Exeter

Guest of Honour, writer, explorer and television presenter, Monty Halls, enthralled Exeter School pupils, parents, teachers and governors with an exciting and eye-opening speech at Exeter School's annual Speech Day on the evening of 17 September.

Former Royal Marine and knowledgeable and intrepid traveller, the broadcaster and campaigning explorer has made himself an authority on the Giant Humboldt Squid, rare crocodiles, the life of crofters, lobster potters and underwater exploration.

Earlier in the day he spent time in the Junior School where he gave a talk about sharks...

We celebrated last night as our city hospice was officially named Searle House in recognition of the dedicated local family which helped establish this vital service.

Our trustees, staff, volunteers and some of the founders gathered to thank Liz and John Searle and their four adult children for their contribution to the foundation and continuing success of Hospiscare. Lady Clarissa Clifford, our patron and Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, a vice-president also attended.

Some of the Searle grandchildren came along too and had lots of fun playing in the garden and hospice....

Stoptober – the 28-day challenge to support smokers to stop smoking is back, and with the introduction of new legislation making it illegal to smoke in a car with a person under 18, there are more reasons than ever to quit.

Devon County Council is backing the Stoptober campaign and, working with organisations and communities across the county to support people to quit, with a combination of events and activities, smoking cessation support and advice through its Devon Stop Smoking Service.

Currently over 100,000 people in Devon smoke. Research shows that smokers are two...

A groundbreaking exhibition inspired by the prominent English Renaissance poet Michael Drayton will open to the public at the University of Exeter on 7 October 2015. The free exhibition will take place in the Forum Street and will run until 20 November.

Previously on display at the Royal Geographical Society in London, the ‘Faerie Land: Michael Drayton’s Vision of Britain’ exhibition is dedicated to Drayton’s 15,000-line poem, Poly-Olbion, which describes the landscape, history and traditions of early modern England and Wales, county by county. The poem was published in 1612 and...

Devon ranks highly within the UK for recognising the immense value and potential for learning from its many unique heritage sites, according to a new report.

Britain’s heritage is much-loved but its value and potential is being underused in some places, says the independent RSA think-tank in association with the Heritage Lottery Fund, in a new heritage index published last week, (23 September 2015).

Devon is among all 379 local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales that have been ranked for their heritage assets – built, archaeological, cultural and natural – the...

Trading standards officers have seized 21 ponies and foals from land near Exeter deemed too dangerous for them, to uphold an order of Exeter Crown Court.

In April 2015, following his conviction at Exeter magistrates Court for Animal Welfare and Horse Passport offences, 74 year old Leslie Weatherill of The Hams, Ide, received a 12 weeks custodial sentence suspended for 18 months.

The court had heard how Mr Weatherill kept his ponies on an area of scrub and woodland at Timridge Brake, Doddiscombsleigh, which, according to a national expert on horses, was inadequate for their...