On Saturday, March 21, at 7.30pm at Launceston Central Methodist Church, Launceston Choral Society will be performing two works by Sir John Rutter to celebrate both his long-overdue knighthood and his 80th birthday last September: his “Magnificat” and “Feel the Spirit”.

A Londoner by birth, Sir John attended Highgate School which had a fine musical tradition, his time there coinciding with that of composers Sir John Tavener and Howard Shelley OBE. During his time as a student at Clare College, Cambridge he began publishing his own works, the first being “The Shepherd’s Pipe Carol”. He became director of music at the college and later formed the Cambridge Singers, founding his own record label and editing many musical anthologies, collaborating with Sir David Willcocks on the highly successful “Carols for Choirs” series.

For the concert the society is delighted to welcome back well known local mezzo soprano, Shelley Coulter-Smith, who will be the soloist in both works. Mary Mazur-Park will return to accompany on the organ and piano and the concert will be conducted by musical director, Jonathan Mann.

Tickets £10 are available from choir members, David Parish Menswear, on the door or by telephoning 01566 772701. At the end of the concert there will be a retiring collection for Cornwall Hospice.

ON February 21 Launceston and District Cats Protection held its first event of 2026 at Lifton Community Centre.

Crowds of people turned up in anticipation of another fabulous jumble sale and they were not disappointed in the least. As ever, the hall was filled with tables holding a range of bargain-priced goods that were eagerly being snapped up left, right and centre!

The general feeling was that it was great to be back after the winter shutdown and everyone was looking forward to spring and better days. Thanks went to all who came to support and to help raise an amazing £1,027.76.

Thanks must also go to the dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly beforehand, as well as on the day, to make the event so successful. All of the money raised stays in the local branch to continue the essential work helping cats and kittens in their care.

Future events for the year ahead can be found listed on the website www.cats.org.uk/launceston or on Facebook Launceston-District-Cats-Protection-Branch

THE World Day of Prayer service for the Callington area was held on Friday, March 6, at St Mary's Parish Church, Callington.

People from the town and village churches came together to worship, pray and celebrate using the material prepared by women from Nigeria.

The collection raised £284. Thanks to our hosts, everyone who came, took part and prepared the lovely lunch giving us all time to share fellowship and food. Here are some of the people who took part in the service.

ON February 24, 'The Ladybirds’ gathered together in the Stable at Chilsworthy Chapel, to watch and take part in making sugar flowers for cake decorating.

This was presented by Hilbre Watts from Kilkhampton, who has spent many years in the catering trade. She was a great teacher and soon we were all making roses in various colours and sizes! An interesting afternoon was enjoyed by all.

The monthly coffee morning for March, hosted as always by chapel and hall was held on March 5 in the Social Club at the Village Hall. Thanks to Christine Tratt and Lorraine Marshall for acting as hosts this month.

A LARGE number of people ttended the coffee and cake morning held at Pancrasweek hall on February 20.

The charity for this event was for Farm Community Network and raised £228. Many thanks to all who supported this event. The next one will be held on April 17.

A 'Stations of the Cross' service was held at St. Pancras Church on Saturday evening March 7. This is a reflective Lenten practice involving prayful contemplation on the final hours leading up to Jesus; crucifixion. Rev Alison Hardy led the service and the congregation took part in the readings at the 14 stations around the church, starting with when Jesus was condemmed to death, right through to when his body was placed in the tomb. 'When I survey the wonderous Cross' was sung at the beginning and 'There is a Green hill' at the end. Refreshments wre served at the close.

NORTH Hill Parish Council held their monthly meeting on March 2 at North Hill Village Hall. There were no planning applications forwarded by Cornwall Council that needed to be discussed however several planning notifications were forwarded by Cornwall Council for information.

These included 1) PA25/08719 - Battens Mill, Mill Lane, North Hill, PL15 7NU - Proposal Listed building consent to re-roof the property to ensure it remains weather-tight and prevent loss of historic fabric – approved – This was noted for information. 2) PA26/00413 - Trebartha Barton, North Hill, PL15 7PD - Proposal Submission of details to discharge Condition 3 in respect of Decision Notice PA24/08417 dated 15.01.2025 – S52/S106 and discharge of condition – One Councillor confirmed the details of discharge of Condition 3 which was the request to complete a habitat protection plan which had now been done and 3) PA25/09208 - Land North West of Clampit Farm, Linkinhorne, PL17 8QR - Proposal Construction of a general purpose agricultural building and retention of works already executed including the construction of a stone access track and stone hard standing – approved – The clerk had previously submitted comments on the 6th January to confirm that North Hill Parish Council had no objections to the application subject to the condition that it was used for agricultural purposes only. One Councillor confirmed that the conditions included “The building hereby permitted shall be used solely for the storage of agricultural machinery, equipment, and associated materials, and shall not be used for the housing, keeping, or accommodation of livestock at any time or for any other purposes”.

Other matters discussed included a street lamp in North Hill which required replacement, it was reported to Cornwall Council with a request for it to be fixed as a matter of urgency as the area was so dark it was not safe to walk. It was confirmed that the quarterly inspection of the play area had taken place with no significant defects identified. The emergency plan was also discussed and continues to be progressed. Volunteers are to be identified in each village should there be a period of extremely bad weather or a telecommunications breakdown for any length of time. North Hill Parish Council will shortly be changing to .org email addresses to ensure compliance with new regulations under Data Protection law, coupled with this, an Information Technology Policy has been implemented. A date for the April meeting was confirmed for April 8 due to the Easter weekend break. The tenders received to date in relation to the potential creation of a path at the top of the field in order to access the new cemetery were briefly discussed, any further tenders are welcome until March 20 which is the closing date. Finally, it was confirmed that Highways had added the poor state of Mill Lane, heading into Bathpool, to their Post April drainage repair programme.

The next meeting is due to take place on Wednesday, April 8, at 7.30pm at North Hill Village Hall. Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting, alternatively any comments or suggestions can be emailed to the clerk at [email protected] comments forwarded will be discussed at the next meeting.

Stara Woods — Stara Woods is a piece of land owned by the Friends of Stara woods CIO (Charity). Its primary mission is to conserve the vulnerable fauna and flora in/on this land towards returning it to the fully fledged piece of Atlantic Rainforest which nature and geology created before humans came along and interfered. It now qualifies by the strictest definition, but there is still work to do over decades or even centuries as trees live in different timescale to us.

To get there we need support of the local community both emotionally and financially, particularly as grant funding has become harder to get, and, when it is available there is detailed ring fencing around its use. Most of our current finding is from donation, and , thank you, we are trying very hard to use contributions wisely and in line with core goals. It is therefore important that in return we provide (to you, the community) access to the woods to live, breath and enjoy this space. There is public liability insurance, paths and the footbridge to fund and maintain.

Information to join the Friends of Stara Woods contact Anne Hughes [email protected] or text 07710 348789.

Details regarding working parties contact simonhumphreys57@gmail,com or text 07710 348789. Information from Piers Freeman.