The Village

Bridestowe 'the place of St Bridget is a small rural village, which lies at the junction of two small streams, the Lew and Cranford Brook. The village lies in the north eastern corner of a lopsided parish and households away from the village use adjoining villages such as Lydford.

The parish was once the home of tin and copper miners, quarrymen, farm workers, railway and peat workers. Nowadays, there is no industry except the quarry at Meldon and the village is a dormitory for people working in towns and cities such as Okehampton, Tavistick, Exeter or Plymouth.

The heart of the village is now two pubs, the village shop, the parish church, Methodist chapel, and a successful village school with a healthy playgroup. At present the parish has a population of about 495.

Introduction

A steering committee was set up following a general meeting in Autumn 1996 which was called to instigate a parish appraisal. Using a selection of questions supplied by the Community Council of Devon, a questionnaire was devised. The cost to the parish for this exercise was jointly bourne by the Bridestowe Parish Council and the Bridestowe Parish Hall Committee. The aim was that both organisations would have a better appreciation of the resident's view and help to formulate future projects. In particular, the Parish Hall Committee was hoping to get positive feedback about the need for any plans to build a new hall.

The results highlight various concerns. We have tried to make this report an unbiases reflection on the way that people responded to the questions asked. Where relevant, statistics have been shown including opinions where they can highlight an issue. There was, inevitably, some criticism of the type and numbers of questions, but the response has been very good and the rate of over 60% make the figures 'statistically valid'.

A factor not appreciated at the outset, was the steering group had to analyse the returned data from the Community Council of Devon and write the report. the task of writing this took the individuals much longer than anticipated.

To get an understanding of the views of local people, the village was defined as being within the 30-mph speed limit signs. Funding limited the survey to the Parish - though we realise residents of Trescote Way may regard themselves as part of Bridestowe.

The Appraisal will enable your opinions to be forwarded to:
West Devon Borough Council - on development and tourist development
Devon County Council - on public transport, roads and car parking
Police - for help in setting up Neighbourhood Watch Schemes
The Village Hall Committee - for support for a new village hall, site and financing
The Parish Council - local environment, clean up day, council notice board, possibility of newsletter.

The Way Forward

The Steering Committee was pleased with the level of response to the questionnaire from residents of the Parish - now it's time to put words into action.

Consent and support of the Community is needed for these proposals to become reality, so making Bridestowe an even better place to live in.