RESIDENTS in a tiny Exmoor community are being asked to step forward to save their annual village show and gymkhana.
Brompton Regis Show and Gymkhana is now in its 69th year but is threatened with closure unless people take up roles on the organising committee.
An open meeting is being held in the village hall on October 10 for residents to discuss the show’s future ‘as a matter of urgency’.
Outgoing show secretary Tash Cowley said the key roles of secretary and treasurer would become vacant at the committee’s annual meeting in November and needed to filled for the event to be able to continue.
Ms Cowley said: “We will also be discussing the roles and structure of the committee members with the aim of spreading the workload and finding additional volunteers.
“We look forward to welcoming anybody who is prepared to step forward in either of the roles.
“Therefore, anybody who has an interest in the future of the show and gymkhana is invited to this open meeting to show their support.”
The event is held on Brompton Regis Cricket Field and has a well-tried format with a full equestrian programme, including show jumping, showing, fancy dress, and gymkhana.
A dog show, gun dog scurry, produce and handicraft show, auction of pledges, bottle stall, and children’s activities such as a bouncy castle and face painting were also part of the 2023 event in August.
It is a non-profit making show run entirely by local volunteers with all judges, stewards, helpers, and committee members giving their time freely and all proceeds being put back into the community on a grant scheme basis.
It was only re-started in 2022 for the first time since 2018 because of a combination of the Covid pandemic and the weather.
Post Office closure
Brompton Regis is also facing up to the loss from next week of its Post Office outreach service, based in the village hall, because the postmaster in Dulverton can no longer maintain it.
Rackenford, West Anstey, Hawkridge, and Oakford will also lose their outreach Post Offices when the Dulverton postmaster stops on October 1.
Brompton Regis parish councillors have voiced their concerns to the Post Office nationally and asked for a quick reinstatement of the service or the provision of an alternative service for postal transactions.
Post Office network provision lead Antoinette Chitty, who described the closures as ‘temporary’, said: “We can assure you that we will continue to work to find a solution that will provide a Post Office service to Brompton Regis.
“We will provide an update to locally elected representatives if the status of the temporarily closed branch has not changed after 12 months.”
Ms Chitty said the next closest Post Office branches were in Dulverton, Wheddon Cross, Roadwater, and Wiveliscombe.
Brompton Regis residents can also use the 678 community mini bus service to Minehead to visit the town’s main Post Office inside the Co-op store in The Avenue.
The bus, which accepts concessionary passes, runs on Thursdays, leaving at about 10.10 am and returning at about 1.30 pm and drops off anywhere along its route through the parish from Holworthy to Heath Poult, and through Skilgate and Upton.
Seats can be booked by calling 07925 044262 before 5 pm the previous day and letting the organiser know where somebody will be waiting, and then making it clear as the bus approaches that it needs to stop.