Budleigh Past and Present

  Two Friends of Fairlynch will shortly be leading walks organised by the Otter Valley Association but open to all. On Saturday 30 November David Daniel will be the walk leader on what is described as a short and sociable three-mile walk on the commons to relieve those growing pre-Christmas pressures. The start is at 10.00 am at Wheathill Plantation car park (map ref SY041847).           A trek along Hawkerland valley  Image credit Rob Purvis On Saturday 7 December Brian Turnbull will lead a five-mile moderate walk starting at 10.00 am at Colaton Raleigh Church (map ref SY082872) , going down green lanes and over the commons, visiting Dotton, Hawkerland and Knapps land.  There is an optional lunch at the Otter Inn. For more details contact Brian on 01395 567339.           The Otter Inn, Colaton Raleigh To help you decide, click on http://www.otterinn.co.uk/                 Dalditch Common, with a sea view     Then on T

  A corner of the Carter Library at Fairlynch Museum At the tenth Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Fairlynch on 22 March 1979, Priscilla Hull, as Chairman of the Management Committee of the Museum, reported that the Library, under the care of Mrs Van Meter, was “now available on certain days each week, or by special appointment.”     A young Frances Van Meter. She is described as the second wife of a Eugene Van Meter at  www.vanmetre.com Frances Van Meter (1909-94) born in Bardwell, Carlisle County , in Kentucky USA, was one of the founding members of what became the Manchester Center in Lexington ’s Irishtown , Kentucky .   How, after an eventful life of such high achievement, she came to settle in the tranquil surroundings of Budleigh Salterton as Librarian of the local museum is one of the many curiosities and unanswered questions that I’ve met at Fairlynch.   If any of my US readers has the

    The Victoria and Albert Museum , London Image credit: Andreas Praefcke Visiting one of our national institutions like the British Museum or the V&A brings home to you the big difference between them and little outfits like Fairlynch. It’s money of course. Volunteer-run museums such as Budleigh Salterton’s operate on a relative shoestring, frequently running at a loss because of the cost of maintenance both of the building and of the environmental conditions needed to conserve artefacts.       Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)    Image credit: Michael Maggs   Our damp English autumn is a time for fungi foragers, for mushrooms, for spectacular toadstools like this, and of course for mould. Yesterday I remembered too late that I’d left my smart new gardening gloves in the potting shed at the end of the summer. When I went to rescue   them they’d changed colour from yellow to soft powdery grey. It was a simple