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Welcome to the new website for Bratton Fleming

Welcome to the first incarnation of the website for Bratton Fleming. This site will be growing and changing over the next few months as additional information is collected by Chris Lilley and her team. If you are a resident or friend of the parish and would like to contribute to this site, please contact Chris Lilley.

About Bratton Fleming

The Parish of Bratton Fleming, situated on the fringes of Exmoor, rises steeply from 70 metres to an exposed 320 metres. The prevailing moist south-westerly winds and many springs ensure that gardeners rarely suffer drought. The village, 7 miles east north east from Barnstaple, straddles the snowline and has often been cut off – though of recent years this has occurred less frequently. The countryside is wonderfully varied with farmland, woods, streams, deep valleys, typical Devon hedges and lanes, and a backdrop of the moorlands of Exmoor.

With a population of nearly 1000 “Bratton” is a thriving community with a rich mixture of amenities; small businesses, farms, clubs and social activities centred on its busy village. It boasts a Primary School with about 100 pupils; a Village Hall in constant use; a Parish Church hosting Anglicans and Methodists; a welcoming Baptist Church; that rural rarity, a Post Office; a garage with shop and newsagents; a well-stocked Village Stores; a Pub with a restaurant; a Sports Club, home to many sporting and social activities; a small industrial estate and a Village Green with locally crafted play equipment.

Annually the village lets its hair down and holds a festival which not only provides an opportunity to get together but also raises funds for local causes and national charities. The most recent festivals saw the village teeming with lepers, monks, grand medieval ladies and gentlemen, churls, villeins and serfs makyng merrie.

The Festival Photographic Competition

Each year during the village Festival, The Bratton Fleming News team holds a Photographic Competition for Bratton residents and school children. The photos must be taken within the Parish.

The standard was particularly high this year and judging was not easy. Here are the prize-winning photos and the judge's comments.

	Primary: 1st Prize: Kai Chapple, age 7. "All entries had the OOH! factor with the kitten winning through for its delightful hedgerow setting."
Secondary: Kate Farmer, age 12. "Landscape with ponies, sheep and a pond. We'd all like to be there with a picnic."
	Adult: Neville Stanikk. "Everyone a winner, but squabble over grain, composition or tonal qualities if you will, but the judge's final decision is 'St. Peters after a Snow shower.' Full of atmosphere and character, the lines of path, tombstone, church all converging stopped with verticals of standing tombstones and tower."

The Bratton Fleming Festival Photographic Competition was sponsored by Bratton Fleming News.