Hidden gems?

Totnes is full of them. It’s a town that abounds in tales of all sorts from the high street to the castle, from the market to the music and art. But, as it is rumoured, humans were created because whoever created them loved stories. We are story makers – whether they be true tales or traditional tales each holds something special if you look for it. So many stories, so many hidden gems.

FESTIVAL AND GARDEN

Here’s a story that was highly visible last year and is currently in its less visible phase of planning and making it happen – The Totnes Fringe Festival 2026. As part of the festival, the Leechwell Community Garden is again hosting a Respect Festival on the weekend of July 11th and 12th. Of course, the people of all ages who enjoy the Leechwell Gardens know exactly where it is but there are still many in and around Totnes who don’t know about this multi-use jewel for recreation, participation, performance and relaxation.

THE LEECHWELL GARDEN (The Morning Poem) from the  Respect Festival 2025 with a line each written by participants at the festival and compiled by Matt Harvey

The best in town for birds, bees and trees

Small fluffy apples in soft shades of green

The children – some distracted by the garden;

others, giggling, enchanted

Simple pleasures of running down the grass slope

I love the long, little slide

I love to bounce on the bridge slide

I’m so lucky to feel the shade of this tree

It’s the best place for me to do my Tai Chi

Holes and hummers in the leaves that we like

The insects look after the garden and some of them are unknown

People who come to the garden look after it

And grow lots of pretty things

Like flowers and plants and grass and leaves and trees

I’ve seen insects in socks and I heard a bee cough

Health giving stream with fragrant meadowsweet

A garden full of crow code

The sky is green, the grass is blue…

… and they all lived happily ever after.

RESPECT 2026 AND STORIES

The Fringe and the Garden have one big thing in common. They are run by the community for the community. This year’s Respect Festival is made possible by the efforts of small groups of passionate and committed people. They are gems!

So, this year’s Respect Festival is called “Hidden Gems”. It will combine high quality world stories such as a return visit of last year’s smash hit ‘Agbo Theatre’ telling tales from Benin, participatory events for young people, the return of the garden crows, other international theatre acts, refreshments and some hidden tales from the citizens of Totnes. We are going to bring to life the diversity of the wider world, the hidden diversity within the garden and unearth and tell stories from closer to home.

TOTNES TALKS

Paul Wesley and Tony Gee have begun to explore some of these close-to-home stories in our occasional Totnes Talks series by interviewing town folk – young and older from Roy at the Silver Grill Chippy to Father Christmas on Totnes Station.

A significant part of the Totnes story is its connection to the rest of the world. Tony is going to explore those connections in a series of interviews with Totnesians who have tales to tell, be they traditional or personal stories, stories of other cultures or a journey out of Totnes.

If you have a story of another country or have moved from another land to make Totnes your home and would like to be interviewed, let Tony know at tonygeeauthor@gmail.com. The interviews can be anonymous if you prefer. They might, with your permission, be part of the Totnes Talks series on the Totnes Pulse and your story may be retold during the Respect Festival. It’s up to you.

Tony says “Totnes has become more diverse in the forty years  that we have lived here and I want to find to find out more and bring those hidden gems to life.“