£6 million Tour boost for Devon

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:08am

This year’s Devon Stage of the Friends Life Tour of Britain generated more than £6 million for the local economy, according to an independent report.

The report, commissioned by The Tour, has revealed that the Devon Stage on Thursday 11 September, hosted by Devon County Council and sponsored by SWH Ltd, attracted 230,000 spectators.

The crowds that turned out along the 110mile (177km) route from Exmouth to Exeter to be part of the UK's largest free-to-watch sporting event were on par with last year’s record breaking figures.

The report highlights that Britain’s...

SW house price growth of 24% predicted over next five years

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:00am

The UK housing marketing is entering a new phase. It has been through a boom, a bust and a recovery cycle, and as we head into 2015 and a year that will see the formation of a new Government, we are now entering a more stable, yet still challenging era.

That’s according to leading property consultancy JLL’s new Residential Market Review, published this month which predicts that South West house prices will rise by 4% in 2015 and 24% over the next five years. This rate of increase is second only to London and the South East and faster than the UK average.

The new report The...

Intimate Autumn Suppers: Goat

Event Date: 
20/11/2014 - 7:00pm
Venue: 
The Magdalen Chapter, Exeter

Enjoy great food, great wine and great company with this hosted evening in The Magdalen Chapter's private dining room. Sip your welcome drink by the fire in the Library and retire for a five-course dinner with matching wines.

Feast on a variety of free range goat dishes, whilst listening to a great story - who knew there was a dark side to goat farming?

Thursday 20 November | 7pm | £55 per person

To view the full menu for the evening, click here

Prior booking is essential.

To book telephone 01392 288171

The Chicago Blues Brothers

Event Date: 
15/11/2014 - 8:00pm
Venue: 
Tiverton Community Arts Theatre, Tiverton

It's a party night this week at Tiverton Community Arts Theatre

TCAT are delighted to be welcoming The Chicago Blues Brothers to Tiverton on 15th November. Show starts at 8pm.

This is all set to be a highly charged, fun, party night. With classic good time songs such as “Everybody Needs Somebody”, “Shake a Tail Feather”, “Soul Man” “Gimme Some Lovin” “ Theme from Rawhide” and many more. The Blues brothers are bound to get everyone dancing.

The mid November date is ideal to start getting everyone in the festive mood.

This is a top notch big band, full of...

Songs of legends, ghosts, hounds & werewolves

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 10:15am

There was a time when hideous tales of werewolves and hounds struck fear into the hearts of people across Devon. Were these tales just folklore? Or were the stories true? Many people believed it was the latter.

There were so many stories doing the rounds in the 19th century that a whole collection of them were gathered up in his West Country travels by famous song and story collector, the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.

Some of the stories from his famous work, The Book of Were-wolves, are the inspiration for a show being taken on a tour of Devon by the Wren Band, who have...

Allergen content to be displayed on food

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 10:13am

New food labelling regulations that come into force from Friday 12 December will mean that all food products, bought from shops or in cafes and restaurants, will have to display information about its allergen content.

Specific allergens, which can cause serious health problems for some people will need to be highlighted so that consumers can make informed choices about their purchases.

Those allergens include: Cereals containing gluten; crustaceans; eggs; fish; peanuts; soybeans; milk; nuts; celery; mustard; sesame; sulphur dioxide or sulphites (at a level above 10mg/kg or...

Why do we react extremely to extremism?

Authored by Martyn Goss
Posted: Tue, 11/11/2014 - 9:23am

Over 400 years ago a ‘terror’ cell in London headed up by Robert Catesby planned an extreme act of violence (blowing up parliament) as a reaction to the intolerance and persecution inflicted on his community by what was felt to be a very oppressive monarch (King James I). What had initially been a plan for regicide was transformed into a plot to destroy the government in one single explosive event. We commemorate this every year with our own fires and fireworks on November 5th.

Much has been said emotively about ‘extremism’ in recent months. The word has been linked with those who...

Luxury home company shortlisted for national award

A director of an Exeter-based luxury home design business has been shortlisted for a national award.

Mark Newbery of Sapphire Living Space, Topsham, achieved the esteemed nomination for a kitchen he designed for a Torquay home.

Mark will find out if it has won the award, run by Designer magazine, a special lunch in London’s Embankment Gardens on November 12.

He said it was exciting to be on the shortlist.

“It is normally London-based companies that are shortlisted so it is hugely exciting that we are on it. There have also been an unprecedented number of...

Drug gang jailed for Exeter murder

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 11/10/2014 - 10:01pm

Four men have been convicted and sentenced to a total of 94 years following a nine-week murder trial at Exeter Crown Court. Stephen Crook, 43, was discovered seriously injured at his home in Alphington Road, Exeter on 21 September last year. He had sustained multiple knife injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died. Ryan Singleton, 26, from Coventry, was convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to 28 years.

Steve Webster, 42, from Okehampton, was convicted of manslaughter and robbery and sentenced to 24 years.

Darren Twigger, 40, from Coventry, was...

Police focus on young and emerging drivers

In November Devon and Cornwall Police is focusing its roads policing efforts on young and emerging drivers. Road collisions impact significantly on people’s lives and it is stark truth that they remain the leading cause of death for young adults aged between 15 and 24, accounting for over a quarter of deaths in the 15 to 19 age group. This month police are concentrating on this group to improve attitudes to driving and risk taking. The primary factors for fatal collisions are speed, drink or drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, driver distraction and careless or inconsiderate driving....

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