2.00 pm Saturday 1st August, Upper Deverills Village Hall Fete, Flower & Dog Show.

The classes are listed below; bring your entries from 9.00 am – 11.00 am to the Hall on the day. Entry form in link.

Please print entries for the photographic classes yourself, they will be mounted on boards in the hall.

Please could all children to put an age onto their exhibits (not their name).

There will be a Produce & Craft Stall so if you have any fruit or vegetables, home produce or crafts you would like to sell (including show entries), please bring them (a percentage of the price will go to the Village Hall).

The Book Stall and Raffle rely on your generosity for their success, please drop donations off to Eve & Kevin McBride, Ted & Gillian Flint or Caroline Davies.

There will be all the usual fun and games for you to enjoy with delicious cream teas.

If you would like to help run a stall or game, or more generally please get in touch with Kevin McBride at . Payment at the Fete can be made by cash or tokens. Tokens will be available to purchase by card on the day.

Entry Form

Upper Deverill Fete, Flower Show Schedule 1st August 2026

The Village Hall Cup for Classes 1 to 4

Class 1 – Vegetables & Fruit

1.1               Collection of Vegetables

1.2               Salad Selection (Max 10” plate or smaller)

1.3               Largest vegetable

1.4               Soft Fruit Selection (10” plate or smaller)

1.5               Most amusing vegetable

 Class 2 – Cookery (WI Cup)

2.1               Victoria sponge

2.2               Home made loaf

2.3               Savory Bake

2.4               Home made savoury preserve

2.5               Home made jam or marmalade

2.6               Home made alcohol

2.7               Home made cordial

 Class 3 – Flowers 1

3.1               Specimen rose

3.2               Six Sweet Peas

3.3               Annuals: 6 stems – one or more varieties

3.4               Perennials: 6 stems – one or more varieties

3.5               Flowering shrubs: three different sprigs

3.6               Tallest weed

 Class 4 – Flowers 2

4.1               Home grown plant in a pot

4.2               Arrangement of flowers from your garden

4.3               Arrangement of wild flowers

4.4               Table arrangement

4.5               Flower arrangement in unusual container

 The Liz Peters Cup for Class 5 & Class 6

 Class 5 Arts and Crafts (completed since August 2025)

5.1               Any Handmade small sewn item

5.2               Best Limerick

5.3               Any knitted item

5.4               Painting or drawing (any medium completed since August 2024)

Class 6 – Photography (please submit hard copy this year)

6.1               Photobomb

6.2               Wild or domestic animal

6.3               The seasons

6.4               Local Landscape

6.5               Village life

6.6               Garden border

6.7               Container planting

6.8               Hanging basket

6.9               Re-enactment of film or work of art

 The Junior Shield Class 7 : 16 years or under (age will be taken into account)

7.1               Garden on a tray

7.2               Best photograph

7.3               100 word story

7.4               Best Lego construction

7.5               Yummy Bake

7.6               Fruit or vegetable sculpture

The parish council has now written to Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, 27 April, text below:

 

To Andy Cole QFSM, Chief Fire Officer, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service,

Dear Chief Fire Officer,

Proposed closure of Mere Fire Station

I am writing to you as Chair of Upper Deverills Parish Council.  Along with other Parish Councilors I attended your online consultation meeting on 23 April. I must say that I do not envy your position.  I was impressed at the logical and ordered way in which you have analysed the situation that you are in.  I can understand how you have arrived at your conclusions regarding Mere and the other Fire Stations which are listed for potential closure. I appreciate that this is not something that you would generally want.  However, I want you to know that this Parish Council – and a good number of our residents – are very much opposed to the potential closure of Mere Fire Station.

This Parish Council  covers the villages of Kingston Deverill, Monkton Deverill and Brixton Deverill as well as a number of outlying farms.  In our view we would be especially vulnerable if these proposals were to go ahead.  We have a number of thatched properties, as well as numerous Listed Buildings with timber construction.  These have obvious enhanced fire risks.  We also have a large area of farmland in arable cropping with accompanying fire risks at certain times of the year.  We are quite remote when compared to some communities with poor to non existent mobile phone signal which may be relevant in the case of an emergency.  We also have a water course with a history of flooding residential properties in recent years. There is also a busy airstrip in the Parish.  For all these reasons (and many others)  we value the proximity of the Fire Station in Mere.

We are concerned that if these proposed closures went ahead then the longer response times that you identified would leave us dangerously exposed. Furthermore, if the number of Fire Stations was reduced from 50 to 42 then your assets would be spread further afield and in the event of a number of concurrent incidents we would be at serious risk.

You mentioned during the meeting that if Council Tax was to rise by around £10 per annum per household, then these proposals could be avoided.  We have not carried out a survey but we have a pretty good idea of the views of our residents.  Some people feel that they are already paying for a fire service and do not see why they should pay more, just to receive the service that they have already paid for once.  However, I have to tell you that the majority – the overwhelming majority – feel that they would be prepared to pay an extra £10 per annum in order to ensure that Mere Fire Station stays open.

We therefore ask you to impress our views on the Fire Authority when they come to decide on this matter in June.  We ask that you urge them to take our views fully into consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie Fagan

Cllr Jamie Fagan
Chair, Upper Deverills Parish Council

Mere is one of eight stations across Dorset and Wiltshire proposed for closure. More information on the proposals can be found here. There is an online survey.

Wiltshire & Dorset Fire and Rescue will be holding public meetings in each affected town or village, to allow you to understand the data and impact of a closure and give us your thoughts. We’ll also be holding online dial in sessions for each town or village.

There is a petition against closure that can be signed at Mere Post Office.

 

If you believe you are at risk of flooding you can sign up to ground water flood warnings from the Environment Agency.

Website details: https://www.gov.uk/get-flood-warnings

Or ring Floodline:

Telephone: 0345 988 1188
Textphone: 0345 602 6340
24-hour service

Instances of groundwater flooding can also be reported to and/or via MyWilts

Upper Deverills Hall Tuesday. 10th February 3-5.00 pm

We would love you to pop by for a cuppa and chat about what matters most in your area. This is a great opportunity to meet local officers, share any concerns or information about rural crime or community issues. To get advice on farm and property security and learn more about what we are doing to keep our countryside safe. There is no need to book, we will be delighted to see you.