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Showing posts with label Devon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devon. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
A 20th wedding anniversary 'bucket list' trip to East Budleigh
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Tuesday, July 29, 2025
East Budleigh's 'Roger Conant Duck Race'
East Budleigh’s Scarecrow Festival would not be the same without the ‘Roger Conant Duck Race’. Hundreds of little yellow ducks take part in this fierce competition on Budleigh Brook, racing from ‘East Budleigh’ to ‘Salem’ to win a cash prize for their owners. Profits from the event go to help maintain the fabric of the village’s All Saints’ Church. And if your little duck doesn’t make it on Saturday, don’t worry, another little duck might win you the prize the next day!
Among the
visitors to East Budleigh’s 2025 Scarecrow Festival on 7/8 June was a figure
from the distant past. Born in the village over four centuries ago in 1592, a
generation later than its other historic figure Sir Walter Raleigh, Roger
Conant was very different from Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite courtier. Sailing
across the Atlantic to America in around 1623, he founded the Massachusetts
city of Salem. Today, he is seen as a more modest and
peace-loving character than many of the country’s European pioneers.
And so, ‘Roger Conant’ had come to the 2025 Scarecrow
Festival to preside over its Duck Race, now named after him. Many visitors
to the American city are struck by the sight of Roger Conant’s statue with its
tall hat and long cloak, sited next to the American city’s Witch Museum.
Understandably they think that its founder must have dabbled in the black arts.
Some of East Budleigh’s visitors at the weekend probably thought the
same.
So
‘Roger Conant’ was keen to tell his own story. To some of them he voiced his
concerns about the present state of the country of which he is seen as one of
the Founding Fathers. And beside the village brook at the start of the Duck
Race he addressed the crowds, revealing his role as a peacemaker in
troubled times:
The Salter’s Song
In
sixteen hundred and twenty-three,
A
yeoman’s son from East Budleigh
Did wish
his family ‘Au revoir!
I’m off
to find America.’
In
London town he’d learnt his trade:
As
salter he had made the grade.
Now
Roger Conant was his name;
We think
he needs a bit more fame.
His wife
called Sarah joined the ship
With
baby Caleb on the trip.
They
sailed across the ocean deep.
I don’t
suppose they had much sleep.
And
finally at Plymouth Bay,
Where
previous Pilgrims showed the way,
The
Conant family came ashore.
The year
was sixteen twenty-four.
Now
Roger’s skill was salting fish
To make
a decent kind of dish.
For,
just in case you have forgotten,
No
fridges meant your food went rotten.
Just
north of Plymouth is Cape Ann.
West
Country merchants had a plan
To make
the Cape a fishing port,
And
maybe even build a fort.
And
Roger was named supervisor.
They
said of him ‘There is none wiser!’
It was
of course a job promotion
With
splendid outlook on the ocean.
A major
problem did occur,
For
Plymouth’s Pilgrims furious were.
Their
Captain Standish did arrive.
The year
was sixteen twenty-five.
This man
was noted for his ire.
‘Be
gone!’ he said. ‘I’ll open fire!
That
fishing stage is ours by right.
We will
not hesitate to fight!’
The
fishermen denied access.
It could
have been a bloody mess.
But hero
Roger saved the day.
His
words of peace made all ok.
Conciliation,
then and now,
Is
always better than a row.
Diplomacy,
a path to peace,
Will
cause all stupid wars to cease.
In
Massachusetts he’s renowned,
For this
East Budleigh man did found
A city,
which has earned a name
Which
matches Roger’s statue’s fame.
It’s
also known, I’ve heard it said,
And in
biographies I’ve read,
That
Roger Conant’s peaceful vibe
Impressed
the Massachusett tribe.
So Roger
Conant, worthy chap,
Deserves,
we feel, a special clap.
These
verses do indeed attest:
‘Peacemakers
are most surely blest.’
PS. If you go to All Saints’ Church in East Budleigh you can
see local artist John Washington’s painting of the scene in 1625 which shows
the celebrated confrontation between Roger Conant and Captain Myles Standish.
The painting is entitled ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’.
PPS. Salem’s terrible ‘Witch Trials’ took place many years
after Roger Conant’s death.
PPPS. There is no connection between East Budleigh’s Salem
Chapel and the city of Salem. The word simply means ‘Peace’, as in Hebrew
‘Shalom’ and Arabic ‘Salaam’.
Photo of ‘Roger Conant’ at the start of East Budleigh Scarecrow Festival’s Duck Race.
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079
More photos at https://www.eastbudleigh.org/scarecrows.htm
Friday, July 25, 2025
The International Cross of Nails Award (ICONS)
What can schools do to promote peace and reconciliation? Well, in September 2024, Farway Church of England Primary School, near Colyton in East Devon, was awarded the International Cross of Nails Award (ICONS) by Coventry Cathedral for pupils’ work on peace and reconciliation.
