Tails which marked
an history trail around Starcross. Members of St Paul’s Church suggested a more
permanent history trail.
During
the Unearth Project, it was apparent
that, although people are interested in our history and the origins of
Starcross place names, information isn’t readily available.
Andrew
Stacey ,Community Art and Design Adviser for Teignbridge, has contacted me
about this project.
Today’s
workshop will demonstrate how straightforward it is to create outdoor mosaics.
Horses
Starcross
History plans to call its entry for this year’s Teignmouth TRAIL “Horse” - to
go with our mosaic of a blacksmith’s forge.
Horses,
horse’s heads, or anything horsey can be made from plastic rubbish. Any size -
but the sculptures will be open to all the elements on Teignmouth seafront for
the summer SO they must be secure and
will have to be securely anchored down using fence posts with metal drive-in
spikes.
TRAIL
http://www.trailart.co.uk/ is a protest about wasted resources. That our
horse sculptures look out to sea will
speak of the galloping plastic pollution of the 5 oceans.
There
will be some wacky horses at today’s workshop - broken Christmas lights make
great manes and tails, and it’s surprising what you can achieve with Benecol
cartons…
Starcross Archive
St
Paul’s Church have started to gather materials for the Starcross Archive. If
you have anything, please get in touch.
We need a lockable cabinet to fit on a
windowsill please
- to house a Roman amphora dredged from the mouth of the Exe
Unearthed Treasures
The
huge amount of information gathered during the Villages in Action Unearth
project needs collating.
It
could be referenced to the National Curriculum, put online, turned into eBooks
or published in hard copy?
We
could have a Starcross pageant.
Information
unearthed could be included on the history trail
Monica
Lang
Chair Starcross
History
Tuesday,
30 January 2018
Appendix 1. Unearth log
Wednesday
9th November 2016, 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
Kate
Green from Villages in Action addressed our meet of Starcross History. The
Lottery funded Unearth project is
supported by South
West TV and Film Archive and the South West Heritage Trust. Starcross, Brentor,
Buckfastleigh, Chagford, Colyford and Colyton Parish, Crediton, Rattery and
Whimple will unearth their histories. All will be published online.
There will be a multi-media performance in each village, to illustrate the
history unearthed. Each village will also have a film night. The Starcross Film
Night (to be confirmed) will be in St Paul’s Church on Wednesday, January 11th
at 7:30pm.
Unearth
Project: Thursday 8th December
2016, 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
A
welcome to the village, to unearth the history of Starcross; to bring any
photographs or artefacts you have unearthed, and have your questions answered.
Unearth
Project:Starcross at the Movies.Wednesday,11th
Jan, 2017 7:30pm St Paul’s Church
South West TV and Film Archives
footage from Devon and Cornwall and STARCROSS. Some of the SWFTA archives
are accessible online; via the British Film Institute Player as part of
the Britain
on Film project.
Haymaking, cidermaking and village life. The Starcross footage included a
demonstration about the Starcross School buildings, the Royal Western Counties
Hospital and the last conductor-operated bus through Starcross; a Devon General
AEC Regent double-decker.
An online search revealed no films about Starcross. SWFTA's collections are
available to all. Visits to SWFTA in Plymouth are to be arranged. We will be
shown how to research their archives. and discover some of their extensive
range of films about Starcross.
During the interval, we looked at a collection of historic material from
Starcross which was on display. The Punishment Book, dated 1911, from Starcross
School contained records of how many strokes of the cane children were given
for "talking in the classroom" "stealing an apple" or
"receiving stolen fruit". Photographs included the Penny Farthing
bicycle which used to be in the hedge outside Penny Farthing Cottage,
The core group of researchers were delighted to find that new information had
been added to the collection; on the paper provided on tables: memories of
Magic Lantern shows in St Paul's, and a project to research the famous,
prizewinning, Powderham herd of South Devon cattle which was sold after the
tragic death of the herdsman John McMahon.
Starcross Primary School is involved with the Unearth project. Children were
allowed in for free, although it was quite a late night. Headmaster Iannis
Ireland, and history lead Georgie Lax are very supportive of the project and
are excited that the children can be involved and learn about the history of
their village
Kate
Green, from Villages
in Action, will help Key Stage 2 children to research Starcross history,
and teach a group of 8 students how to use digital equipment, so that they can
interview and record stories.
Unearth Project:Starcross Stories on Wednesday, 25th January 2017 in St Paul's Church; from 3pm until 5pm.
Invitations
were sent to key people in the community. Refreshments were provided. More
Starcross Stories were unearthed.
The completed research will eventually be used to create a multi-media
production about Starcross, probably in July.
Key
Stage 2 children will become local historians when they spend a day learning
heritage research techniques. Kate was expecting lots of “wow moments” as the
penny dropped, and children connected the history in books with where they live
now.
