Devon

Dame Judi Dench announced as Exeter Northcott Patron

Exeter Northcott Theatre is delighted to announce that the highly acclaimed and much loved actress Dame Judi Dench has accepted to be Patron for its 50th anniversary year, 2017-2018.

Dame Judi is admired around the world for a 60 year career of phenomenal performances on both stage and screen. She has won an Academy Award, ten BAFTA Awards and six Laurence Olivier Awards. In recognition of her many achievements, she received an OBE in 1970, became a DBE in 1988, and in 2005 was awarded a Companion of Honour.

Dame Judi was a long-time friend and colleague of the Northcott's...

Major award for Devon firm's multi million pound World Heritage Site design

MULTI-MILLION pound attraction Seaton Jurassic has scooped a major architecture award for the best leisure and hospitality project of the year.

The flagship centre, designed by Plymouth firm Form Design, cost £4 million to build and has smashed visitor expectations in the year since it was opened.

It stands at the heart of the world-renowned Jurassic Coast and was praised by judges of the prestigious Michelmores Property Awards.

It is owned by the council and operated by Devon Wildlife trust, with East Devon District Council putting more than £2 million into the...

Missing Killerton mansion may have been found

Archaeologists working with the National Trust’s Killerton estate believe they may have found the location of the lost Killerton mansion that was started in 1775, but never completed. The lost house was re-discovered almost by accident. Rumours of the mansion, three times bigger than the surviving building at Killerton and more befitting of the Acland family’s wealth and status, have circulated for many years - but no-one has been able to find where the building work was located. All that has remained of the mansion are designs by renowned architect, James Wyatt, a few surviving records...

Top Exeter scientist to talk climate change at Glastonbury

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 06/21/2017 - 11:30am

Glastonbury festivalgoers can look forward to a heady mix of Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry – and a lesson on climate change from a top scientist.

At the festival’s Speaker’s Forum, Professor Richard Betts, of the University of Exeter, will discuss the science of climate change and take part in panel discussions and interviews with other prominent figures in the climate change debate.

“Climate change is a complex topic with some important and fascinating science behind it,” says Professor Betts.

“As we continue the debate on what to do about it, it’s important...

Freemasons to hold public vote on £3m charity grants

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 06/21/2017 - 7:06am

The Freemasons are holding an unprecedented public vote to decide how to spend a special three million pounds of charity funding as part of their 300th anniversary celebrations this year. Freemasons throughout the country have selected 300 local charities to receive a special Community Award, but the decision on the size of grant – ranging from £4,000 to £25,000 – is being decided by an online public vote. Anyone who wishes to vote should visit the Masonic Charitable Foundation website at mcf.org.uk/vote go to the page for their region and vote from the list of local charities which have...

Spy thriller Our Man in Havana comes to Exeter

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 06/20/2017 - 9:08pm

Innovative theatre company Creative Cow from Devon brings an evening of hilarity and satire to Exeter in this witty adaptation of Graham Greene’s spy thriller ‘Our Man in Havana’. Known as one of Greene’s ‘entertainments’, the play tells the tale of a luckless vacuum cleaner salesman who gets sucked in to a dirty world of espionage and double agents when the chance of helping out MI6 with a job or two proves too good an offer to resist.

Touring venues around the UK following a hugely successful Autumn tour of another Graham Greene popular classic ‘Travels with my Aunt’, this...

Seaton Jurassic wins major SW Award

Seaton Jurassic, East Devon District Council’s flagship visitor attraction, has scooped a major South West award for the best leisure and hospitality project of the year.

The £4-million centre, at the heart of the world-renowned Jurassic Coast, was described by judges of the prestigious Michelmores Property Awards as “simply just a fun project”. Owned by the council and operated by Devon Wildlife Trust, the judges were particularly complimentary about how involved the community was in the centre and that partnership working was key to the attraction’s success.

East Devon...

Ancient Devon community had a taste for exotic food and drink

Devon farmers who made their home in the same remote location for 1,200 years had a taste for exotic imported food and drink, archaeologists have found.

There was a thriving settlement in Ipplepen, South Devon, for hundreds of years longer than previously thought, excavations have shown.

It was originally thought that people only lived on the site during the Roman period, but radiocarbon analysis now shows the settlement was founded in the middle of the pre-Roman Iron Age - the 4th century BC. It was only finally abandoned in the 8th century AD, possibly because of the...

Heatwave advice issued as temperatures soar

Public Health leaders are offering advice on how to beat the heat, in the wake of news today of a continued heat wave.

The Met Office has forecast that the hot weather will now continue until Thursday and Public Health England South West is issuing heatwave advice to local authorities across the peninsula.

Dr Virginia Pearson, Devon’s Director of Public Health, said: “Most people are able to cope with this rapid rise in temperature by staying out of the sun, drinking plenty of water and protecting their skin by covering up.

“However, babies, older people and those...

Curtain up on Sidmouth’s annual Summer Play Festival

Award-winning West End producer Paul Taylor-Mills will be raising the curtain on his hugely popular Summer Play Festival at Sidmouth’s Manor Pavilion Theatre from Thursday (June 22) with a three-month run of productions featuring works from iconic playwrights including Cooney, Coward, and Ayckbourn.

Tickets for the play season went on sale last month and the box office took an astonishing £14,000 in the first four hours of trading.

The theatre – owned and managed by East Devon District Council - is the last in the UK to offer a season of repertory productions that...

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