MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Diamond Jubilee Celebrations
Morchard Bishop will be celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in style!
The Jubilee celebrations will take place Commonwealth wide over the long weekend 2nd - 5th June 2012. On Monday 4th June there will be 2012 beacons lit throughout the country - including here in Morchard Bishop! The Parochial Church Council have given permission for a beacon to be lit on top of St.Mary's Church Tower. (No it is not a bonfire but a special propane fired beacon).
Other celebrations are planned including a street party for the whole village, a procession with a Jubilee King and Queen, a special church service, a party for children, an evening dance and BBQ, a Jubilee walk and cream tea.
Meetings are now being held regularly to plan and organise this event and EVERYONE IS WELCOME. Minutes of these meetings are available for everyone to read and download on the Parish Council area of this web site. The next meeting is shown under the Key Events on this page.
KEY EVENTS
Also see the Devon County Council's Community Website
December 16
MB School Autumn Term ends
December 17
Carol Service, St Mary's Church, Mulled Wine and mince pies
January 2
Parish Council Meeting
January 4
MB School Spring Term starts
January 7
Emmanuel Church New Year Party
January 11
W.I. Fun Quiz & Bring & Share
January 11
Gardening Club Social Evening and Bring & Share Buffet
January 27 & 28
Men of Morchard's Farewell Concerts
February 9, 10, 11
Treasure Island
Flower Festival 2011
To view photogrphs of June's Flower Festival click here
Footpaths around Morchard Bishop and ...
Walking Maps
With over 40 footpaths, Morchard Bishop has one the highest number of public footpaths of any Parish in Devon. The walks available are very varied in length, difficulty and vistas.
The Parish Paths Partnerships Scheme (P3 for short) is an initiative to ensure that the entire rights of way network is legally defined, properly maintained and well publicised. It has the support of the National Association of Local Councils and is government funded. The Devon County Council was one of the first fifteen Highway Authorities to participate in this scheme, which encourages community involvement and enjoyment of public rights of way. Devon County Council is working in partnership with Parish/Town Councils, landowners and local voluntary groups. The main aim is to improve the condition of the local rights of way and keep them open and used properly.Parish/Town Councils in the scheme receive a grant to undertake rights of way work.
The grant, paid by Devon County Council, covers three
elements -
i) The mileage, based on the length of rights of way in theParish
ii) Special projects, and
iii) Administrative costs.
Path condition survey and inspection
Each year before the Parish/Town Council receives its annual grant it
organises a survey -
This is an assessment of the condition of the rights of way, in order
to find out what work needs to be done.
The survey provides the information necessary for calculation of the grant
payment.
Developments and improvements - upgrading and re-opening paths by undertaking
practical work such as vegetation clearance, repairing stiles and waymarking,
in consultation with farmers and landowners;
Events - helping people to feel confident about using the network by organising,
for example, guided walks and rights of way days;
Publicity and promotion - letting people know about the availability of
the rights of way network through, for example, leaflets or map boards.
This is a final stage, reflecting the improved condition of the path network.
The Parish Paths Liaison Officer operates the scheme - and for the Morchard Bishop Parish our P3 Officer is Julie Rudge. (see also the Local Artists section on this web site)
Julie regularly organises walks in the Parish, usually taking about 2 - 3 hours. The walks are leisurely and for all ability levels. They are a fantasitic way of getting know your local areas, the beauty that is the Devon countryside - and also your walking companions. The walks are publicised regularly in the Morchard Messenger and the accompanying hand drawn maps are available from Julie (tel 01363 877528) or can be downloaded from this web site.
To go to the walks maps click here
The Devon County Council web section on Public Rights of Way can be accessed by clicking here
An excellent interactive footpaths GIS (Geographic Information System) map for Devon can be accessed clicking here You can zoom into any area of Devon to see the local footpaths and bridleways
Morchard Bishop and Broadband
The section on the change from a Broadband website to the Morchard Bishop Website is being retained for those who still need to reference this section.
Similarly the advice section on how to obtain Broadband has been retained.