Starcross
school’s board of governors blew the dust off a very old Punishment Log Book. Its pages detailed: 3 cane strokes of the buttocks for stealing fruit…2 strokes of the
buttocks for receiving fruit… 2
strokes for a devil-may-care attitude. History enables villagers to see
where they live from a different vantage point and deepens their relationship
with it.
Unearth
Project: research by Peter Halmkin. Dawlish Stamp Club February 2017
Peter
kindly donated a copy of The Postal
History of Starcross, Devon from 1822. This includes copies of photographs,
postcards, postmarks and stamp cancellers.
Unearth
Project: Exeter Heritage Centre. Wednesday 22nd February 2017
The
publicly accessible centre is run by the South West Heritage Trust. There is
access to all the documents and books AND, online; the British Newspaper Archive AND a family history website. All
you have to do is fill in a very simple form and, if you have ID with you, they
give you a card which lasts 4 years. This card is also valid at the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple
If you want to photograph the documents you discover, it costs £5 a day, or
around £80 for a year's photographic subscription.
Catalogues are freely available online.
The
card index can be freely searched. Ask at the desk, and someone will
dive down into the archives, and bring out your discovered map, plan or
document. Starcross information tends to be filed under the parish - which was
Kenton, until the 1980s when Starcross had its own Parish Council.
some of the Starcross Gems unearthed
·
the
account book of THE STARCROSS BREAD AND COAL CHARITY 1879 to 1903.
·
Plans
and specification for the Red House, Starcross 1933
·
deeds
relating to a rabbit warren and salt works in Kenton 1704 - 1790
·
Illustrated
Catalogue "The West Country" depicted by Devonshire Artists 1908
Unearth Project:Sunday, 5th March 2017 in St Paul's Church; from 2pm until 2pm.
Pictures,
photographs and documents were brought into St Paul’s to be photocopied
Unearth
Project: Artists announced Monday, 13th March 2017
Following interviews over the last two weeks, Kate Green and the Villages in
Action team have chosen a creative team for the Starcross Unearth project.
The successful candidates are:
Unearth
Project: Artists meet the Starcross research team. Weds 19th April 2017 in St Paul’s Church 6:00pm
Unearth
Project: More Starcross Stories. Weds 10th May 2017 in St Paul’s Church 7:30pm
The enthusiasm to discover even more Starcross Stories won't end with
this project. Villages in Action will put everything on a web page.
We
considered if we could publish eBooks aimed at the Key Stages of the National
Curriculum, or should we aim for a hard copy of a book?
Starcross's history has universal appeal. We have evidence of
Romans using the river. There were Roundhead v Cavalier battles fought on our
shores. The remarkable Swan Boat is still within living memory, and its
Victorian designer was the redoubtable Victorian; Captain George Peacock. Also
within living memory is the Royal Western Counties Hospital, with its wonderful
innovations for the education of idiots. Then there's the scenic Great
Western railway line; still dubbed God's Wonderful Railway. And Brunel's
Atmospheric Caper
The online British Newspaper Archive and the
Devon Heritage Centre in Sowton continue to yield more tales. These have
been augmented with local knowledge from some of Starcross's more senior
residents, and caches of documents and photographs from places which include
Starcross School, St Paul's Church and the village pubs.
Unearth
Project: The Villages in Action Show. Starcross
Unearthed Friday 15th Sept
2017 6pm for 7pm St Paul’s Church
What
are the stories that make Starcross such a unique place? Who are the characters
that have lived over the centuries in the village? Playwright Lucy Bell, actors
Charlie Coldfield and Kirsty Cox, sculptor Peter Margerum, digital artist Kate
Green plus folk musician Jim Causley presented a weave of local stories into a
fascinating evening of song, drama, interactive art, sound and archive images.
Starcross Archive
The
Unearth project has gathered a lot of material. Some of it is housed in a
Starcross Archive, in St Paul’s Church. Please get in touch if you have any
more material
We need a lockable cabinet to fit on a Church
windowsill please
- to house unearthed artefacts which include a Roman amphora dredged from the
mouth of the Exe.
Unearthed Treasure
Help
is needed to collate the huge amount of information gathered during the Villages in Action Unearth project. Some
of the material could be referenced to the National Curriculum and put online,
or turned into eBooks or published in hard copy.
We
could have a Starcross pageant.
Information
unearthed could be included on the history trail
Monica
Lang
Chair Starcross
History
Appendix 2. Mosaics and Horses Workshop
Alma
Harding and Joanne Bickel will lead a workshop to create mosaics and horses.
The
children from Starcross Primary School will be an important part of these 2
projects
Mosaics
Mosaics
around the village will commemorate Starcross’ history. This idea follows on from the Unearth project and the Peacocks’ Tails’
Trail which took place during the 2016
St George’s Day Celebrations at St Paul’s Church. Led by artist Melissa
Muldoon, children at Starcross Primary School made Peacocks’ Tails which, for
the day, marked an history trail around Starcross. Our mosaics will mark a more
permanent history trail.
