Devon

Up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the skills of herbal usage were often the province of the religious houses.

Our Herbal Wives ancestors might have worked as lay-persons - perhaps in the instances of Mistresses Elinor and Christina - at the 12th century Polsloe Priory also known as St Katherine’s Priory in Pinhoe Exeter, their knowledge and expertise being passed through the generations.

Using a variety of plants from their own physic garden in the wild places of the former Polsloe Priory, the hedgebanks and verges of the country lanes, Mistresses...

Dartmoor National Park has now installed pay and conserve parking metres at its car parks at Haytor (upper and lower car parks) Postbridge and Meldon Reservoir.

The context for introducing the new pay and conserve scheme follows a 40% reduction in National Park funding since 2011, making the maintenance of car parks and other visitor facilities in the National Park a significant financial challenge. A voluntary parking donation scheme set up in these carparks, which it was hoped would raise income, proved unsustainable as donations were as low as 15 pence per vehicle.

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Devon’s libraries attracted 2.7 million visits and welcomed over 135,000 regular library users last year.

Devon County Council and charity Libraries Unlimited, which is commissioned to run Devon's libraries, says the high visitor numbers are a reflection of the broad range of services that appeal to a variety of audiences.

But while the diversity of services on offer in Devon’s public libraries has expanded beyond the traditional book lending service - with digital technologies such as 3D scanning and printing in FabLabs in Exeter and Barnstaple libraries; support for...

Set sail for Greece with Exeter Little Theatre Company (ELTC) this July as it brings to life William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.

The Barnfield Theatre will transform into the Greek city of Ephesus, a summer destination where crowds can enjoy a perfect evening of entertainment and laughs.

Meet Egeon (played by Andrew Mimmack), a merchant of the rival city Syrcause after being caught upon Ephesus’ shores and is facing execution unless he pays a huge ransom by sunset. He is brought before Duke Solinus (Richard Flack) and decides to share with him (and the audience) a...

As the summer months return and people spend more time enjoying the countryside, Public Health experts in Devon are encouraging the public to be ‘tick aware’.

Ticks are small spider-like creatures that feed on the blood of animals, including people. They are found in woodland, grassland and moorland where there is a dense vegetation layer and can be found in some urban parks and gardens. Ticks don’t jump or fly, but they attach themselves to animals or people as they brush past something the tick is on. Adult ticks are more active in late spring and summer. Some ticks carry may...

More than 85,000 people are expected to take part in a special parkrun UK event on Saturday 9 June 2018 to celebrate the NHS's 70th birthday.

Backed by double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, parkrun for the NHS is the first event of its type.

Staff from all parts of the NHS, from doctors to domestics and paramedics to porters, will join runners, walkers and volunteers at more than 300 local parkruns to mark the contribution the NHS has made to the nation.

parkruns are volunteer-led 5k events that take place each Saturday morning in England, Scotland, Wales...

A multimillion pound bid to revolutionise digital technology education across the South West has reached the final phase of competition.

The Department for Education (DfE) is awarding £170 million to establish a network of Institutes of Technology across the country. They will offer top-quality training and apprenticeships in higher-level technical skills.

They will aim to bridge skills gaps in the economy by providing the knowledge and training that employers need. It would deliver a range of higher level courses across the digital, engineering and manufacturing sectors...

Top scientists will answer your questions about sea turtles in a live online Q&A on Friday (June 8).

To mark of World Oceans Day, University of Exeter researchers will take questions from 2:30-3pm in an event broadcast on Facebook .

The experts will include Professor Brendan Godley, one of the coordinators of Exeter’s world-leading turtle research group.

Alongside him will be PhD student Emily Duncan, an expert on turtles and plastic pollution, who will begin a voyage across the Pacific later this month to study the impact of micro-plastics.

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