Exeter

A thousand paper poppies made from copies of love letters written during World War II have been used in an art installation at Exeter Northcott.

The 2.7m high installation has been created specially for the theatre foyer for the month of November by paper artist Gillian Taylor who has used copies of letters loaned by local people following a request in the media.

Gillian’s work is influenced by her interest in how we communicate and how that has changed over the years. She said: “The letters were all written at a time of great uncertainty and heightened emotions. Sometimes...

South West Highways will be closing the A30 eastbound from Moor Lane Roundabout to the intersection of the M5 south bound exit slip on the nights (8.00pm – 06.00am) of Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 November.

The work requires the following road closures:

• The A30 eastbound will be closed from Moor Lane Roundabout to the M5 southbound off slip intersection.
• The M5 Junction 29 northbound on slip will be closed.
• The J29 northbound off slip will be closed.

These closures will necessitate the following diversion...

With winter well on its way, South West Highways and Devon County Council are making sure they are fully equipped to keep Devon moving during any severe weather over the coming months.

The Council have welcomed an investment of almost £1 million by South West Highways to purchase 12 new tractors which, during the winter months, will be fitted with the special snow ploughs to help keep the roads clear of snow.

Throughout the rest of the year South West Highways will use the tractors for other general road maintenance services, such as grass cutting, around...

A record number of children in Devon returned to school this year as better readers thanks to their local library. Over 8,000 children participated in the Summer Reading Challenge, which is a massive 30% more than took part last year and a new record for the County.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Reading is a vital part of a child’s development and improving literacy levels amongst our children is a top priority so I'm delighted that schemes like this are encouraging more children to read.

“The...

118,000 people working in Devon would benefit from the introduction of a Living Wage. Research by the South West TUC released during Living Wage Week (4 - 10th November) shows 32% (15,558) of workers in Torbay, 28% (27,273) in Plymouth and 28% (75,239) in the rest of Devon earn less than £7.20 an hour – the lowest rate that campaigners believe supports a decent standard of living outside London.

Pay campaigner Kit Leary said: “Paying the living wage is good for business, good for the individual and good for society. It would close the gap between luxury pay at one...

The Open Space evening held at the Real Food Café on the 15th October and attended by around 20 members of the team - staff, volunteers and directors - brought up some fantastic ideas for improving how the team work at Real Food, which they have set about implementing straight away. One idea that was picked up and considered intently, was the possibility of re-opening the Café on Mondays and earlier each morning.

Following three weeks of increased trade in both the Café and Store, it made absolute sense to at least trial this for a period, and so, from 5th November they...

Rat Attack is very proud to announce the release of its newest single 'Bad Catholic' accompanied with music video. The music video was made by local TV/Production company Pangaea TV, and once it had reached 500 views the band released a free download of the single through their facebook page.

The band will also be releasing their Peter Miles-produced (Frank Turner, Tellison, We Are The Ocean) eponymous debut EP in February 2013 (date TBC), which will feature the second single ‘Heartbeat’, with guest vocals from Liam Cromby from We Are The Ocean. The whole EP, in fact, has...

A group of ‘Mo Bros’ from Exeter-based chartered accountancy firm Simpkins Edwards are preparing for a particularly hairy few weeks as they raise money for men’s health programmes by taking part in ‘Movember’.

Led by Partner Adrian Hemmings, who lost his father-in-law to prostate cancer 10 years ago, the team also includes Jamie Brimblecombe, Jason Chant, Jon Dufty, Nick Feeney, Phill Hargreaves, Mark Simic, Jordan Mitchell, Antony Norman and Richard Holt who are all based at the Exeter office.

Movember is an annual international campaign which takes place...

An investigation was this afternoon underway after a blaze at a three-storey office building in Exeter's Southernhay.

The alarm was raised at 7.30am by a passers by who spotted smoke billowing from the property.

Initially two appliances from Danes Castle and Middlemoor together with an aerial platform were sent to tackle the incident.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus forced their way into the building which was well alight.

At 7.49am they requested a further two appliances, which came from Danes Castle and Topsham, together with support appliances...

Devon Life announced the winners of the 2012 Devon Life Food & Drink Awards at a glittering black tie event held at Exeter's Sandy Park last night. The ceremony honours the finest food and drink producers in Devon.

The Exeter Daily would like to congratulate all winners and finalists, but especially Exeter's St Peter's School for winning Best School Food Award, Ben Bulger of the Magdalen Chapter Hotel for winning Best Chef of the Year and The Hunstman Inn at Ide for winning Best Dining Pub of the Year. Special mentions also go to the Rodean Restaurant (Best Restaurant...