Devon

Climbers at The Quay Climbing Centre in Exeter will be attempting to climb the height of Everest on Friday 12th June as part of a fund raising day to support earthquake relief projects in Nepal.

The event is part of a series of similar challenges taking place at climbing walls across the UK as a way of supporting a part of the world that is close to the hearts of the climbing community and is being organised by two local climbers, Ellie Wilkinson and Denise Murphy.

Climbers are being challenged to complete as many metres of climbing as they can throughout the day in the...

Open air theatre, including works by Shakespeare and Jane Austen, will be staged in two of East Devon’s best loved parks this summer.

Four touring theatre companies are bringing their productions to the beautiful Connaught Gardens in Sidmouth and Manor Gardens in Exmouth in a joint project between East Devon District Council’s StreetScene and Countryside departments. Topping the bill will be The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice and the Triumph of Love.

Cllr John O’Leary, the district council’s Culture Champion, said: “These gardens have wonderful...

A new study from the University of Exeter has revealed that the Central African country of Gabon is providing an invaluable nesting ground for a vulnerable species of sea turtle considered a regional conservation priority.

A huge ground survey covering nearly 600 km of Gabon’s coastline has uncovered the largest breeding colony of olive ridley turtles in the Atlantic.

The study, published today (4 June) in the journal Biological Conservation, is the first to combine existing monitoring data with a back-to-basics coastal survey of the area. The results suggest that Gabon...

Driving is a risky activity; it requires our full attention at all times.

This week is Road Safety week (8-14 June) Fire and Rescue Services across the UK are coming together to raise awareness of the dangers to young drivers of driving and being distracted.

Although driving and distraction is a significant risk to all drivers, if combined with the inexperience of a newly-qualified driver it becomes an even more deadly cocktail.

What is distracted driving?

• Visual: taking your eyes off the road
• Manual: taking your hands off the wheel
...

‘Transport for Your Community’ is co-ordinating its second Community Transport Awareness Week across Devon next week (Monday 8 June – Sunday 14 June).

Community Transport helps people across Devon, especially those in rural parts of the county, that may live miles from the nearest bus route, or are unable to afford taxi fares or are physically unable to use the public transport services provided.

Transport for Your Community, which is made up of local Community Transport group members across Devon, can provide transport to health appointments, services, shops and leisure...

The £380,000 Fatherford bridge, east of Okehampton, provides cyclists and pedestrians with a safer crossing over the railway line than the existing road bridge over the railway line.

Although the existing bridge has footpaths on its approach, the structure itself is narrow and does not have a path.

The new bridge separates pedestrians and cyclists from road traffic. As well as improving safety it will also enable further development of land east of the bridge, allowing the creation of a safe crossing point across Exeter Road (B3260) for the Granite and Gears Cycle route...

This month sees the biggest change to driving licences in almost twenty years.

From 8 June 2015, the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence will not be valid and will no longer be issued by DVLA.

There will be no change to the current photocard driving licence or paper driving licence.

Any paper driving licences issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998, will remain valid. If you need to update your name, address or renew your licence, your paper driving licence will be replaced with a photocard driving licence only.

Inspector Andrew...

The final episode of a three-part BBC 2 TV drama-documentary series Armada: 12 years to save England - Endgame will feature a University of Exeter medical historian on Sunday 7 June at 9pm.

Dr Alun Withey will share his knowledge about the role of the barber surgeon on board ship and the sorts of things he had to treat in battle and the sorts of instruments he used.

Elizabeth I played by Anita Dobson shows the monarch as politically astute and presenter Dan Snow takes to the sea to tell the story of how England came within a whisker of disaster in summer 1588. He explores...

Exeter’s visitor attractions have scooped a hat-trick of top awards from an online review site.

TripAdvisor, which is the world’s biggest online travel review website, has awarded its coveted Certificate of Excellence to the City’s Red Coat Guides, the Underground Passages and Exeter Guildhall.

Now in its fifth year, the TripAdvisor award celebrates excellence in hospitality and is given only to services that consistently achieve great reviews on TripAdvisor by continually delivering a high quality customer experience. 2015 is the third consecutive year that the Red Coat...