St Sampson’s Church, South Hill, is delighted to announce the restoration and imminent return of its historic church bells, which took place on January 12 (as we went to print) following a successful fundraising campaign.

In November 2023, the five bells of St Sampson’s Church were carefully removed and transported to Taylors Bell Foundry in Loughborough for urgent restoration, prompted by safety concerns. The bells remained in storage while the church community rallied to raise the necessary funds to restore and rehang these treasured artefacts.

Thanks to the generous support of grant funders including The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Church Care, Aurelius Trust, The Elmgrant Trust, The Sharpe Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, individual donors, local fundraisers, and fundraising events, the target of £30,000 was reached. This collective effort has made it possible for the bells to return and once again be part of South Hill’s heritage.

To celebrate the restoration, the bells were on public display on the floor of St Sampson’s Church on Tuesday, January 13. This offered a rare opportunity for visitors to view the bells up close before they were hoisted back into the tower — a moment of history in the making. The bells are due to ring out again on Friday, January 16, marking the end of a 50-year silence.

The ring of five bells at St Sampson’s Church comprises four cast in 1698 by John Pennington and John Stadler, and a tenor bell cast in 1831 by William and Charles Pannell. Each bell is embellished with the names of local people from their era, serving as a unique testament to the community’s history and heritage. A neighbour said, ‘We are very excited to hear them again’.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players, it supports projects that connect people and communities to heritage. The Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings and our industrial legacy to the natural environment, collections, traditions and stories, heritage encompasses everything from the past that people value and wish to pass on to future generations. The Fund believes in the power of heritage to inspire imagination, offer joy, and build pride in place and connection to the past.

THE Lanreath Amenities Bingo Evening will be held on Wednesday, January 14, at Lanreath Village Hall.

Doors open 6.30pm. Eyes down 7.30pm.

Full house prizes include baskets of fruit/chicken/meat dinners.

Also first and second line prizes, money game, raffle.

Tea/coffee interval or bar facilities available

A spokesperson said: “Do come and join us all monies raised goes back into the community.”

The Village Hall Drama Group presents 'Jack and the Beanstalk' in the Downderry and Seaton Village Hall, Saturday, February 14, and Sunday, February 15, doors open 1.30pm for 2.30pm start and Thursday, February 19, and Saturday, February 21, doors open 6.30pm for 7.30pm start (Friday, February 20 - sold out). A giant of a pantomime with a host of wonderful comedy characters.

Tickets are Adults £10 and Children £5 each. There will be a reasonably priced bar and raffle.

All proceeds from this event will go to the 'Save our Village Hall' appeal.

To purchase tickets and for more information about the appeal for the essential renovations needed to the village hall, go to www.downderryandseatonvillagehall.co.uk

There will be no service at Dobwalls United Church on Sunday, January 18.

There is instead a cluster service at Connon at 10am.

Cleerway Community Church meets at the Memorial Hall, Well Lane, St Cleer, PL14 5EA. Breakfast is served from 9.45am with worship and communion at 10.30am.

Everyone is welcome to join with us. Find us on Facebook or www.cleerway.org.uk

Mondays weekly - Morning prayer at 10am.

Sunday, January 18 - Evensong at 6.30pm.

Sunday, January 18 - Holy Communion at 10am.

THE charity grew out of the amalgamation of the Charles Roberts Charity and the Charity of George Jeffery before compulsory schooling.

These two charities were involved with educating poor children of the parish. In 1925 the two charities combined to be administrated as one Foundation and still functions in conformity with the scheme agreed then. Today we are able to make grants to promote the education of children who reside in the Linkinhorne Parish.

If you have a child or know of a child that could benefit from additional funds in order to meet their full educational potential, please contact Sophie Hughes, secretary on robertsand [email protected] in the first instance for more information. Include details of your request and this will be taken to the next meeting for consideration.

The next committee meeting will take place on Wednesday in the hall at 7pm.

This will take place at Sterts Arts Centre, Upton Cross at 7pm on Friday, January 16, at 7pm. with Quiz Master Simon Parker.

Teams of four to six at £10 per team. Special platters available from the Cornish Wine Company and Cornish Cheese Co available to order. Full bar and snacks and a raffle in aid of Shelterbox Cornwall. Tickets via sterts.co.uk or call 0333 666 33 66.

North Hill Parish Council held their monthly meeting on January 5 at North Hill Village Hall. Several planning applications were considered.

PA25/08719 – Batten Mill, Mill Lane, North Hill – Listed building consent to re roof property – comments submitted on December 17, 2025 to confirm North Hill Parish Council had no objection as works needed to be carried out to prevent loss of historic fabric - This was noted for information.

PA25/09208 – Land North West of Clampit Farm, Linkinhorne – Construction of general purpose agricultural building and stone access track and stone hard standing – no site visit arranged due to nature of the application - It was agreed that as this was an agricultural application a site visit was not needed. Clerk would submit comments to confirm that North Hill Parish Council had no objection to the application subject to the condition that it is used for agricultural purposes only.

PA25/06850 – Yellow on the Broom, Blythes Farm, North Hill, PL15 7PG - Application for Permission in Principle for construction of dwellings (minimal number 4, maximum number 9) – email received to request an agree, disagree or request a referral to planning committee – clerk submitted the general consensus which was to refer to planning committee, one councillor was required to attend – Debate took place regarding the application and evidence was provided of two previous applications that had been refused, one in 1986 which went to appeal following refusal and was turned down following appeal and a further application in 2010 which was again refused. One member of the public raised concerns in relation to there being no pavements and how dangerous this was already for pedestrians without additional buildings being erected.

One councillor was willing to compile a report and attend the committee meeting if it was agreed that this would proceed.

One further application was discussed which had been received the day of the meeting hence was not listed on the agenda:

PA25/09279 – Ring O Bells, Glubhole Lane, North Hill, North Hill, PL15 7PQ – Listed building consent for alterations and repair works, including replacement of windows throughout the house, replacement of heating system and radiators – North Hill Parish Council discussed the application and resolved that this was listed building consent for improvements to a listed building therefore did not feel a site visit was required as it was essential works. There was no objection to the application as it was agreed the building needed to be preserved.

Other matters discussed included North Hill Parish Council Emergency planning procedures. One Councillor gave an update to confirm that the document was now completed, a list of emergency contact numbers would be added and the document would then be placed on the website.

North Hill Parish Council also came to agreement on a donation of £1,500 donation to Coads Green Village Hall to contribute towards a new basket ball court. The Community Highways Improvement Programme is currently open and debate took place regarding the most appropriate and viable option to put forward. The concerns in relation to speeding at Middlewood through to Berrio Bridge were considered however it was unanimously agreed that it would be more appropriate to put forward a request for 30mph signage at Bathpool.

One councillor was going to request an appropriate location be identified by the police between Berrio Bridge and Middlewood for Community Speed Watch to be able to monitor speeding on this stretch of road. It was further agreed that the clerk would respond to the Cornwall Bus survey to confirm that overall the area was well covered by bus services however there had been a complaint that the 78 no longer stopped at Liskeard train station, thus did not provide a link for people to get further afield by train due to the walking distance from Liskeard town centre where it was currently stopping.

The next meeting is due to take place on February 2 at North Hill Village Hall. Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting and raise any issues they may have.