Altarnun Chatterbox

Usually well attended with up to 22 participants at the village hall, bi monthly for 2 hours, who enjoy something to eat that each other have brought along and combine with bric a brac sales. Open to all ages but typically from 45 up to 96!

Craft & Produce Market

Another thriving event at the Church Hall held on the 2nd Saturday of the month, 10-12.30 pm throughout the year, usually consisting of 16/18 stalls taken entirely by people from the parish, selling a a whole spectrum of things, including locally grown produce, plants, greeting cards, hand made toys, woodwork items, jewellery, soaps and honey. All proceeds from the stall holders pitch fee go towards the halls' maintenance.

Community Lunches

Run weekly by willing volunteers and helpers , from May to September in the Church Hall. 40/60 covers served per week and prices are maintained as low as possible, with surplus funds going toward the church hall renovations. People come from all over Cornwall and have included a group of Lambretta riders, various walking groups and even visitors from Australia & Saudi!

Knit and Natter Group

Consists of up to 20 members who meet in the church hall, for 2 hour sessions. Numbers are on the increase, and all enjoy the company of each other, with refreshments being served. As well as being a social outlet where members can be given assistance in learning new skills, they also knit toys and decorate clothes in aid of charitable causes. In the year to date funds collected have allowed donations of shampoo, shower gel etc to the Launceston Hospital Hygiene Bank. Also, at the community lunches and Craft & Produce market days the group runs a 'Bargain Corner' to raise funds for the hall.

Church Hall Renovation Committee

The hall is becoming used more than ever by local community, social and theatre groups and as a children's party venue. There is a need to maintain the various fund raising initiatives to continue the renovation work.

Penpont Players

After the lull from COVID, we lost several members who had been part of family groups. The 3 years without performing had led many to move on to new interests or had simply grown out of it. We came back with a play in November 2022, and then looked forward to building our membership back up. We held some workshops in early 2023, pulling in new people who got a taste of what we did as a Am-dram society. Some stayed to join us in our first pantomime since COVID. Rehearsals began in October 2023 and we performed in February 2024. It was a very successful pantomime, and we were sold out every night.

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel plans for a play due to some of the cast’s family commitments. There is breakfast morning coming up in June and we already starting to think about next year’s pantomime! Thanks to Adrian Parsons and the Community Chest fund to help purchase new laptops. These are invaluable for writing and technical planning. The next project is looking at funding to help repair the staging, as this is no longer working properly. We will be at Fun on the Green and participating in the Fun Fortnight.

Friends of Altarnun School

It was a busy autumn term with a Harvest Auction (£2000), Halloween Trail in the village, burgers at Laneast’s Firework night, a wreath making workshop, and a Christmas Fair and raffle. This term we have had a clothes collection, Lambing Bingo and we look forward to summer events such as a Duck Race, a Breakfast morning, Bingo and Fun on the Green. From these events, we have funded new picnic benches at school, subsidised school trips inc. pantomime in Plymouth, and lots of smaller things to help give the children some fun and treats. We aim to support the school through learning and play, giving all the children school resources as well as fun treats and events that round out their childhood experience.

Altarnun Village Show

With a committee of 8 people who organise and run the Village Show which will take place this August in the Church Hall.

There is adequate financing in place, and judges for the classes have been selected and a list of classes has been published in a previous Tre Pol Pen. The official schedule will be available soon.

Tre Pol Pen Magazine

The magazine continues to be popular with sales of about 175 per month and is financially secure. Despite rising costs, the 48 page all colour magazine, the management committee has maintained its cover price at 75p and is not planning any price increase this year.

Whilst a committee of 5 manages the magazine, there are 25 regular another 5 occasional contributors making it a truly local magazine. It continues to publicise details of all upcoming events in the community as well as provide updates on village organisations. The general interest articles and puzzles remain popular.

The magazine is well supported by local advertisers and the business directory format continues to work well for readers and advertisers. The majority of advertisers have had entries in the magazine for between 5 and 10 years.

The most significant risk to the future of the magazine is the lack of a deputy editor to assist with putting the magazine together each month and providing cover in the event of the editor being ill or away. In due course the current editor will stand down and, if the magazine is to continue to support the community, a replacement will be needed.

Altarnun Walkers

Despite the very wet winter the walkers have only cancelled 4 walks in the last 12 months. The group is casual with no formal membership with anyone welcome to come along on a Thursday morning for a 2 – 3 hour walk, finishing with lunch, usually at the Kings Head, for those who wish to. Attendances vary from 6 – 18 and average around a dozen. The group has about 40 regular and another 20 occasional walking routes within about 20 miles of Altarnun.

Since 2010 the group has tended not to use the local footpath network as lack of maintenance of stiles and bridges from 2008 onwards made many routes difficult to traverse especially for groups of varying levels of mobility. When there has been heavy rain the group walks routes with good, well maintained paths and tracks, lanes or on well drained moorland and avoids field and woodland paths.

