Preparations are underway at popular Ottery town centre pub The Volunteer Inn to mark the tenth anniversary of ownership by Mike and Jacqui Down.
The couple moved into the pub at the end of February 2012 and have spent the past decade working tirelessly to make it into something really special.
The Volunteer started life in 1810, a traditional hostelry with a dark interior, two small rooms, a cramped bar - and outside WCs. “As early as we could, we built inside loos,” says Mike. “There was huge delight when we opened them!”
After being disappointed with several postponements due to the pandemic, Ottery Food & Families Festival is back on the Devon foodie calendar.
The new date is Saturday September 11 and this year for the first time the event is to be held in Alfington Road on land adjacent to Otter Garden Centres.
The new location means the festival will be all in one place, giving it a real carnival feel. A central arena with hay bales providing a picnic area will be surrounded by producer stalls and catering stands. It means that parents can relax and enjoy the atmosphere as they can...
The fundraising target for Rusty Pig’s ‘Ho Ho Hospiscare’ draw was totally smashed after the local community in Ottery St Mary and surrounding villages showed support for the event.
The initial aim was to raise £500 but by the night of the draw the total had reached £2300. And there was an extra surprise to come with and additional donation of an extra £250 from PASC, an organisation providing support for self-catering businesses, bringing the final total to an amazing £2,550 - equating to a whopping 400 percent increase!
The top prize was a stay for four people at Mazzard...
The MD of a family-run garden centre in Ottery St Mary wants to make sure that no-one in the local community will go short of a festive meal on Christmas Day.
With the annual free Christmas lunch in the town unable to take place due to the pandemic, Jacqui Taylor and her team of willing helpers at Otter Garden Centre are offering to provide a roast turkey dinner complete with a Christmas cracker and mince pie to the elderly, infirm, isolated or anyone otherwise in need, at no cost. The meal will be freshly cooked and delivered at lunchtime on December 25.
Rusty Pig in Ottery St Mary has teamed up with Hospiscare for a festive draw with an amazing top prize – which could turn into two!
The restaurant is supporting the charity after Covid-19 drastically affected fundraising events since March. Robin Rea of Rusty Pig, whose family have previously received support from Hospiscare, said:
“With all events and public-facing activities cancelled, I want to encourage everyone in the community to get behind the charity and help us raise lots of money for them.
“We’ve put together an amazing top prize for the Ho Ho Hospiscare...
Cancer services in East Devon will receive a major boost this month.
Ottery St Mary Hospital will become a new cancer hub for patients and their families.
Specialists from the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital’s oncology department and FORCE, the area’s leading cancer support charity, will be working together within a dedicated unit at the Keegan Road site.
Access to potentially life-saving treatments will be among the new services available in Ottery with chemotherapy sessions held there for the first time.
Consultants and nurse specialists will also hold...
Celebrity chef Michael Caines to headline the Ottery St Mary foodie event.
Devon culinary icon Michael Caines MBE is joining chefs from local eateries The Pig and Lamb & Flag to give free cookery demonstrations at the Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival along with the chefs of the future - catering students from The Kings School in Ottery who will also be showing off their talents.
Now in its eighth year the festival is firmly established as a popular day out for locals and visitors to the area, with its mix of demos, local producers, food stalls, live music and...
Over 50 volunteers of all ages teamed up with East Devon District Council officers, councillors and Greener Ottery on Saturday 11 January to help plant native West Country apple trees in a new community orchard in Land of Canaan, Ottery St Mary.
The project, which was organised by East Devon District Council’s Parks service in conjunction with Greener Ottery and ward member Cllr Vicky Johns, is a reflection of both the council and local community’s interest in sustainability and climate change.
The community orchard is the start of a bigger project to help support wildlife...
A talented young chef has joined the team at The Volunteer Inn in Broad Street, Ottery St Mary.
At just 23, Gemma Youlden has already made her mark on the range of meals available, with diners singing her praises.
Very much a local, Gemma grew up in Alphington and attended The King’s School before leaving in 2012 to pursue a career in catering.
She undertook an apprenticeship with HIT Training, successfully completing Levels 2 and 3. Before joining The Volunteer Inn, she had stints as a chef at a variety of establishments including The Greyhound in Fenny Bridges,...
Christmas party season is well underway at The Volunteer Inn in Ottery St Mary, but this year diners aren’t getting their traditional Christmas crackers.
Instead, landlord and landlady Mike and Jacqui Down have come up with an environmentally friendly alternative; a paper Christmas bag containing a joke, a paper hat, plus some homemade chocolate ‘bark’, all prettily wrapped in tissue paper and personalised.
Mike said: “We feel that Christmas crackers are really wasteful - the majority of the toys are made from plastic and are thrown away almost immediately.
