Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve, Devon is located on a long sand spit at the mouth of the River Exe. The sand spit is home to many species of wildlife. Habitats at the Warren, include dunes, grassland, ponds, salt marsh and mudflats. The Warren is also the main roost for wildfowl and wading birds […]

Topsham is an attractive Devon town on the Exe estuary. Now part of Exeter, it nevertheless maintains a distinctive identity. It is one of those ancient, decayed estuary-ports which are perhaps the most fascinating kind of town that England can show, with their colour, smells, and strong sense of past life everywhere in the streets […]

A worrying note from Dickie Dirts Curiosity Shop. Council officers from Devon are working with Defra, to track any foot-and-mouth developments in Surrey. There have been no reported cases in the South West but officials said “tight bio security” was vital. Defra has imposed a ban on moving farm animals after cattle at a […]

Today is the Honiton Show. Sadly Mid Devon and North Devon shows have been lost due to the severe weather conditions we have been experiencing, however Honiton is still very much on. The Imps Motorcycle Display team will deliver a breathtaking spectacular performance while for the first time at Honiton there will be a Tiger […]

When the Willand to Tiverton branch of the Bristol & Exeter Railway was constructed, Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed this aqueduct in 1848 to carry the Grand Western Canal over the rails near Halberton. The iron trough of the aqueduct is supported by two brick arches and the entire structure is faced in brick. A timber […]

Willand is first recorded in 1042 as having “belonged to Ethmar”. The village is then mentioned, along with Muxbeare, in the Domesday survey of 1086. From 1098 to 1539 Willand belonged to Taunton Priory, whose monks visited chapels at Muxbeare, Moorston Barton, as well as the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the […]

The French Lieutenant’s Woman 1981 was filmed in Lyme Regis, Dorset and Kingswear, Dart Valley Railway and Torbay in Devon. A gentleman forsakes his fiancee for the abandoned mistress of a French seaman in 1867 intertwined with the modern story of the actors playing the Victorian roles. Written by John Fowles it was […]

The vibrant beach of Woolacombe Sands is two miles of magnificent golden sand backed by sandy hills and the Woolacombe Downs. It is one of the finest beaches in the West Country - a broad, west-facing expanse of sand, with the Barricane or Shell Beach at the northern end. The quieter southern end is bracketed […]

Planning laws need to be clarified to take into account the effects of building on flood risk land. A new Government report says the risk of flooding should be considered at an earlier stage of development. Approximately 10% of new houses are beiing built on floodplains. Changes in agricultural land management can also effect […]

A new town is set to be built in Sherford Valley to the south of the A38 at Deep Lane, near Plymouth after the planning inspectorate gave the go-ahead to council plans. The new town - which would be made up of smaller, linked communities - would provide at least 4,000 new homes by 2016, […]