The village of Chilsworthy, set in idyllic Tamar Valley countryside, may seem to the passerby a quiet village with little to do. The villagers themselves however know differently.

Once a thriving mining community, the largely undeveloped village now is more geared towards leisure - in particular riding - where, as one villager joked: 'People are more likely to have horses than dogs!'

The village has been established since, at least, 1835, as this is the date on the deeds from the smaller chapel in the village.

By many people's own admission the village has not always been as close as it was before the New Year. A decision to provide a mounted whole village picture for every house in Chilsworthy, as something different for the Millennium celebrations, restarted a community spirit. In November 1999 over 75 people gathered in The White Hart car park for the photo that was sponsored by Hanson Aggregates and the Parish Council. A Millennium party was also held at the pub which saw the whole village together in celebration.

During the New Year the youngsters took the village spirit forward once more and came upon the idea of a village hall and playing fields committee, of which Chilsworthy has neither. The children have regular meetings on Sunday afternoons to organise fundraising and awarenessraising events. At one point they organised a petition and returned with 71 signatures from the 75 houses in the village. The committee is run and organised purely by the children, including the families of Drapers, Keagans, Boyces, Feathers, Gomans, Pecks, Peckovers and Riggs, with their parents confirming that they are following the correct procedures and going through the right channels.

A tug-of-war is currently being organised and the 'tugees' will be from the village. The two teams are the 'up-a-longs' and the 'down-a-longs'. David Draper, one of the parents explained: 'You are on either team depending on which side of the road you live.' Ruth Keagan, another parent continued: 'There is still a great debate raging about who should be on which team.' The tug-of-war will, hopefully be held on the village show day which is on the last Saturday in July.

David Draper said: 'For many years there wasn't a demand for facilities for youngsters, now there has been an influx of younger families - things are starting to happen again.'

Brian Martin, who has lived in the village since 1964 and now inhabits a house brought by his great grandfather in 1922, described the village show. He said a marquee hosts the fruit and veg, crafts and photo competitions and there is also a dog show and various vintage machinery on show. He said: 'A cricket match used to be played nearby and if the weather was bad the cricket teams used to play in the marquee. The cricket at Chilsworthy has gradually died out as the age group changed and many younger people went to university and moved away.'

Brian explained how the old cricket field used to be at the near by village of Cox Park. Hingston Down quarry paid for it to be landscaped and the cricket club rented it off the farmer, Mr Hearn. One of the main reasons the cricket club died out was because the club could not raise the people to maintain the pitch. The cricket cup and trophy was held in the pub and it may soon be donated to the tug-o-war teams.

The secretary of the annual show, Wanda Savage, from Latchley gave some information about the show with Ted Ivory the press co-ordinator for the show and his wife Sylvia, who have lived in Chilsworthy for 27 years. The show holds many fund and awareness raising events at The White Hart pub. Wanda explained that the show was re-launched in 1977 when the village got together for the Jubilee year and interest was restarted.

The Drapers' house, set back from the main road through the village (which incidentally has no speed limit), was originally purchased in 1862 by Richard Collacott and was paid for by the Lord of Calstock manor - Edward Chilcott - for £20 and is now surrounded by a menagerie of animals, including ducks, pygmy goats, cats, horses, ponies and a snake which lives in the hall and Tess and Doughnut, two bearded collie crosses.

David's wife, Dela-rae, Ruth Keagan and others are organising a pony club in the village and had a fun ride at Christmas which finished at the pub, eating mince pies and drinking mulled wine.

Ruth Keagan, who also helps to run the local cub scouts group and is a member of Horse Watch, explained the ideas behind setting up a pony club: 'We are looking into bridleways in general that are available to riders and opening new ones up where possible. It is quite a difficult and political subject but we are doing it in conjunction with all the relevant authoritories.' The club is also arranging horse classes at the village show open to anyone, but has stipulated that the people taking part must be local and must ride to the show grounds.

Chilsworthy did host a WI, a local member being Margaret Nattle who held office for some years until three or four years ago and is now on the committee. Chilsworthy WI was founded 21 years ago and used to meet at Chilsworthy chapel.

The chapel is now a private home, owned by a couple from Birmingham and was featured in a Channel Four programme last year.

The WI stopped meeting at the chapel when Rev Plumb was the minister. Margaret explained how Babs Beattie, one of the members was part of St Josephs Church in Gunnislake and arranged for the WI to meet at St Josephs hall for many years. When Cornwall County Council started re-doing Delaware Community Centre, Chilsworthy WI took part in a sale to raise funds to help with the refurbishment and now gather there every month and hold fundraising events there. The current WI president is Jan Robinson and the secretary is Shirley Madgewick.

The plant sale has been a main fundraiser for the WI over the years, and used to be held in Latchley - but last year Doreen Tinklers house in Chilsworthy was the venue. Margaret and her husband Terry used to farm at Lower Town farm in Latchley which they bought after Terry's father died. They will have been married 45 years this year. Terry still helps out on the farm although his son John, daughter-in-law Sue and their children Daniel and Emma now farm there. Margaret still does the books for the farm and Terry and Margaret also store farm machinery behind their house.

The pub in Chilsworthy is the only public place in the village. Called The White Hart, its owners, Mike and Stella Steward have lived on the premises for 12 years after Mike finished working in the film industry.

The pub serves the three villages in the area, Chilsworthy, Latchley and Cox Park.

It opened in the 1920s, in conjunction with the mines in the area. The pool room is down a flight of stairs where a stove and a wash tub can still be seen built into the walls.

The pub has a nice eating area with a balcony which in the summer is lit with lanterns and has a view up the Tamar Valley. Stella prepares and cooks all the food with local ingredients. She said: 'We like to keep local and traditional things going in the pub, including the food.'

The Stewards own three Alsatian dogs, Kai, the mother, and her two pups, Lawson and Benjamin who are five years old and are very much members of the family and 'regulars' in the bar area.

The Stewards employ Tara as a waitress on Sundays when the food trade increases.

Popping in for a drink recently were two visitors from Hong Kong - Chris and Mary Lewis - who had come over to see Rosemary Lewis, Chris' mother.

A regular in the pub is artist, Peter 'Pierre De La Poste', otherwise known as the 'Silver Fox', who moved into the old post office (which has been a private home for over 10 years) about a year ago, after taking early retirement from London.

Although the village of Chilsworthy has no phone box, no public area for the mobile library to stop, currently no bus service to Delaware school and no speed limit, it is still a quiet and serene place to visit and live, and has a good local, an atmosphere of friendliness and real community spirit.