PICTURES: Holiday club fun in the sun!

Authored by Liz Straw
Posted: Mon, 08/08/2016 - 4:28pm

Sixty children enjoyed Isca Church’s Sports Academy Holiday Club held at Willowbrook Primary School in Beacon Heath.

The action packed week included team challenges, craft, games, quizzes, action songs, telling the Bible story of David and of course lots of pie throwing!

Jane Tricker, Isca Church children’s worker said: “It was great to see so many children from the local community having fun and exploring what it means to be loved and valued for who they are, and how important it is that they each have different talents and abilities.”

Many of the children...

Water and Wildlife event

Event Date: 
12/08/2016 - 10:00am
Venue: 
Devon Wildlife Trust, Cricklepit Mill, Exeter Quay

A wildlife garden and historic mill in the heart of Exeter will be opening its doors to the public for a special summer open day.

The ‘Water and Wildlife’ event is being held at Cricklepit Mill, the headquarters of Devon Wildlife Trust, on Friday 12 August, 10am – 3pm. Cricklepit is the last working watermill in Exeter and is only a stone’s throw away from the Quay.

Visitors will be given the chance to see the historic mill in action. Milling will run throughout the morning from 10am-12noon with volunteer millers on hand to answer any questions and help people discover the...

Rare bird causes a twitch at Seaton Wetlands

More than 200 bird watchers flocked to East Devon District Council's Seaton Wetlands nature reserve to see a rare vagrant bird, a Least Sandpiper, on Wednesday August 3.

The Least Sandpiper was first spotted on Black Hole Marsh on Tuesday evening (August 2). After its sighting was announced by a local bird watcher, the council-managed reserve was visited by bird enthusiasts from far and wide. Visitors included regular local bird watchers as well as visitors from further afield including Essex, Hereford and Norfolk. The Least Sandpiper, which has inadvertently travelled from North...

Fitz reveals all at local charity

BBC Radio Devon presenter and local personality David ‘Fitz’ FitzGerald revealed all at the local headquarters of the charity Samaritans - or at least, he revealed two new signs urging people in distress to ‘Talk To Us.’

Fitz was at the central Exeter base of the Exeter, Mid and East Devon Samaritans to unveil the vivid green signs. They help identify the building for people who want to have a face-to-face discussion instead of the more traditional telephone calls, emails and texts answered by the 100 volunteers who run the local branch of the service.

“Almost everyone...

Celebrate 150 years of racing excellence at Newton Abbot – Wednesday 10 August

Event Date: 
10/08/2016 - 12:15pm
Venue: 
Newton Abbot Racecourse

Join Newton Abbot Racecourse to celebrate 150 years of racing at their 150th anniversary fixture on Wednesday 10 August.

To mark this special occasion there will be a free goodie bag for the first 200 adults and a free gift for the first 200 children through the gates on the day, as well as free face painting for children in the Family Enclosure.

Racing starts at 14:10 and gates open at 12:10. The last race is 17:10. Tickets are available at the racecourse’s online ticket store until 17:00 on Tuesday 9 August.

Tickets are priced at £18 for the Paddock Enclosure and...

Otter Nurseries donation helps plant stall bloom

Authored by Sue Cade
Posted: Mon, 08/08/2016 - 1:30pm

Otter Nurseries recently stepped in to help a village fete with a donation of flowers to give a much needed boost to the annual plant stall.

The stall at the Buckerell fete is always a popular attraction for locals, but this year due to ill-health and less than favourable weather conditions for growing, it was in danger of being understocked.

A local resident approached Otter Nurseries, and the team agreed to support the event by donating a considerable number of bedding plants.

General Manager, John Giblin said: “At this time of year we sometimes have surplus stock...

St Petrock's awarded £100k to provide emergency accommodation

A vital first step towards Exeter’s homeless charity, St Petrock’s, providing faster access to emergency accommodation was made with the recent grant of £100,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Mel Hartley, project manager at St Petrock’s, explains “We’re extremely grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation for this donation which will help us purchase a property, allowing us to support clients quickly off the streets and into temporary accommodation.

“We know that early intervention is crucial in helping prevent those people new to homelessness from becoming...

Radio Exe celebrates best ever listening figures

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 08/08/2016 - 12:37pm

Exeter, Mid and East Devon commercial radio station Radio Exe has just received its highest ratings.

Independent figures published today by Rajar/Ipsos MORI/BMRB show that 29,000 people tune to the station each week and they’re listening for longer. It

means that station has now overtaken two national stations, Classic FM and BBC 5 Live, to achieve its highest share of listening in the area.

Among the other key highlights:

  • Overall listening to Radio Exe has increased by nearly half (47 per cent) in the past year
  • People in the area are
  • ...

Record crowds attend Dartmoor Folk Festival

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 08/08/2016 - 12:32pm

RECORD crowds attended the 39th Dartmoor Folk Festival, held in the foothills of Dartmoor at South Zeal, near Okehampton from August 5 to 7.

Local and national artists entertained those who went along to the event, most to sell-out audiences.

The festival included concerts, dances, a Dartmoor Fayre, a ceilidh, folk service, craft displays, music hall, pub sessions, a ramble on Dartmoor and music, song and dance workshops.

The packed programme of events also included a dedicated children’s festival.

Hotly-contested competitions included the Dartmoor Broom...

Flood defence work well underway

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 08/08/2016 - 11:38am

Phase two has started in earnest on the Exeter flood defence scheme at Cowley which will reduce flood risk to more than 3,000 homes and businesses in Exeter.

The project is managed by the Environment Agency with support from project partners Exeter City Council and Devon County Council.

It is a huge undertaking and the scale of the project is now clearly visible from the road as these pictures show.

Exeter has a long history of flooding, going back as far as the 13th century. The current flood defences were built in the 1960s and 70s after devastating flooding...

Pages