Prime Minister Theresa May gave China's President Xi artworks of Beijing and London by British artist and Exeter School alumnus Rob Pepper (1990 - 1995) who is Principal of The Art Academy in London.
The gifts were given when she met the President on her recent visit to Beijing. The artworks showing cityscapes of both cities were given to celebrate a "Golden Era" between the two countries.
Rob Pepper has been travelling between the UK and China over the past five years depicting Chinese cities in his drawings. His elegant artworks capture the architectural heritage of both...
Olympian and TV personality Sharron Davies will officially cut the ribbon on a new £10 million water park at Haulfryn’s Finlake resort in Devon in February. The Commonwealth gold and Olympic silver medallist has been invited to Finlake to unveil a raft of improvements to the popular holiday destination including a new water park, gym and leisure facilities. Sharron will open the new multi-million pound facilities, which include slides, splash zones and two pools, on Thursday 15th February at a special ceremony. Sharron said, “It is fantastic to see investment in swimming and leisure...
An Exeter-based manufacturer of premium fluid transfer systems has acquired its Italian distributor with the support of a £2.65million loan from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
Goodridge, established in 1969, is a global leader in the manufacture and assembly of premium fluid transfer systems for high-performance applications to the automotive, defence and motorsport industries. Goodridge currently supplies its products to customers across the UK, USA, Europe, Japan and China. The business has acquired its long-term Italian distributor Gieffe Racing. Gieffe is a key partner with...
It's that time of year again! Our annual beer festival gets bigger and better every year, and 2018 in no exception.
We've got 22 real ales on offer (as well as a couple of ciders and a ginger beer), a fantastic line-up of live music all day and of course some tasty hot and cold food to soak it all up. Yeoford is on the Exeter-Barnstaple train line ((only 20 mins from St. David's), so there's no need for anyone to drive and everyone can join in the fun.
It's only £3 entry, which includes a souvenir glass and programme. All proceeds go towards the Yeoford Community...
Police have issued a warning to members of the public to be vigilant following a series of thefts of catalytic convertors from motor vehicles in Torquay, Newton Abbot and Totnes.
Between Saturday 3 February and Monday 5 February 2018, there were three catalytic converter thefts in Devon.
The converters were stolen whilst vehicles were parked on the street outside the owner’s homes and also from vehicles parked on industrial estates. The vehicles being targeted are mainly Honda Accords.
Officers are advising the public to park their vehicles either under street...
Aspiring grassroots footballers from two underrepresented groups will soon have the opportunity to play in more teams thanks to the Grow the Game programme, a £1.5m investment by The FA.
Grow the Game, which is delivered by the Football Foundation and first launched back in 2010, offers grants to grassroots football clubs that wish to create new teams. This year, applications are being encouraged from clubs who want to start:
Women and girls teams Disability teams
Grow the Game grants help to reduce the costs associated with starting new grassroots football teams by...
SIDMOUTH-based family Holiday Park, Oakdown, has kicked off 2018 with yet more incredible award success, by winning the prestigious gold award for Best Holiday Park in the South West.
The award was presented to the Oakdown team at the South West Tourism Awards ceremony at the Riviera Centre in Torquay last night.
‘Winning the Visit Devon award last year was just brilliant for us, but now to be awarded the gold at a regional level, really is the icing on the cake,’ said Alastair Franks, owner of Oakdown.
‘The team works incredibly hard to provide our visitors with...
A third of Devon businesses are confident that Brexit will be beneficial and a opportunity to grow their company, according to a new survey.
In the recent study carried out by local business support programme Fast Track 2 Growth, 35% of Devon businesses said they believed Brexit presented opportunities for growth, compared with 23% who said leaving the EU was likely to have a negative impact on their business.
In another positive finding, 63% of companies expect to recruit more people in 2018 than 2017.
The survey, which gathers feedback on industry trends and...
Dance, drama and music, coming to a village near you
The future looks bright for the arts in East Devon villages, after a rural touring scheme in Cornwall stepped in to help and secured major funding from Arts Council England.
Early last year, the Devon charity Villages in Action (ViA) called a halt to its work with volunteer promoters of bringing world-class music, theatre and dance to rural areas, after losing the majority of its funding. The only guarantee of funding for 2017/18 was from three local authorities, including East Devon District Council. Fifteen communities...
Police are investigating an assault in Exwick which is believed to have had a number of witnesses.
At around 11pm on Tuesday 30 January, an altercation took place outside Kinnerton Court, Kinnerton Way, Exwick, Exeter between two men and a woman.
A local man in his 40’s sustained a broken leg and bruising to his face during the incident.
Police arrested a man and a woman, both aged 35 on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Both have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
Police believe that there were several witnesses to...
