Budleigh Past and Present

The African elephant leaves former natural history gallery at RAMM through window Photo credit: © 2010 Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter With reports of renovation costs at Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum having spiralled to a forecasted £24m we were naturally keen to learn how what has been described "an exquisite jewel box of a building" will appear to visitors when it re-opens in just over a year's time. Having the builders in is not something you normally welcome, and Fairlynch trustees have had to cope with their own building renovation issues recently. But a roof re-thatch and updating of the heating system in Budleigh Salterton's museum were simple household chores compared with the major works that have been taking place on Exeter's Queen Street for the last five years as described by Nena Beric, Development Project Officer at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum since 2005. The RAMM management's refurbishment plans in their original applicati...

The RAF's Hurricane, a vital weapon of 87 and 213 Fighter Squadrons based at Exeter Airfield during the Battle of Britain When I heard that a local sculptor whose favourite subject is horses was going to create a Battle of Britain memorial statue I imagined that designing a variation of a Pegasus figure would be the obvious aim. For the last 20 years local sculptor Frances Margaret has been creating original equine pieces like those shown below. Many have ended up in the homes of horse lovers worldwide, including celebrities like Olympic rider Mary King and opera legend Luciano Pavarotti. Growing up on the family farm in Otterton left her with a lifelong passion for horses, and it was during an art class in Exmouth led by the ceramicist Brian Adams that her talent for sculpture came to light. "He helped to show me the technicalities of modelling in clay," she recalls. "It was during one of his pottery painting classes that I (because I couldn't paint!) saw a lump...

Radiotherapy: a constantly evolving technology As I've said before somewhere I don't want to go banging on about cancer. After all, I'm supposed to have had the nearest thing to a cure. But I have joined the local Prostate Cancer support group, and do tend to check with male friends to make sure they know their PSA score. So inevitably there will be the odd mention of this annoying disease on the blog, and probably of others! On the face of it there's always good news from the front line in the battle against cancer, and it's impossible not to be optimistic about the final outcome. That was certainly the underlying message from clinical oncologist Dr Denise Sheehan, who spoke to the Budleigh & Exmouth Group of the North & East Devon Prostate Support Association at their 12 October meeting in Tidwell Manor about her work with radiotherapy for dealing with prostate cancer. The story of radiotherapy as a treatment for cancer has been one of steady progress sinc...

"A cheerful all-baroque programme of music is just the thing for a November evening," say the people at Exeter Bach Society. And that's exactly what they're bringing us in a concert conducted by Budleigh Salterton resident and the Society's Director of Music Nicholas Marshall. The Exeter Bach Society Choir will be accompanied by soloists from London's Guidhall School of Music and Drama and harpsichordist Jonathan Watts. The programme, on Saturday 6 November 2010 at 7.30 pm, in St James' Church, Mount Pleasant, Exeter, includes works by J.S. Bach, Purcell and Handel. Tickets: £12, unreserved (concessions £9) may be purchased from Exeter Phoenix Ticket Agency, Gandy Street, Exeter (Tel: 01392 667080); Opus Classical in the Guildhall Centre (Tel: 01392 214044); members of the Exeter Bach Society; online through the Society's website at http://www.exeterbachsociety.org.uk/ or by phoning Roger Churchward on 01392 468867. Also at the door before the perform...

"Our relationship with the lovely seaside town of Budleigh Salterton goes back a long way," says David Phipps-Davis, Director of Imperial Productions' staging of Lerner & Loewe musical Gigi . "'Christmas Budleigh' is the affectionate name for our annual long weekend spent in the South West. It's planned to coincide with local late-night Christmas shopping and general festive cheer. We join in by putting on a show in the town hall for just two performances - and are usually rewarded with good audiences." Right: The coat of arms of Imperial College, London, where Imperial Productions originated The remarkable story of London-based Imperial Productions apparently started following a discussion between two members of the cast in the ladies' loo on a Sunday evening in January 1979 during the Imperial College Operatic Society's production of The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein . They began to discuss a problem in the Society: many of the roles, bot...

Generous giving: volunteer Michael Downes and local organiser David Warner (right) welcome donations for the North and  East Devon Prostate Support Association at Exmouth's Tesco superstore. Photo credit: David Jannaway I have to confess I sometimes hurry past street collectors. But since I met so unexpectedly the disease which is diagnosed annually in 35,000 men in the UK alone, the plea for volunteers to help our local North & East Devon Prostate Support Association caught my eye. You're not actually supposed to catch the eye of passers-by as you stand there with your collection box according to the strict guidelines issued by the organisers, and you're certainly not supposed to rattle it under punters' noses in that brazenly cheery fashion adopted by some charity hawkers. But I couldn't help studying the faces of people who did stop to put money in the box as I waited outside Exmouth's Tesco superstore on Salterton Road ye...

Budleigh Salterton yet again proudly displays its Britain in Bloom Gold Award for 2010. Great gardeners: Pat and William Prew are two of the town's green-fingered brigade who help ensure that Budleigh looks its best This was the second year running that the town's group of volunteers who make up Budleigh in Bloom had claimed the honour. Chairman Pat Prew collected the award at the South West in Bloom presentation in Bath last month. A neat and colourful display at Bay Cottage on Fore Street Hill Much hard work goes into the floral displays on which the judges' decision is based and the judging itself was a thorough affair involving a tour of the town, following a special plea from Mrs Prew to residents and shopkeepers asking that the front of their properties be kept neat and tidy and free of weeds. The floral display along the brook on Budleigh Salterton's Fore Street is one of the town's showpieces Having read on the Budleigh in Bloom website http://www.budleighin...