SET on the southern slopes of Bodmin Moor, Cardinham is a place of great beauty and antiquity - and at the start of a new Millennium is also home to a thriving school and an enthusiastic community.

It is definitely a place for peace of mind, for it was recently confirmed as one of the safest places to live in the country, as regards crime.

The village of Cardinham is set in Cardinham parish, which incorporates a number of hamlets, such as Millpool. It takes two days to beat the bounds because the parish is about 26 miles all round. This was undertaken, however, to mark the Millennium.

The parish clerk is Rosemary Rowe who lives in the old post office, and uses the former post office section of the building as her work room.

She is very adept at patchwork and quilting and was recently involved, with Cardinham school pupils, in making a quilt featuring around 72 panels.

The children each hand painted their choice of design on a block, and all designs were then incorporated into the finished product.

Rosemary's current project is making a Cardinham flag to a competition-winning design by young Louis Spear.

It features St Piran's flag and a Celtic cross and may eventually fly from the church as there are hopes to replace the church's flag pole.

Rosemary, who has been parish clerk for 11 years, is married to Francis whose family have strong ties with Cardinham parish. Francis' cousin lives nearby and breeds Shetland ponies, while his grandfather, Thomas Rowe, was married in St Meubred's, the 15th Century church where the current priest-in-charge is the Rev Andrew Balfour.

The grandfather of North Cornwall MP, Paul Tyler, was vicar there, and Mr Tyler has always been supportive of the village. Francis explained that the church's altar rail is in memory of Tom and Paul, who were both killed in the First World War and who would have been related to Mr Tyler if they had lived.

Both Rosemary and her husband said the village is a friendly, happy place to live.

Changing ways of living mean it is not quite as closeknit as it once was, but it is still full of community spirit.

Their daughter, Louise Oates, lives next door with her husband Andrew, and sons Isaac aged six and Haydn aged four.

Family

The boys attend the local school and are the third generation of the family to be pupils there.

Four generations of June Tucker's family attended the school. Both June, who originates from nearby Millpool, and her late husband were pupils - although he was in a higher class than her - following in family footsteps. Their three sons also went to Cardinham primary, her step-granddaughter is currently there, and her granddaughter's name will go on roll soon. June also spent 12-and-a-half years as cleaner at the school, and said she has never thought of moving away from Cardinham.

She emphasised how the villagers look out for one another, and help each other. She is currently on her traditional rounds, selling poppies for Remembrance Sunday. Many of those brought up in the parish at the same time as she was have moved on, she said, but there are others, still in the village, who have been part of the fabric of Cardinham for a long time, such as Mrs Ede who is now in her nineties.

The fact that family ties are strong in such Cornish moorland villages is evident at the church. Many living abroad in Australia or New Zealand, whose mining ancestors moved away from Cornwall to find their fortune, return seeking their 'roots'. A number of them include Cardinham on their Cornish visiting list.

An entry made in the church visitors' book only this week is from Wendy and Doug Rouse of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, who wrote that it was 'great to visit the village where grandfather George Hicks was christened on 20 January l858'.

The church is built on the site of an ancient oratory, and the tower bells have been in place since the days when Henry VIII was young. The parish stocks are in the porch, and a Celtic cross in the churchyard is described as 'one of the best in England'.

Current school secretary is Julie Best, who has always lived in Cardinham parish. Her husband, Colin, is a farmer at Lidcutt, which has been in the family for generations. She remembers a fun-filled, rural childhood in which children could happily and safely roam the local countryside making camps.

Improvements

Julie has been school secretary for 14 years, is also secretary of the village hall (where bookings secretary is Ella Bate, chairman is Gilbert Roose and treasurer is Steve Best), and is parish council vice-chairman, the chairman being John Bate.

The hall committee is currently raising money to fund improvements to the building - and has already gained some grants for this. Lottery money went towards provision of a disabled toilet while another £5,000 was obtained for new windows and doors. Julie - mother to Peter aged 21, David aged 18 and Jamie aged 13 - said the hall is always busy. It is where the parish council meets, and is also the venue for dances, discos, whist drives, fetes and a village market once a year, as well as a pre-school group.

A whist drive is to be held there on November 8 at 7.30pm, while a chorale concert is to take place later in the month. A New Year's disco is booked for January 6.

On Tuesday it was used by the school for a PE session. Pupils at Cardinham primary come from a variety of moorland villages and hamlets, as well as from Bodmin itself and other neighbouring villages. It celebrated its centenary in l982, and the original Victorian building still forms the main part of the school.

Harvest

However, it has been extended - the newest extension opened at the beginning of this term and incorporating office accommodation with a classroom below.

The school recently celebrated harvest at Cardinham's Methodist chapel, with children performing during the service. An auction of produce took place later at the school, proceeds shared between school funds and Action Aid.

A school dance for adults will be held in the hall on November 25 for school funds, and in the run-up to Christmas the youngsters will perform their traditional array of plays. They are also likely to attend a Christingle service in the church. The school, with 65 youngsters currently attending, has three classes. Mrs Hunt takes year l/reception/early years, while Mrs Henry is teacher for years two/ three, and head teacher Sylvia Fairs takes years four/five/six.

The school is linked to Nanstallon and Lanivet under the county's small schools cluster scheme, and has emerald green school sweatshirts and white shirts/blouses and grey or black trousers/skirts as a uniform. There are running tracks, a football pitch and a long jump pit on the school field, and a netball court on the playground, while year two pupils upwards swim at the leisure centre in Bodmin once a week. Most pupils transfer at age 11 to Bodmin Community College.

Cardinham is also known for its airfield, popular with pilots of both gliders and light powered aircraft, and for the variety of trails through Cardinham woods - these varying from steep to flat, giving walkers a choice. The village also has a small, quite new, sports club with tennis court, which was opened by Paul Tyler and is sited on the road just below the church.

Among the many who are very aware of the charm of the parish is George Ardell, who was born in Ireland but who lived for years on a farm in Cardinham and whose daughter now runs a farm in the village. George helps her look after her cattle - when he has time, for he has spent a great deal of his life travelling the world. He recently went on a package deal to China and visited Tia-na-men Square in Beijing, together with the Great Wall of China and the Yangtze river which he first saw 65 years ago while in the Services.

He has also been to Mexico, America, the Fiji Islands, the Sahara desert, Sinai, Romania, New Zealand, Ayers Rock in Australia, Bulgaria, British Columbia, Sweden, Vladivostock via the trans Siberian railway, Malta, Chile, Brazil and Robinson Crusoe's island, as well as other exotic places.

He is now thinking of booking his next trip - although at the end of it he will, as usual, return to the tranquillity of the Cardinham area.