During
the Unearth project, it became
apparent that, although people are interested in our history and the origins of
the Starcross street names, information
isn’t readily available. Our street
signs could be illustrated with mosaics. Andrew Stacey, Community Art and
Design Adviser for Teignbridge, has explained about permissions and funding.
Today’s
workshop will invite design and creation of outdoor mosaics. Mosaics could go
on walls, plantpots, concrete slabs - anywhere. Tesserae can be ceramic (tiles
and pottery), metal (bottle tops), or plastic.
Tiles,
grout, wood, cutters etc have been donated from friends and from the Freecycle
network. We can use more.
Please
contact Starcross History with your ideas for mosaic subjects and where they
could be sited.
Horse
Starcross
History plans to call its entry for this year’s Teignmouth TRAIL “Horse” - to
go with our mosaic of Dobbin at the Forge.
A letter has gone out to the parents at Starcross Primary School, to ask them
to save interesting-shaped throwaway plastic that is not currently recycled by
Teignbridge District Council.
Horses,
horse’s heads, or anything horsey can be made from plastic rubbish. Our horse sculptures will be open to all the
elements on Teignmouth seafront for the summer SO they must be secure and will have to be securely anchored
down using fence posts with metal drive-in spikes.
TRAIL
http://www.trailart.co.uk/ is a protest about wasted resources. That our
horse sculptures look out to sea will
speak of the galloping plastic pollution of the 5 oceans.
Please
contact Starcross History with your ideas for horse sculptures
There
is no charge for this workshop, but we have to pay for the room and
scrounge/buy materials, so there will be a collection pot, and a raffle. Please
bring a raffle prize.
Thankyou
Monica
Lang. Chair
The Constitution of Starcross History
This group shall be called ‘Starcross History’
Aims
to invite speakers to meetings
to chronicle the history of Starcross1
to chronicle the histories of Starcross residents
to
catalogue and photograph buildings of interest
to
have an online archive in form of website and/or a blog
to make audio &/or video &/or written record of the history of
Starcross and its residents
to record the whereabouts of artefacts associated with Starcross.
to
encourage, carry out, or help with; tangible projects which document ,
publicise or enhance historical aspects of Starcross
to document archaeological sites in the area
to investigate archaeological sites in the area
to publicise historical aspects of Starcross
to contact the descendants of Starcross historical figures, to keep them
informed about our relevant research and/or projects
to visit places which have a connection to Starcross
to hold social events
to fundraise to support all these activities
Starcross will benefit from these activities
because a wider and more extensive knowledge of its history will add to its
identity.
Members
To join, anyone may add their name and contact
details to the list of members held by the committee.
Starcross History is open to anyone who
supports the aims of the group and participates in its activities
The group will not discriminate on the grounds of
gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, sexuality, disability,
religious or political belief, marital status or age.
There will be no membership fee. Instead, there
will be collections and raffles at meetings, and fundraising events. This
will provide funds for speakers, room hire, storage facilities, a website,
insurance and administration.
Membership will cease when members stop
volunteering or attending activities, or when they ask for their name to be
deleted from the members’ list.
Committee
Initially, a committee will be formed from
volunteers. The committee will comprise: Chair. Secretary and Treasurer.
Further committee members may be co-opted because they have particular skills
or knowledge. Thereafter. a committee will be elected at the Annual
General Meeting
Committee meetings will take place as required
The quorum for committee meetings will be half the
number on the committee at the time
Meetings
Starcross History will hold a meeting every one or
two months.
The date, time and place of the meetings will be
advertised
A financial statement will be presented.
Members and/or invited speakers can address the
meeting.
The meeting can discuss progress on projects,
decide on new projects and plan future activities.
There will be no charge to attend, but there will
be a collection, and a raffle, and a charge for refreshments.
Annual General Meeting
Annual General Meetings will take place with
a maximum interval of 15 months
The date, time and location of the AGM will be
published on the internet, and in local media
Members must submit items for discussion at least
two weeks before the published date of the meeting
Nominations for the committee will be taken as soon
as the meeting date is published, and at the meeting
The quorum for this meeting is set at 5% of the
membership, or 6.
Finance
The Lloyds Bank Treasurer's Account will require 2
signatories for all transactions.
All monies will be counted by 2 members, the
amounts verified and recorded. The monies may be held by the treasurer or a
committee member, and a financial statement presented to the meetings.
Signatories on the bank account will be the
chair, and the treasurer.
Records of income and expenditure will be
maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given to each meeting
An annual statement of accounts will be presented
to the Annual General Meeting
All money raised Starcross History will be spent
solely on the objects laid out in the constitution
Dissolution
If it is agreed to dissolve the group all remaining
money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated
to a relevant Starcross community organisation.
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1 The word ‘Starcross’ will mean ‘Starcross,
in Devon, and the surrounding area’
