Our village, Northlew, gets very busy in December. Over the last few weeks we have enjoyed a pantomime by the village amateur dramatics society, Carol services by church, chapel, pub and school, an impressive tractor run through the village, and an amazing AWAY IN A MANGER exhibition of 93 nativity scenes that generated interest from across a good swath of Devon.
All of that in addition to a delicious Christmas meal in The Green Dragon, insights and entertainment in Northlew News, our village magazine, and Christmas lights and spirit across the community.
A good start for Christmas and a lovely festive feel as we review the year.
Nature.
We have both been very busy in the garden and it has looked glorious in every season. The spring bulbs brought such joy that we have added 300 more for next spring.
The bird feeders remain very active, and we also love it when the field behind us is filled with young heifers. We often have conversations with them but also discovered they will come running for a free shower if we are out watering the garden. Now it is winter the cows are gone, but we enjoy sheep in nearby fields, starling murmurations, and frequent stunning sunsets.
Visits, walks and bike rides out in the Devon countryside add to our joy, especially if we discover a cafe on route!
Holidays.
Some argue that we are on holiday all the time, living in such a beautiful place, and with frequent visits from family and friends. There is some truth to that, but it is also nice to get away, and this year we visited Portugal not just once, but twice. In August we travelled with John, Amy, Ava and Erin for a family holiday that traversed from the Algarve in the south up to Porto and Penefiel in the north. It was the grandkids first Portugal adventure and they fell in love with the country while at the same time developing friendships with cousins, aunts and uncles. They loved it so much that we went again in October and this time Emily joined us for a couple of days as she was equally on holiday there with her mother and family.
There is definitely something good about visiting Portugal. A joy to reconnect with Portuguese family, enjoy a different lifestyle, and discover that the climate does seem to be beneficial to both Luisa’s and Victor’s health. One highlight was staying in a 300 year old farm built by nobility and still lived in by the same family. It was a wonderful piece of history, and very close to where Luisa’s aunt Luisa and cousin Joáo live in the north. Another was to see our latest great-niece, Madalena.
Village Life.
It is hard to walk around the village without having at least one conversation. Walk into the post office for a stamp and you end up chatting over coffee and biscuits. Many a Wednesday lunchtime will find us enjoying a pub lunch with friends, and alternate Wednesday’s Luisa will meet up with the Northlew Needles craft group. She is also a frequent contributor on the village church flower rota – indeed from January she is taking charge of the rota.
Victor continues as editor of Northlew News with the Christmas 2025 edition being the 6th since he took over. With health slightly improved he is also taking a slightly more active part in worship, often doing one of the scripture readings. He is hoping that perhaps he might be able to manage a short sermon before this time next year. Doing it live is very different to a video delivery but it may be worth a go with Luisa as backup!
Away in a Manger
Luisa saw a dream come true this December with a two day exhibition of Nativity Scenes hosted by the village church. There were 93 sets, about 40 of them from Luisa’s collection, and a good few actually created by her. These include nativities created out of button, felt, egg boxes, clay, and even lego.
There were a large number of nativities from around the world including Africa, Australia, Peru, various European countries, Palestine, Russian and the Ukraine. There were then separate sections of children’s nativities, craft nativities from various villagers, and what turned out to be very moving ‘family heirloom’ nativities lent by families across the village.
We also build a ‘grotto’ in one of the side chapels. While designed for children the adults were also intrigued to the extent that we have been prohibited from taking it down until after Kings day on 6 January.
Val, a co-organiser, produced some 40 posters that highlighted nativity works of art from around the world with a simple explanation. She also organised the fund-raising with over £600 being donated to support the Children’s Hospice SouthWest.
It took quite a team to see the dream come to fruition and we are very grateful of Allan, Jackie, Tania and Val, among others who helped make it happen. It was a wonderful team effort.
Victor also used his media skills to add to those of Val, and share the event on Social Media, with BBC SouthWest (including two interviews) the Okehampton Times and several other papers and online media. As a result a good number of visitors came from far beyond the village including Plymouth to the south and Clovelly to the north. It was a time of good conversations, new friendships made, and maybe a tad of exhaustion – but well worth it.
Family
The family are all doing well. After spending 16 years in Cornwall, Steven and Jena have moved near to Southampton where they are caring for two churches and a church plant. They seem to be thoroughly enjoying the new challenge — though if anyone would like to buy a quaint Cornish cottage, they have one available. The market is a bit slow at the moment.
Tim is still enjoying an active life and visits us as often as possible, along with Emily, and occasionally with his girlfriend, Irina. It has been a joy to welcome her into the family along with her young daughter. Emily is doing well in her final year at Junior School, and also loves Scouts. She really enjoys nature and is becoming somewhat of an expert on birds.
Amy and John also visit frequently. John’s career is progressing well within one of the London Councils, while Amy is enjoying a very active life with the creativity of their daughters, Ava and Erin. Ava is now an expert on bugs – of any kind – while Erin is likley to be deep into a book. They both love animals and so are very excited to be adopting a kitten for Christmas.
We are very proud of all three grandchildren. We have a lot of fun and love with them, and they equally enjoy what they call ‘Grandalf adventures’. They are all choosing to practice Duolingo so Victor has joined in – though they have prohibited him from learning Japanese as they want it as their secret language!
We hope and pray that all is well where you are and wish you all the best for a positive 2026.
We always enjoy hearing from you and catching up with your news.
With very best wishes for 2026,
Victor & Luisa
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