Blogs

Don't make any plans until you have checked out our essential guide to what's on in and around Exeter this weekend:

THEATRE

English Touring Opera: Agrippina Friday & Saturday, 7.30pm, Northcott Theatre, Exeter Widely regarded as Handel’s first operatic masterpiece, Agrippina stands out for the quality of its music, full of freshness and musical invention. Sung in English. Tickets: £17-£32. www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

A Fool's Proof Friday & Saturday, The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter A Fool’s Proof takes inspiration from the true story of Jessica McClure, who at...

Pushing the envelope

“Pushing the envelope” is a phrase that originated with American test pilots like Chuck Yaeger and John Glenn in the 1940s. It described max stress situations for the metal skin (“envelope”) of a jet aircraft. In other words, the plane was designed to fly safely up to a certain speed for a certain distance at a certain altitude. The job of test pilots was to “push the envelope” by making the plane go faster, farther and higher. The term “pushing the envelope” came into popular parlance in the blockbuster book and movie (1983) “The Right Stuff.” Naturally, this...

Guido (Guy) Fawkes and his co-conspirators entered Parliament with honest intentions for an alternative long-term vision for England. In their case this was a Roman Catholic not Anglican future, and they were not successful. This leads to the question, ‘who looks for the future of our communities’? Who is really concerned about their well-being in 50-80 years time, or beyond? How will we travel, trade, resource and feed ourselves in 2063? In a society obsessed with instant gratification for individuals the prospects for community futures are not clear, so who does care? Probably not...

South West Green Party is calling for the renationalisation of the Great Western rail franchise when the current contract expires in two years time. The Green Party is the only political Party fully committed to the renationalisation of the railways, arguing it would save taxpayers more than £1 billion a year and lead to lower fares and better services.

The Green Party has long campaigned for the renationalisation of the railways. Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, has recently launched a Private Member’s Bill in parliament calling for the rail network to be brought back into public...