THE CAMERAS have been rolling on Winkleigh for a special BBC insight into the village which exudes Englishness!

Customs and characters of Winkleigh will be thrown into the spotlight for a half-hour programme on October 19 at 7.30pm on BBC2 entitled 'Think of England'.

The life of this typical rural village will be broadcast during 'Englishness Week' and will cover local industry, events, traditions and the changes in the community over the years.

The recent ceremony for the signing of the twinning charter with the German village of Hillerse will be featured and there are interviews with pub owners, shopkeepers, farmers, thatchers, vets, the local vicar and many more.

Assistant producer Wietske Burema said Winkleigh had been chosen because it was still very much a working village with a vets, butchers, post office, pubs and other industry and it had not changed dramatically.

'It's not a commuter village where people spent most of their time away from it and it is not full of holiday cottages and second homes,' she said.

She added despite all the disruption that had been caused by having a camera crew around for several days, not least at the harvest festival, the villagers had been 'lovely'.

'They made us feel really welcome. The really nice thing about Winkleigh is that it has a real sense of community. People are there for each other and help each other out.'

Pub owner Ann Kinsey said the community spirit was one of the things that made Winkleigh special.

'The village raised £6,700 in a day recently for the Devon Air Ambulance and one day all the locals turned up here at 7.30am to paint the pub,' said Mrs Kinsey.

'In the petrol crisis if someone was stuck somebody else would come to to their aid — that's the sort of place it is.'

Chairman of the parish council John Turner said this was the first time a TV programme had been made about Winkleigh and everybody was waiting in anticipation to see it.

'People have enjoyed the filming and it is really nice to have the chance to publicise the village,' he said.

'Both my wife and I feel much more English than European and Winkleigh is a very English place with its own characters and customs.'