‘We believe that initiatives such as the Cross of Nails project provide valuable opportunities for our students to engage in conversations about peace, reconciliation, and the importance of building bridges across differences on a national scale,’ said a spokesperson for the School.
In 1940, during World War II, salvaged nails which were found in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral’s bombing were formed into a cross. The nails found in the ruins represent the wounds and the destruction of the war, and the cross formation signifies both forgiveness and healing after conflict. As part of a special service, Farway School was given its own Cross of Nails, made in Germany and blessed in Coventry Cathedral, before being presented. The German city of Dresden suffered similarly from bombing during the war, and is now twinned with Coventry, in Warwickshire, England.
The Archdeacon of Exeter, the Venerable Andrew Beane, said:
'What was most impressive was how the children used what they learnt about
Coventry as a framework for working for peace and reconciliation in their own
lives and friendships.'
Roger Conant, celebrated as a peacemaker, would have been
delighted by the news. Colyton, just five miles away from Farway Church of
England Primary School, is the town which gained its independence thanks to the
efforts of one of its leading merchants, the grandfather of Salem’s founder.
John Clarke travelled to London in 1546 and successfully petitioned King Henry
VIII, allowing Colyton a measure of self-government by its councillors, or
feoffees as they are still known today.
You can read about the award to Farway Church of England Primary School by clicking on
More about the International Cross of Nails Award (ICONS) at
https://coventrycityofpeace.uk/icon-schools/
Image of
the Cross of Nails from Wikipedia
If you are interested in the history of early America,
and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon
Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079
Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Festival at Woodbury, near East Budleigh
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Festivals come in all shapes and sizes. While there are plans in East Budleigh for a Peacemaker Festival, only ten minutes away by road in a neighbouring village is a rather different event known as the Woodbury Wide Awake Festival.
The Festival started in 2019, explain the organisers on its website. ‘It explored the life, work and legacy of former local resident and renowned botanist Reverend William Keble Martin - who authored and illustrated the best-selling book The Concise British Flora in Colour (1965), and died in the parish just over 50 years ago in 1969.
The festival also focused on the natural environment locally, on changes that have occurred in it over the last 50 years, and on environmental challenges for the future.’
A different event, but both East Budleigh and Woodbury festivals have been inspired by the lives of worthy people from the past who deserve to be better known.
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times, you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
Peacemaker Festival at East Budleigh in 2026
Plans for a Peacemaker Festival are being considered by residents of East Budleigh to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Salem, Massachusetts.
Ideas have been put forward to stage events which would both honour Roger Conant and highlight the importance of peacemakers in troubled times.
The Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Exeter, has accepted an invitation to address the Festival on 16 May 2026. Much-needed funds will be raised for All Saints' Church, seen here, where Roger Conant and his family worshipped.
Funds from this ticketed event could benefit organisations like the International Red Cross (IRC) and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF).
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times, you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
Exeter UK also had tragic and shameful ‘Witch’ trials
For those who don’t know much about
Devon, Exeter, with a population of over 130,000 and 30 minutes by road from
East Budleigh, is the county city.
While Salem is famous as ‘The Witch City’, not too many people know the story of the three so-called witches who were executed in Exeter after their trials at the city’s castle at Northernhay.
There you can read this inscription on a plaque on the castle wall. ‘THE DEVON WITCHES In memory of Temperance Lloyd, Susannah Edwards, Mary Trembles of Bideford Died 1682 Alice Molland Died 1685 The last people in England to be executed for witchcraft tried here & hanged at Heavitree In the hope of an end to persecution & intolerance.’
However, not too far away and until quite recently you could also see the grotesque depiction of three female figures on what was known as ‘The Witches Mural’ near Exeter Library. In 2023 it was decided to commission new artwork to replace what an Exeter Red Coat Guide described as ‘this fondly regarded and intriguing work’.
Stuart Crewes, Creative Director of Art Work Exeter, explained: ‘History is an ever-changing thing, as more stories are shared and different perspectives are revealed. While the witches mural was a great celebration of certain aspects of Exeter’s past, it has itself now become part of our histories and stories of this place.’
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079
The evolution of ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’: June 2020 – Aug 2021
Between June 2020 and August 2021, when his painting was unveiled at All Saints’ Church in East Budleigh, Budleigh artist John Washington carried out much research into the background of the events of 1625 involving Roger Conant and Myles Standish at Cape Ann, Massachusetts.
His research included online study of the actual landscape, as well as taking account of descriptions by people of the time. Standish, for example, was noted for his small stature. A contemporary, Thomas Morton, referred to him as ‘Captain Shrimp’.
In these images you can see how John’s painting progressed,
including the moment when he decided to scrub Roger Conant and start
again.
If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079
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A 20th wedding anniversary 'bucket list' trip to East Budleigh
In the footsteps of his ancestor, Rev Jonathan Conant with his wife Jennifer started his first ever journey to England with a tour of East...
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East Budleigh’s Scarecrow Festival would not be the same without the ‘Roger Conant Duck Race’. Hundreds of little yellow ducks take part in ...
