Submission to the Emergency Meeting of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, Friday 20 January 2023, Annie Dare. We felt as many people as possible should have the chance to read her words and reproduce them here with our thanks to Annie and all those campaigning for the protection of access to nature. Let’s go back […]
If Alexander Darwall, the landowner behind the wild camping judgement, had actually been hired to recruit numbers to the right to roam cause, he could not have done a better job. 3,000 people made the effort to travel to the village of Cornwood, climb the roads and tracks to Stall Moor, stand together in the […]
The judge’s decision on the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has cause upset and outrage amongst walker, climbers, nature-lovers and Dartmoor-lovers from across the country. On Saturday, people will be coming together to protest the verdict. We predict that this will be a very big event indeed and we will be there. You must […]
Only 14 per cent of England’s rivers have good ecological status, and the government has just, incredibly, allowed itself another 36 years to clean things up. Yet all is not lost: local citizen scientists are joining together to save streams, brooks, and rivers, and to start action now. Vicky Whitworth shares a tale of hope […]
On December 11, 2022, with only a handful of days’ notice and on one of the coldest days of the oncoming winter, 400 people gathered for a rally to save access to Dartmoor for wild campers. They were the young and the old, locals and those who’d travelled considerable distances, wild campers and non-wild campers […]
The Shores of South Devon (SOSD) Marine Interest Life Association held an art and photography launch event on Friday 25 November at the Maltings Taphouse, Newton Abbot. The Exhibition features local intertidal marine life, recorded and photographed on south Devon shores over the last three years, in the geographical area between the River Exe and the River […]
If you are a South West water customer, you should have received a letter offering a you a small sum of money or shares in South West Water’s parent company, Pennon Group. Being a shareholder gives you the right to attend the annual general meeting and ask questions of the board of directors. It is […]
‘Tis the approaching season of glitter, foil and glue! We all like a spot of sparkle but if anyone wants to indulge with twinkly bits of glitter and plastic bits and bobs on cards and wrapping paper, recipients of the aforementioned, just please don’t put them in the recycling box! Why not put a nice […]
Our rights are currently under attack as never before in my lifetime. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill so curtails the right to protest that it permits your arrest merely on the suspicion that you might carry out some act against the Establishment. The Borders and Nationalities Bill makes it easier to strip someone […]
BREAKING: a public inquiry is due to get underway at Newton Abbot Town Hall today into the controversial proposal to reopen the Bullers Hill Quarry at Haldon, near Teignmouth. The site is designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) as it contains outcrops of flint-bearing gravels. It is one of the few places […]
The tradition of crackers at Christmas goes back to Victorian times, before the days of plastic. Did you know that in the UK 40 million crackers and their contents are thrown away each year? The novelties inside crackers are largely made of single-use plastic (who needs a plastic moustache?), which will end up in the […]
Dear Mr Mangnall, “It was a source of deep frustration to see Totnes MIU closed for a significant proportion of the last three years, which is why I am so delighted to see my campaign to reopen it prove successful earlier this year.” The above statement is from your recent email and I take great […]
Tavistock looked at its best this morning, its streets and buildings washed clean by overnight rain and gleaming under late November sun. Appearances are deceptive, though: a local told me the town was in decline, with shops closing and people increasingly resorting to food banks. In this it surely mirrors the fate of once prosperous […]
Dozens of protesters gathered at the Totnes Conservative Club at Station Road. to protest at the sitting MP Anthony Magnall’s environmental voting record, particularly with regard to voting against an important Lords’ Amendment to the Environment Bill during November 2021. The lively gathering today was made up of many diverse groups including swimmers, recreational water users, kayakers, paddle […]
Following the pop-up ‘General Election Now’ campaigns in other Devon towns, Devon for Europe returned to the county’s capital with its first “proper” street stall to find out how the city’s Saturday shoppers are feeling about the present state of political affairs. Six years ago, Exeter voted to remain in the EU at the 2016 […]