Altarnun Twinning Association

Altarnun and Gueltas in Brittany twinned in 2009 but over the last 12 months there has been no exchange activity. Brexit and Covid were challenges for all twinning groups. The increasing costs of travel and post Brexit bureaucracy around passports have made it more difficult to organise exchange visits.

There have been several attempts to restart the link between the schools in Gueltas and Altarnun without success. In the past the children have learned about their twin community with exchanges of pictures, letters, videos etc with some basic language lessons all with head teachers co-operating to provide stimulating shared teaching materials. The ultimate objective is to give pupils from both communities the opportunity to visit their twin school but also to provide pupils in both schools with a better understanding of each other’s way of life.

The Twinning Association in Altarnun will stay in contact with the Comite de Jumelage in Gueltas with both organisations writing articles for the other’s community magazine and the chairmen of the two organisations meeting a couple of times a year. It is hoped that a small group from Altarnun can go to Gueltas in late 2024 or early 2025 and that after the elections the new Mayor of Gueltas will visit Altarnun.

Altarnun Local History Society

Altarnun Local History Society has almost 30 members and has had held 10 meetings in the last year and 9 of which we welcomed guest speakers. The talks attended by an average of 25 members and visitors, have been well received and subjects included the Suffragette movement in the southwest, Cornish smuggling fact and fiction, mining at Minions and why the Romans were in Cornwall. The society looks after the village archives gathering and documenting items of historic interest that residents find as well as trying to record what is happening now for future generations to look back upon. The society has received several enquiries from genealogists and local historians via its entry on the British Association of Local Historians resulting in extra visitors to the village from as far away as South Australia. With a strong membership, a full 12 months of talks booked, stable finances and good local support, the society has a bright future.

Altarnun Village Hall

The Village Hall Management Committee have provided the village with a warm, clean, safe, well maintained and affordable venue for community events and society meetings for another 12 months. Hire rates are being increased to £6.50 from November 1st 2024 to ensure that hire income continues to cover all basic running costs including utilities, insurance, cleaning, licences and routine maintenance. Improvements and major repairs will be funded from grants, fundraising and the hall’s reserves. The hall is financially secure despite letting hours continuing at about 75% of pre-covid levels. Usage is gradually increasing which will help keep hire rates down. The Hall complies with best practice for H&S and safeguarding and is fully compliant with Charity Commission requirements for management and reporting. The Committee are investigating options for heating the hall to minimise carbon emissions recognising that the existing boiler is now 12 years old and may well need replacing before the 2035 moratorium on installing new oil fired boilers comes into force. The committee is continuing to monitor the government’s proposed Terrorism (protection of premises) bill as under current proposals the hall would need to have procedures in place and regularly updated to deal with a terrorist attack.

A major risk for the operation of the hall is possibility of key officers retiring. Currently there is a need to replace both the H&S Officer and Bookings Secretary from November 1st. The Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Maintenance/Fire Officer are now over 70 and it is not unreasonable for them to wish to retire in the not too distant future. Succession planning is proving difficult!

Altarnun Fun Fortnight

The Village Hall Committee managed the Village’s August Fun Fortnight in 2023 and will do so again in 2024. Feedback from 2023 indicated that the spreading everything over two weeks rather than just one allowed people to attend more events. The Village Show Committee, Altarnun Parish Church, clubs, societies and individuals are all working together to ensure it brings the community together in 2024 as it has in previous years.

Fun on the Green

Now in it's 6th year after being rained off in 2023. Hopefully that will be all different this year with the event due to be held on 6th July. A fantastic community event and volunteers to help out are always required, please.

Altarnun Christmas Lights

Altarnun’s Christmas Lights have become a mid-winter ‘must see’ for locals and people from further afield. In December 2023 there was a switch on event which with the support of Andie and Adam from the Coffee Cup attracted a big crowd. Additional volunteers to set up and dismantle the lights have joined the team and with the financial support voted through by the parish council and the high level of local support, it is hoped this year’s display and switch on will be even better than in 2023 and give the community a fun event before Christmas.

Altarnun Table Tennis Club

Meets every Tuesday morning from 9.30 until 12.30. We operate a system/or on the basis of that the morning is table tennis and also a friendly social gathering. We provide all the equipment including bats and balls with a tea/coffee/biscuits or cake if supplied by a birthday member. The membership/attendees are in the main retired with ages from about 60/65 to 80+ and we get between 12 to 20 most Tuesdays. We play doubles mainly because the older the member the less mobile they are. The game is reported as being an excellent recreation for the elderly. We are open to all regardless of ability and will encourage their play by giving simple coaching on stroke play and tactics. We are delighted that we have welcomed and made the lads and carers from a local care establishment and that they enjoy their Tuesday mornings playing as part of the ATTC. We also play on Thursday evenings and the occasional Friday evening in an attempt to be open to those in the community who work during the day. This is a bit more serious but still played in a good friendly way. It is disappointing that the locals have yet to come in any number but we are gaining a reputation and get regular attendees from Launceston and Camelford as well as the local villages. Any donation to replace worn equipment would be most welcome as a net and post costs £60 and we need 3 as well as bats which cost about £12.00 each and we need 8 replacements.

