Thousands more to get superfast broadband connections

Thousands more homes and businesses across northern, central and west Devon will be able to connect to superfast broadband following a major contract announcement by Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS). CDS, a local government-led partnership, has signed a £7 million investment deal with superfast wireless broadband provider Airband that will give 13,000 rural homes and businesses in some of the hardest to reach areas of the region the opportunity of broadband speeds of at least 30Mbps and the future capacity to deliver ultrafast speeds up to 1Gbs. This will add to the 320,000 homes and...

Top Exeter scientist to talk climate change at Glastonbury

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 06/21/2017 - 11:30am

Glastonbury festivalgoers can look forward to a heady mix of Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry – and a lesson on climate change from a top scientist.

At the festival’s Speaker’s Forum, Professor Richard Betts, of the University of Exeter, will discuss the science of climate change and take part in panel discussions and interviews with other prominent figures in the climate change debate.

“Climate change is a complex topic with some important and fascinating science behind it,” says Professor Betts.

“As we continue the debate on what to do about it, it’s important...

Fire at Devon residential home

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 06/21/2017 - 7:51am

Fire crews tackled a blaze at a Devon residential home last night.

The alarm was raised at the property in Court Street, Moretonhampstead at 9.37pm.

On arrival crews discovered smoke pouring from the building.

Firefighters used three hose reels, three thermal imaging cameras, ladders and six wore breathing apparatus set to extinguish the fire. At the height of the incident five crews were in attendance.

The fire involved one first floor bedroom which was 100% damaged and part of the adjacent landing which was 20% damaged.

No residents were injured as...

Freemasons to hold public vote on £3m charity grants

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 06/21/2017 - 7:06am

The Freemasons are holding an unprecedented public vote to decide how to spend a special three million pounds of charity funding as part of their 300th anniversary celebrations this year. Freemasons throughout the country have selected 300 local charities to receive a special Community Award, but the decision on the size of grant – ranging from £4,000 to £25,000 – is being decided by an online public vote. Anyone who wishes to vote should visit the Masonic Charitable Foundation website at mcf.org.uk/vote go to the page for their region and vote from the list of local charities which have...

Our Man in Havana

Event Date: 
04/07/2017 - 7:30pm to 08/07/2017 - 7:30pm
Venue: 
Exeter Northcott Theatre

Innovative theatre company Creative Cow from Devon brings an evening of hilarity and satire to Exeter in this witty adaptation of Graham Greene’s spy thriller ‘Our Man in Havana’. Known as one of Greene’s ‘entertainments’, the play tells the tale of a luckless vacuum cleaner salesman who gets sucked in to a dirty world of espionage and double agents when the chance of helping out MI6 with a job or two proves too good an offer to resist.

Touring venues around the UK following a hugely successful Autumn tour of another Graham Greene popular classic ‘Travels with my Aunt’, this...

Spy thriller Our Man in Havana comes to Exeter

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 06/20/2017 - 9:08pm

Innovative theatre company Creative Cow from Devon brings an evening of hilarity and satire to Exeter in this witty adaptation of Graham Greene’s spy thriller ‘Our Man in Havana’. Known as one of Greene’s ‘entertainments’, the play tells the tale of a luckless vacuum cleaner salesman who gets sucked in to a dirty world of espionage and double agents when the chance of helping out MI6 with a job or two proves too good an offer to resist.

Touring venues around the UK following a hugely successful Autumn tour of another Graham Greene popular classic ‘Travels with my Aunt’, this...

Seaton Jurassic wins major SW Award

Seaton Jurassic, East Devon District Council’s flagship visitor attraction, has scooped a major South West award for the best leisure and hospitality project of the year.

The £4-million centre, at the heart of the world-renowned Jurassic Coast, was described by judges of the prestigious Michelmores Property Awards as “simply just a fun project”. Owned by the council and operated by Devon Wildlife Trust, the judges were particularly complimentary about how involved the community was in the centre and that partnership working was key to the attraction’s success.

East Devon...

Live Before You Die

Event Date: 
02/07/2017 - 6:00pm to 03/07/2017 - 6:00pm
Venue: 
Boat Shed, Exeter Quay

Live Before You Die Two neurotic northerners on a desperate quest for inner peace. A theatre/comedy/spoken word show written and performed by Byron Vincent and Dave McGinn Themes: True story, Mental Health, Happiness, Suicide, Bipolar, Friendship, Science, Philosophy, Adventure, Men’s Issues. Suicide is the leading cause of death in UK men aged 18-45. So why do we find it so hard to talk about? Live Before You Die tells the true story of two working class northerners finding laughter and friendship in the depths of mental illness. ***** Byron is a bipolar writer. His best mate Dave only...

Maynard robotics team wins UK’s only trophy at Denmark Championships

“It was thoroughly well deserved,” said the Maynard School’s Head of Computing, Laura Burt, of the robotics team winning the UK’s only trophy at the FIRST LEGO League Open European Championship in Aarhus, Denmark over the weekend of 27-28 May 2017.

With 50 countries represented from across the world and a total of 118 teams, only five of whom were representing the UK, the Maynard Wine Gums was the sole all-girls’ team from Europe and just one of only two in the entire competition.

Aimed at 9-16-year olds, the teams had to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, each...

Ancient Devon community had a taste for exotic food and drink

Devon farmers who made their home in the same remote location for 1,200 years had a taste for exotic imported food and drink, archaeologists have found.

There was a thriving settlement in Ipplepen, South Devon, for hundreds of years longer than previously thought, excavations have shown.

It was originally thought that people only lived on the site during the Roman period, but radiocarbon analysis now shows the settlement was founded in the middle of the pre-Roman Iron Age - the 4th century BC. It was only finally abandoned in the 8th century AD, possibly because of the...

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