IT is hard to say where Bray Shop actually lies. If you head towards Callington from Coads Green on the B3257 you will go through the middle. But when it comes to paperwork, it be-comes more difficult. The small village takes in three different parishes (Linkinhorne, South Hill and Stoke Climsland) and two different district councils (Caradon and North Cornwall).

This does make village life quite unique, with two different sets of bin men and residents having to vote in the South East Cornwall area, despite some of the village belonging to North Cornwall. It was said that one of the elderly residents could go to bed with her feet in one parish and her head in another!

It is also not certain where the name of the village actually came from, although signs once read 'Bray's Shop', but when or where the shop was located or if this was one of the blacksmiths in the village is not known. There were once three blacksmiths, Betty and Ken Wilton, who have lived in Bray Shop for 30 years after moving from Sharptor, live in one of the old forges. Ken works as a builder, taking local jobs like renovating old barns, as well as doing year round maintenance on properties.

In his spare time, Ken breeds and trains springer spaniels, as well as judging them for competitions and also competing them in field trials.

He also takes time for country sports and growing his own vegetables. A few years ago the family also kept livestock, but when prices went down and the amount of paperwork to the keep the animals increased, the family gave it up. Ken said, 'The village itself has not changed that much as not many houses have been built .'

His son, Steve, who lives just over the road from his parents, has also joined the trade and works with his father on building sites.

Quiet and peaceful

Betty, who is a churchwarden at Linkinhorne parish church and is kept busy with her two grandsons, used to be the centre for the newspaper drop after the shop closed, 20 years ago.

She said, 'I find Bray Shop a quiet and peaceful place to live. We hardly notice the traffic around here and it is a handy place to shop from, with good roads to Bodmin, Launceston, Callington and Liskeard.'

There is also a small methodist chapel in the village. Built 110 years ago, it lies on the side of the road, facing the site of the former building.

The old chapel, now a garage, once had a visit from methodist preacher Billy Bray. Legend has it that the crowds who turned up to see him were so large that he could not get in the front door.

This left Billy to enter the chapel through a rear window, in order to preach. The new chapel was extended in 1932 and is on the Callington and Gunnislake circuit.

The organ in the chapel has been played by Sylvia Rickard since 1936. Sylvia lives in a locally built house in the village. The stone work came from Kit Hill while all the slates came from Delabole, with the house being built by her father.

She said, 'I remember when my father went around the area looking for work.

Once, when few of the local farms had any work or money to give, my father did some in exchange for a piece of land, where now my house lies.' Sylvia has lived in the village all her life.

Her late husband, Gilbert, used to ride his bicycle to see her when they were dating, a feat all the more impressive when he rode from St Dominic. Still active in community life, Sylvia enters South Hill flower show every year and regularly wins many cups and prizes.

Her friend, Margaret Mullett, is also involved with the chapel in the village.

Originally moving here in 1982, she likes the village but finds it difficult to get a real community spirit with no focal point or a place to meet, as the village's only shop closed around 20 years ago.

Keen swimmers

Margaret said: 'I love living here as it is quite quiet, apart for the road through the middle. It is not really a community, but there are still a nice group of people here.'

Margaret brought up her three daughters, Vivian, Rachel and Rebecca, in the village.

All of the girls unfortunately were born with spinal muscular atrophy- a neurological disease that stops the muscles from working. Rebecca sadly died as a result of the problem, but Rachel and Vivian have outdone expectations.

Both keen swimmers, Rachel now teaches swimming at Tavistock, while Vivian represented her country. She was part of the Great Britain paralympic swimming squad that took part in Atlanta in 1996.

Roy and Irene Gilbert are two very well travelled residents of the village.

After working in Devonport dockyard, Roy took on a larger electricians role with the MOD, working at nuclear submarine stations around the world including five years in Malaysia and five years in Scotland. Then in 1973 they bought their house in Bray Shop, moving to the village in 1975 after Roy decided to retire.

Since then they have kept themselves busy with different hobbies. Irene is an embroiderer and an artist.

Lucky experience

She has embroidered everything from car cloths to stools and has even got her own version of the the Bayeux tapestry.

Irene studied at Plymouth college of art and design in 1932, after winning a scholarship there. She married Roy in 1938 and followed him around the world after he left Devonport.

During the Second World War, Irene had a rather lucky experience during the bombing raids. She said, 'The house I originally lived in was bombed during an attack on Plymouth. So then I had to move in with my mother.

Then, that was bombed, forcing me to live with my mother-in-law, which in turn, was hit. This forced me to rent a flat, which, yet again, was hit. I was a bit fed up with this, so I moved to a farm outside of Plymouth.

Then, one night, on the way back from a bombing raid on Plymouth, a group of German planes had a few bombs left, and decided to get rid of them before they went back. These bombs didn't hit the house, but did hit the farmyard in front of it!'

Roy himself has the claim of being the son of the oldest England rugby international, who played for his country at the age of 39.

Talking about Bray Shop, Irene said that the village was, 'A nice quiet place, with some very friendly people living in it.'

Peggy and John have lived in Bray Shop for nearly 30 years and are in the Stoke Climsland part. They have raised a family in the village and find life there friendly and relaxing. Peggy said, 'In Bray Shop people are always nice to each other.

'If you see someone in the village, they will always stop, say hello and ask how you are feeling. It is quite nice and people are easy to approach.'

In the garden

A keen gardener, we caught John at potato tilling time. One of his favourite hobbies, John has kept a garden since he left farming in 1969 and the family regularly eats his home grown produce. John and Peggy also have a passion for animals.

They have two cats and one rescue dog, George, to look after in their home, and Irene said, 'One of the two cats is quite a fussy eater. While nine out of ten cats will eat cat food, we have one that will only eat raw mince meat!'