Altarnun Bell Ringing

A few years ago after some ringers left the area and others had to retire from ringing we were struggling to get a band of 6 to ring at church services and every other special occasion. We now have an enthusiastic band of 6 plus a few who travel to ring on the occasional Sunday. We manage to practice most Wednesdays and all who ring think it is fun whilst they continue to try to improve. We ring the bells half muffled every remembrance Sunday which we think creates an atmosphere of reflection. We also ring for weddings when asked by the bride and groom for a fee. This small fee represents the 2hours given up on the wedding day by each ringer. It is the only fee ever charged by the bell ringers as all other ringing is voluntary. We are always looking to teach/train new ringers as although what might seem an easy job takes quite a while to ring the bell safely under your control. We hope to ring on the 80th anniversary of the D Day landings on the 6th June this year. We always welcome anyone who wants to see what we do as this might produce an interest to learn to ring.

Altarnun Short Mat Bowls

Club membership drive successful, and a second weekly session established on a Friday 7:30 -9:30 to give access to those who cannot attend the 2:00 - 4:00 Wednesday sessions. Club competitions are well supported and Club had its 30th anniversary lunch and awards ceremony in late April.Membership now over 20 and it remains a very social club which would be delighted to have membership rise further. Just turn up at the hall if you would like to have go!

Nonnas Crafters

Another Church Hall group organisation aimed at teaching general and unusual craft skills from the professionals. Again all are welcome and the group can be found on Facebook.

Altarnun Village Show

Our preparations for the annual Altarnun Village Show are well under way with a new schedule decided and the date is set for Sunday 18th August 2024. Our entries were up last year (2023) from the previous year (2022) and we are hopeful to repeat this “trend” this year.In order for us to continue into future years we will soon be looking at ways to increase revenue through grants and/or sponsorship but no decisions have yet been made.

Altarnun Brownies

Altarnun Brownies started in 1981 and last year I received my 30 years long service award from the Girl guiding UK. At present we have a group of 12 girls aged 7-11 years old. I run the meeting with help from parents on a rota. Over the last 12 months some girls have been awarded their Collecting, Baking, Painting, Performing, Dancing, Grow you own, Aviation and Zero waste badges. We made and sent a Coronation card to the King and Queen and received a thank you letter in return. All the Brownies received a Girl guiding Coronation badge. In November we took part in the Parliament Week event ( a national event for youth groups),this was our 7th year. We discussed the reasons why we have laws and how they are made in Parliament. Again another badge this time in the shape of a bell.

Moorland Art Group

The group has been in existence in the village for well over 40 years and we meet in the village hall on the third Thursday of the month with exception to February when it is the 4th week to make way for the dramatics group. At Christmas we usually go out for Christmas dinner and don’t paint. We have a couple of demonstrations or workshops by outside artists which is occasionally open to visitors. We have 16 members at the present tim e and we hold an Summer exhibition and sale in August for 8 days it used to be in Altarnun Church hall however last year we moved to Pipers Pool Community Hub as they have Wi Fi available and a lot of people prefer to use a credit or debit card which is not possible in the church hall in Altarnun. The group also hold a 1 day exhibition at Christmas in the Village Hall in Altarnun, both of which were a success.

We are not experiencing any problems with membership or the need for new officers at the moment but we are always open to new members joining us. We say to come along to one of our meetings and see if you think that you would like to join us.

D-Day 80th Anniversary Remembrance Group

The group are finalising plans for an event being held on 8th June 2024 at the Churh Hall. More volunteers and exhibits would be welcome.

Our Parish Church - St Nonna with Bolventor

Within the Three Rivers Benefice which is part of the Trigg Major Deanery. The Benefice consists of six churches, forming a large pastoral ministry across the rural villages that lie in the south and southwest of Launceston and takes its name from the three principal rivers, the Tamar, Inny and Lynher. The wedding diary at St Nonna’s is filling up again, with 8 booked for 2024and similar popularity is being experienced with Revd Antony’s ‘Breakfast Church’ and Great Debate which are initiatives to deliver new ways to make the church inviting and accessible as well as getting to grips with big life issues. The youth group has been re-launched and there is a library now available to the membership.

Plusha junction Action Group

Centring on the road safety issues at Plusha junction the call remains for local people to group together and call for a radical change in the road layout on the A30 rather than allowing a low cost fix that would inevitable see traffic diverted off the A30 and through villages to the south and also through Five Lanes. A strong lobby group is called for to get in front of those prepared to listen and help.

Notice Date: 19/05/2024