The harp is one of the world’s oldest and most diverse instruments appearing, in Greek mythology through to Harry Potter. In Celtic tales harps often have magical powers of enchantment and this queen of instruments is deep rooted in our musical and cultural history. It is amazing that despite this, many of us have never played a harp or even been up close to one! On 3 October Harpist Shelley Fairplay will change that for twelve adventurous first time harp students on a momentous one-day learning journey, from plucking their very first note in the morning right through to performing in the...
At Killerton, the National Trust estate near Exeter, the apple harvest is fast approaching. This year looks to be a bumper crop and the trees are heavy with fruit.
But now Killerton needs help to collect the fallen apples that make its award winning cider and apple juice and is inviting visitors to join the ‘Big Pick Up’ in Sparrow Park Orchard on the weekends of 3 and 4 or 10 and 11 October.
Armed with a trusty wheelbarrow, the volunteers will head into the orchard to collect their bounty. Andy Bramwell, Outdoor Visitor Services Officer, said: “Wheels will be spinning,...
A group of long-term unemployed people from Exeter, who recently qualified as barbers and are setting out on their new careers, have described how the training enabled them to develop confidence and transform their lives.
The 19-week course is funded by Learn Devon – Devon County Council’s adult education service – and delivered by Hair @ the Academy, a salon at the Exeter Deaf Academy that offers hair and beauty training to disengaged adults and young people. The course is free to unemployed adults who are drawing benefits in their own right.
Up and coming Exeter racing driver Richard Mitchell heads for iconic Brands Hatch circuit this weekend for the HSCC Historic Formula Ford 1600 Championship.
Racing newcomer Richard joined the Silverstone based Speedsport team this year with virtually no previous racing experience. Despite that, he was straight on the pace and has won four of the first nine races, with second place in the season’s opener at Thruxton Circuit - beating former F1 driver and TV’s FIFTH GEAR presenter Tiff Needell.
The title race for the HSCC Historic Formula Ford 1600 Championship is really...
Rugby's biggest prize, the Webb Ellis cup is coming to Exeter, and people have a chance to have their picture taken with it.
The Webb Ellis Cup will be in the official Rugby World Cup 2015 Exeter Fanzone in Northernhay Gardens on Tuesday (29 September) from 12noon to 1pm and will be welcomed by a schools music mini fest, with music from local schools, The Academy of Music and Sound, and Exeter College.
The cup will then travel to Sandy Park for the first Rugby World Cup 2015 match in Exeter - Tonga v Namibia - and will be located outside Sandy Park from 2pm to 3.30pm, then...
Devon’s very own creative print company, Inspirwood, has been handpicked by global fashion sensation Jessica Minh Anh to create exclusive VIP invitations for the highly anticipated J Autumn Fashion Show, which will take place on 29 October 2015 in Paris.
The show is part of Jessica Minh Anh’s series of history making catwalks at the world’s most iconic venues. After the phenomenal success of the Eiffel Tower’s first ever catwalk, the model and entrepreneur will transform the Seine’s giant glass boat into a 100 meter floating catwalk.
Baring-Gould Folk Weekend returns October 2015 sees the welcome return of the “Baring-Gould Folk Weekend”.
This intimate and family-friendly folk festival, hosted by Okehampton-based music organisation Wren Mu-sic, brings great local and national music and international dance, and blends them with locally-sourced food and drink and an electric atmosphere to create an unforgettable weekend out for the whole family.
Guest highlights this year include Lady Maisery, a fabulous female trio exploring vocal harmony to breath-taking effect, through their fresh interpretations of...
Residents along the river frontage in the estuary-side town of Topsham were full of praise for the flooding exercise that took place on Wednesday evening of this week.
The exercise was aimed at raising awareness of the risk of flooding in the town – which suffered from floods in the storms of February 2014 – which allowed residents to test their own property defences.
The exercise also tested the readiness of Topsham’s recently recruited Flood Wardens, 10 of whom were deployed across 5 sectors covering the town’s 1.5 mile river frontage, from the recreation ground through...
This week my dining companion and I were fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of the new menu at Bella Italia in Queen Street, Exeter. I was particularly excited about this having enjoyed my precious visit so much.
Again, we were warmly welcomed by our previous Italian waiter, Manuel and an extremely friendly and highly professional manager called Mykolas. Good staff count for a lot these days, and I have to say, Bella Italia are extremely lucky to have such good staff working for them.
The new menu tasting involved a set menu of new dishes accompanied by a drink of...
The Exeter & District Netball League starts this week at the University of Exeter Sports Park with games being played on a brand new high-grade surface.
The University of Exeter - which recently won the Times and Sunday Times Sports University of the Year 2016 award - has invested to significantly improve the playing surface of the Covered Courts facility. Their aim is to both improve the playability of the surface and also improve the look and feel of the Facility. The new surface which exceeds England Netball surface requirements and is LTS competition standard will be a...
