THERE may be few facilities in the village of Bethany. There is no shop, or pub, and the school closed down some while ago. However, the absentees are more than compensated for by a chapel with a thriving Sunday school - and a great deal of community spirit.

Residents also have the best of both worlds, living out in the countryside but being relatively near towns such as Liskeard and Saltash, and the city of Plymouth.

Derek Gillbard of Catchfrench Farm has been a steward at Bethany chapel for about 15 years, and said that for a small chapel it has a remarkably buoyant Sunday school of about 11 children. He emphasised its friendliness, and said the Sunday School anniversary is celebrated annually, on Easter Sunday, and a number of Christmas services are always held. This year there will be a candlelight service on December 17, with the youngsters singing at a carol service on December 24.

The old chapel was previously across the road to its present site, but this building has now been converted to a house and is the home of Patrick and Sonia Stevenson who used to run the acclaimed Horn of Plenty restaurant at Gulworthy.

The original chapel, before it was extended, is now the Stevensons' music room, resplendent with a portrait of Sonia painted by artist Rodney Russell when she was a violinist at the Royal School of Music. Not to be outdone Patrick is equally talented and can play an array of instruments, including the harp. He often plays the organ at the 'new' chapel when called upon. The couple's two sons are also musical, and their latest picture of their two-year-old granddaughter, Seren, shows her playing two keyboards at the same time.

Sonia's culinary ability is also undisputed, shown by her being hon vice president of the Master Chefs of Great Britain and Chief Laureate of the British Academy of Gastronomes. When she and Patrick were running the Horn of Plenty the restaurant was described in Egon Ronay's prestigious l98l guide as providing the 'Best Cooking in the British Isles'. She is now a cookery writer, her favourite book being the 'Magic of Saucery', but she has also written 'Prime Cuts - the last word in beef' which the Meat and Livestock Council have shown great interest in, and a 'Fresh Look at Fish'. She was beaten to a prestigious cookery book prize by her friend Rick Stein, and as a 'penance' for beating her he agreed to write one of her forewards.

Both Sonia and Patrick stressed how friendly and generous the people of Bethany and the surrounding area are. Patrick, who has not been in the best of health lately, highlighted how many local people had visited to wish him well. He and his wife outlined, as well, events at the chapel such as Christmas concerts, which bring people together. They, themselves, organised a concert of music there last year. They also attend Menheniot chapel, and one of Sonia's recent fund-raisers was making a huge bowl of Christmas pudding mix, from which people could take their own mixture to boil at home. Sonia is kept busy with such events, recently making a charity dinner in the Isle of Man for 102 people, and this week travelling to Wales.

The musical talent spreads next door where Allen and Susan Glassock live. Allen is an accomplished guitarist who played for a number of well known bands from the early l960s onwards, but has now retired from performing and touring professionally. However, he appeared on stage with Sonia and Patrick at their musical show in the chapel last year, and thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. The Glassocks have brought up two children in the village, daughter Jacqueline and son David, 20, who is studying architecture at the University of Plymouth. Allen and Susan live in one of a row of four cottages opposite the current chapel.

Ideal place

They were built in l88l and were farmers' cottages. Susan said Bethany has been an ideal place in which to live, being in the countryside, but near enough to towns and shops. Although their children are grown up and like the bright lights, they also still enjoy returning home.

Anne Hall is chairperson of the Bethany playgroup for under fives, which meets in the chapel on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9-11.30pm. She has lived in the village for eight years with her husband Martin, and their three children - Charlotte aged seven, Alex aged five and Patrick aged three - have been brought up there. The two older children attend Menheniot primary, but Patrick, who was born in their cottage, is a playgroup member. Anne, who is the Bethany ward representative on St Germans parish council, said despite the absence of shop or pub etc there is a spirit of friendship in the village. She is helped out at playgroup by Angela Bond of Trerulefoot, and a great deal of assistance with their dressing up clothes etc is given by Hessenford Handicrafts. She said: 'Everyone looks after each other in their own quiet way'.

The building which housed the former village school has now been renovated and made into a residential property - the home of Michael Targett and his wife Alice Veronica.

Gerald Pote has lived in his home at Clennick Farm (Clinick on the old maps) since l957. He is now a part-time, semi-retired sheep farmer. He moved to Clennick after marrying his first wife, Barbara Jones, as her family ran the farm - 'Bill' Jones, who is in his eighties, still living there.

Gerald's daughter, Sarah Cudmore, runs the chapel's Sunday school. She lives across the valley from Gerald (who is the other chapel steward) with husband, Michael, and their children Samuel aged eight and Lowenna aged six. It is thought their house may date from the 1630s.

Gerald said little has changed at Bethany over the decades, as shown by the return recently of a German prisoner-of-war who had worked there after being captured during the Second World War. He was amazed that so little had changed.

Gerald's eldest son attended Bethany's former school, and said he believed it eventually closed due to there being l8 children on the roll rather than the necessary 20.

Living with Gerald at Clennick is his second wife, 'Glen', whom he married after becoming a widower. Bethany has now been her home for around four years, and she spoke of its peace and quiet, but said initially she found it difficult to be somewhere where it is absolutely pitch black at night - with no lights at all. Born in Gunnislake, she left Cornwall for a while, but is happy to have returned. The fields around their home - which was renovated and restored after being burned down about 150 years ago - are a haven for wildlife, and a young deer was seen not far from the window the other day.

French raiders

Gerald tells the story that Bill Jones' father, Grandfather Jones, used to relate of how some of the local names were supposed to have developed. He said a group of French 'raiders' landed at Landrake and, to rebuff them, farmers living nearby set bulls upon them with the blades of scythes strapped to their horns. The French were eventually caught at Catchfrench, and a number of the injured were said to have been tended at the farm, then called Clinick. Those who died were reportedly buried at Paderbury Top.

Pete and Ruby Charlton live in a cottage at the entrance to Clennick. Ruby, who is keen on cookery and grows her own herbs, moved there in l986 after marrying Pete. She used to live in a thatched cottage right on Sennen Cove, and says she does miss being able to see the sea, her children and grandchildren still living at Sennen. On their land at Bethany Pete and Ruby keep five roosters and 21 chickens, as well as three female Muscovy ducks. Pete said one of the reasons he moved there was because of the space.