It was 17° a couple of days ago and it’s mid-November. In the summer it was over 40° in London. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of deaths here amongst the over 65s due to the heat was c.2,800. Floods this year in the UK have been far worse than normal; ask people living along the […]
Our first past the post system may have the advantage of familiarity and simplicity, but it is serving us very ill. The current government enjoys a massive majority in the Commons, allowing it to ram through legislation that damages our democracy, our human rights, the environment and so much more… and all despite securing only […]
On October 29, there was an excellent turnout of activists at Bedford Square Exeter from local Extinction Rebellion groups (Exeter, Totnes and Teignmouth/Newton Abbot), co-organised by Exeter XR and Exeter Samba Band. The objective? To call out Barclays yet again: the dirty bank of Europe. Barclays remains the number one bank in Europe and number […]
Devon for Europe took their ‘democracymeter’ to the centre of Newton Abbot, gauging public opinion on the state of affairs in Westminster before going on to deliver a letter to the constituency MP, Anne Marie Morris, asking her to support calls for a general election. Newton Abbot has always been a tough gig, and the […]
Babe – the pig with the unerring snout for pigswill – returns for a satirical sojourn in the Sunlit Uplands and a political sketch. As the year moves into its closing phase, there’s never been a better time to root through the fallen fruit and leaf litter of Anthony Mangnall’s autumnal tenure as Constituency MP […]
I met Kay Pike when she brought the Plastic Free Axminster stall to All Saints, a village on the outskirts of Axminster. Kay is keen to stress that she is no expert on the subject – I beg to differ. The more she talks – passionately – about the subject of single-use plastic, the more […]
On Friday I joined a small group of Devon for Europe supporters at a “flash protest” in Totnes. Anthea Simmons, our campaign manager, delivered a letter to MP Anthony Mangnall demanding his support for a general election. We also ran a “democracymeter”, asking passers by to answer questions about the state of our nation by […]
I did ask the nurse whose testimony I quote here if I could name her. She was not comfortable with that, I am afraid, but I understand why and hope you do, too. “What’s that about, then?” asked the nurse as she set about applying a fibreglass cast to my broken wrist. I followed her […]
On Monday evening, as Rishi Sunak was being welcomed at Conservative HQ as the latest new party leader and Prime Minister, a group of Devon For Europe activists gathered in Exmouth to campaign for an immediate General Election. Outside East Devon MP Simon Jupp’s off-the-beaten-track office, in a very fresh sea breeze, we set up […]
The Extinction Rebellion (XR) ‘Change is Now‘ tour bus visited The Triangle at Teignmouth on Friday 23 September with a mission to promote ideas and unity with local rebels and residents. XR are looking to increase activism amongst people who are concerned about the current cost of living crisis and the impact of the changing climate. As […]
But who’s consulting local residents on whether they want their areas turned into free-fire zones for developers and predatory corporations, asks Tom Scott. The government says that it is in discussions with 38 local authorities that have expressed an interest in having so-called ‘investment zones’, as announced in Kwasi Kwarteng’s special fiscal operation on 23 […]
The climate and ecological crisis which is now upon us threatens the existence of humanity. Yes, it’s that serious. It’s not only climate chaos but soil erosion and desertification; it’s plastic pollution and the mindless application of chemicals to the environment. It’s about the million or so species threatened with extinction, it’s about industrial fishing […]
Dear West Country Voices, We have beautiful beaches in East Devon; Weston Mouth, in particular, is very special to me: pristine, crystal-clear water and I have enjoyed swimming there all through the year. I am very sad that since sewage has been pumped into the sea; ALL of the beaches in Lyme Bay are now […]
Dear Mr Stride, Ukraine takes much of our attention these days, but I am sure that you share my conviction – without being uncaring about Ukrainian suffering – that two other issues should concern us even more deeply. They are the coming starvation and institutional collapse that we will experience here, and the global climate […]
Wow! It’s our second birthday on 23 July. We started out as West Country Bylines and now we’ve completed nearly 7 months as West Country Voices and all thanks to the same great team of editors and proof readers, excellent writers – some new, some longstanding contributors – and a growing band of loyal readers […]