Budleigh Past and Present

Queen Elizabeth I, a portrait by the 16th century Exeter-born artist Nicholas Hilliard Its history goes back to the period of the Tudor monarchs of England and the age of the first Queen Elizabeth, but as an organisation, with headquarters just outside Budleigh Salterton alongside the Bicton Arena equine site, it's keeping up with the most demanding of 21st century standards. Dalditch Common, looking south to Lyme Bay Since moving to Devon I've been impressed by the organised look of the landscape - well cared for but not too manicured. Now I read that Clinton Devon Estates, one of the South West's largest landowning companies managing 25,000 acres of Devon countryside including most of the land around Budleigh Salterton, has been told that it's among the best companies to work for in Britain and the very best nationally for its efforts to protect the environment. A small-bordered fritillary butterfly, one of the many wildl...

I'm told that a forthcoming Exeter Bach Society concert of musical favourites including Handel's Zadok the Priest and Rutter's Gloria is very ususual as well as stirring. Why unusual? "Well, it is largely accompanied by only brass and percussion," says Chris Parrish, co-chairman of the Society, who lives in Budleigh. "Almost all the music, like John Rutter's Gloria was written this way but at least one, Zadok the Priest, has been arranged for this combination." "The whole concert is very exciting," says Chris. "If you do not know the Rutter, come to hear it. It is quite unlike his Christmas Carols!" The Exeter Bach Society Choir will be accompanied by Farnaby Brass Percussion, with tenor John Pearce and organist Jonathan Watts. The conductor is Budleigh Salterton's Nicholas Marshall, the Society's Director of Music. The programme, on Saturday 17 April 2010, 7.30 pm, at the Mint Church in Fore Street, Exeter, includes other...

How a rhynchosaur would have looked in real life Picture credit: en.wikipedia.org A re-thatched roof and properly working central heating system will create just the right conditions for a new resident of Budleigh Salterton's Fairlynch Museum and Arts Centre. We all know that lizards like basking in the warm sunshine, and Budleigh's links to the Triassic Period some 200 to 250 million years ago are well-known, so Fairlynch trustees felt that a model of a rhynchosaur would be an appropriate addition to the Museum's Environment Room. In fact the new arrival should feel very much at home in Budleigh. A skeleton of one of the lizard-like creatures was found just a few miles away from us in the Sidmouth area some years ago. Budleigh Salterton's Fairlynch Museum and Arts Centre with its newly thatched roof David Hone, a vertebrate palaeontologist working in Beijing on dinosaur behaviour, made that particular specimen the subject of his doctoral thesis. He describes rhynchosa...

Paintings by Barbara Hageman Garden Ready Oil 9" x 12" $345.00 Sold [A correspondent in Brewster, our sister-town on Cape Cod, writes with news of how the effects of the severe weather over there will be having an effect on her work as a painter. And naturally there's also information here on how to acquire her paintings. Barbara DuBois Hageman trained in classical painting and drawing techniques at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, in Connecticut. In addition, she holds both Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Connecticut. Barbara's paintings include images of the beautiful landscapes of New England's shorelines, farmland, forests, and mountains. She particularly enjoys including people, particularly children, in her works. In addition to her on-line website, her works can be found on Cape Cod at Birdsey-on-the-Cape, in Osterville, MA, at 12 Wianno Avenue. In Connecticut, you can find her full range of works at the Left Bank Gallery Es...

The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a centrist to centre-left social liberal British political party. The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. The two parties had formed the electoral SDP-Liberal Alliance for seven years before then. The party's leader is Nick Clegg. The Lib Dems, with 63 MPs, are the third-largest party in the House of Commons, behind the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. They are relatively strong in SW England, beating Labour by winning three out of the 11 parliamentary constituencies which make up the county of Devon in the 2005 General Election. Promoting social liberalism, the Liberal Democrats voice strong support for constitutional reform, civil liberties, and higher taxes for public services. Although the party objects to state limitations on individual rights, it does favour a welfare state that provides for the necessities and amenities of life. Lib Dems support multilateral...

The Green Party of England and Wales describes itself as one of the oldest Green political parties in the world and has been campaigning for social and environmental justice for more than 30 years. It was founded in 1973 as 'People', became the 'Ecology Party' shortly afterwards and finally changed its name to the Green Party in 1985. The Greens believe that it is human activity, more than anything else, which is threatening the well-being of the environment on which we depend, and that conventional politics has failed us because its values are fundamentally flawed. Sharon Pavey in Morocco where she raised £2000 for Rainbow Trust Children's Charity in 2008 Sharon Pavey, 37, is the Green Party candidate for East Devon. Originally from North Yorkshire/County Durham she has lived in different parts of the UK, including Liverpool, Sussex, and Bristol where she met her husband Dan. Her various jobs have included working as a veterinary nurse, a library assistant, a stude...

A message from the Otter Valley Association: Otter Estuary - Litter Pick - Sat 27 March - 10.00am Free parking, no dogs, but everyone else welcome. Wellies or boots, and gloves needed.

Brewster, our sister-town on Cape Cod, continues to surprise me. Like Budleigh Salterton it seems to be a tidy community which doesn't like too much change. It's full of citizens who take their responsibilities seriously and contribute wholeheartedly to the common good. I imagine that the churches are full on Sundays, and looking at the links page on this site you can see that there are certainly enough of them to satisfy most people's spiritual desires. Above: Brewster's Northside Methodist Church The Brewster landscape seems to be dotted with those delightful little white spires which one associates with the archetypal New England place of worship. From Roman Catholics to Lutherans, from Baptists to those admirably progressive UUs who gather in their magnificent First Parish 18th century meeting house, almost every religious taste is catered for. Budleigh Salterton too is a thriving community of caring and friendly people who are happy with the way things are. As befi...

Medicinal herbs and natural healing are the subject of a talk being given on Friday 26 March 2010 to Budleigh Salterton Garden Club by Simon Miles. Simon Miles is a herbalist and iridologist based at Budock Water in Cornwall, where he has established The Herb Garden, specialising in organically produced plants noted for their medicinal properties. He has qualified as a Master Herbalist and also has a diploma in iridology, the study of the iris of the eye to determine the genetic predispositions of a person's health. The talk is at 2.00 pm for 2.30 pm at Budleigh Salterton Football Club, Greenway Lane. Entry is £1.00 for Garden Club members and £2.00 for non-members.