What might happen if Castle Drogo was left to the elements? From 9 March, a perfect glass ‘drip’ is suspended in a trophy cabinet, a room where Dartmoor appears to have taken over. As the conservation project to save Castle Drogo enters its final two years, artists have taken inspiration from the history and stories of this striking 20th century castle overlooking the Teign Valley. Each artist has taken a very different approach – with everything from sculpture, interactive gadgets, photography and film to new interpretations of objects in the collection. Visitors can look forward to new...
Help to Buy, the government’s flagship housing scheme, has helped 88,420 people buy a new home (9,045 in the South West) since it was created, new figures have revealed today.
Since the launch of the Help to Buy equity loan and mortgage guarantee schemes:
• 80% of scheme completions have been made by first-time buyers • the average house price has been £185,000, significantly below the national average • Over 80,000 people have bought a home through the scheme • 94% of Help to Buy completions take place outside of London • Over half of Help to Buy completions have been for...
The widening gap between house prices and wages means that first time buyers living in the South West of England are having to pay almost £63,000 more for a home, new research from Shelter reveals today.
The charity’s analysis shows that if the average income of a first time buyer and average house prices had remained in line in the region, those lucky enough to get a foot on the property ladder would be paying almost £63,000 – or 37% – less for their first home.
With average house prices in the South West now ten times the average wage, compared to just six times fifteen...
Westpoint Exeter will be a 4,500 sell-out for Thursday's Betway Premier League following record ticket sales for the tournament's visit to the south-west.
The world's leading darts stars have been visiting Exeter since the tournament - held across 16 weeks around the UK & Ireland - was first staged at Westpoint in 2009.
The seventh staging of a Premier League night this coming Thursday has proven a huge hit, with all 4,500 tickets snapped up in advance for the Sky Sports-televised event.
The five games in Exeter include World Champion Gary Anderson - the...
New data released by leading property consultancy JLL shows that direct real estate investment in the South West hit £1.5bn in 2014, up 23 per cent on the previous year, and accounted for 5.3 per cent of all direct real estate investment into the UK regions in 2014. This figure included TIAA Henderson Real Estate's acquisition of Land Securities’ 50 per cent stake in Princesshay Shopping Centre in a deal worth £127.9 million, the single largest transaction in the region in 2014. Looking ahead, there are many big investment projects already in the pipeline in Exeter, including Princesshay...
Fish lovers and members of the South West fishing industry are being urged to get on board with a forthcoming campaign designed to champion the diversity and sustainability of many species landed by the UK fishing fleet in a week-long Twitter campaign set to take place in March.
The initiative, dubbed #CatchOfTheDay, is being launched by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO), the body which represents fishermen’s groups, individual fishermen and producer organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This winter is very likely to be a record breaker. Provisional Met Office statistics show that the UK has had its sunniest winter in records dating back to 1929.
While the figures for temperature and rainfall are fairly average, it has been one of, if not the sunniest winter in UK records dating back to 1929.
By 25 February the UK had already seen 189 hours of sunshine, equalling the 2001 record, but with 3 more days left to the end of the meteorological winter we are likely to beat that record by about 7 hours.
This is in stark contrast to last winter, which was...
Stagecoach Group has launched its 2015 Champions Awards for employees – and is inviting bus and coach passengers in Devon to nominate their favourite member of staff for the Customer Service Champions Award.
This is the sixth year of the company’s Group-wide Champions Awards which recognise staff achievements in a number of categories including safety, environment, health, innovation, community and customer service.
The awards are open to employees across Stagecoach’s bus and rail operations in the UK and North America.and more than 90 staff members have been honoured for...
South West Green MEP, Molly Scott Cato, has drawn attention to the 'green surge' sweeping across the region following a constituency week in which she met with local communities and visited several “inspirational” projects across the South West.
She said, “The South West is witnessing a political green surge, the Green Party has quadrupled in size in just one year and this goes along with a massive growth in truly sustainable projects. Innovative individuals and communities across the region are showcasing examples of a Green Society and helping to create resilient local economies...
Leaders of social ventures are being urged to find out how they could benefit from thousands of pounds of investment and support to further their development at a taster event being held in Dartington this week.
Seedbed is a cutting edge investment and support programme that will work with 50 social ventures in the South West to help them grow, create sustainable jobs, access finance and contribute to their local economy and communities.
By attending the taster event on Thursday (Feb 19), social entrepreneurs can meet the team and learn more about the wealth of expertise...
