The UK experienced its wettest winter in over a century in 2023–24. Scientists described it as a stark reminder of the impacts of climate change, which continued in the wet winter of 2025-26. On Thursday 26 June, Extinction Rebellion Wimborne will be hosting a free public screening of ‘The People’s Emergency Briefing’ at the Allendale […]
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning”. He starts by looking at the origins of agri-environment schemes, which are central to this “debate”, and then how the campaigning in itself poses a threat to […]
“Ponies could be put to death” shrieked the Times, using language that conjures some barbaric, medieval ritual punishment. ‘Keir Starmer’s incompetence has allowed the Dartmoor ponies to be led to slaughter’ howled Victoria Atkins (Conservative MP from Horncastle, 190 miles away). Honest Bob Jenrick (Reform UK, MP for Newark, 260 miles away from Dartmoor), and […]
Dorset CPRE, the Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is celebrating CPRE’s centenary and plans to mark the milestone anniversary by planting hundreds of trees this autumn, including endangered species. Planting more trees is essential to offset climate change, restore wetlands, and replace trees in Dorset afflicted by disease, such as ash […]
I am feeling nervous. I am standing in the town centre of Newton Abbot with fellow community activists from a group called Common Ground. We’re all powerfully concerned with democracy and with how it is working (or not working) in our local communities. As a group we have no allegiance to any of the political […]
In June 2026, it will be a full ten years since that fateful referendum led to Brexit! National Rejoin March (NRM) plans to mark the occasion in two ways. First, a team plans to walk from London to Brussels, where they will hand a book of messages from supporters to the EU Parliament. Second, the […]
Dear Editor Last year, Church Beach in Lyme Regis was successfully re-designated as a bathing beach after a concerted effort by River Lim Action (RLA), Lyme Regis Bluetits and others. This case study is now being used by Surfers Against Sewage as part of a legal challenge to changes to government regulations on the designation […]
Ecoanxiety… the chronic fear of environmental breakdown. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It’s a word that’s been bandied around a lot recently, as the “strong” men (and it is largely men) of the world tear down the policies that science and reason that the human race needs to survive. What we’re really talking about here is fear… of the […]
The people of Ottery St Mary recently gathered together to show their support for Ottery’s library. Devon County Council is proposing cutting the opening hours to just 13 hours a week and closing the library entirely on Mondays and Fridays; the library’s busiest days. The library is so much more than a place to borrow books.It […]
As every farmer, horse/livestock-owner knows, this incessant and heavy rain has been a nightmare for keeping animals healthy and happy. Hay, haylage and silage stocks are running low because any grazing has disappeared under the mud and the prospect of turning animals out looks further off than ever. Sheep and cattle farmers have barns and […]
I loved living in New Zealand, but I missed the understated beauty of the West Country countryside. A lot of that landscape is man-made. Centuries-old agricultural practices created a patchwork of fields, hedges, heathland and forest, to which native wildlife adapted. Unlike countries such as the United States, where agricultural fields can stretch uninterrupted for […]
The Armada Way tree-felling fiasco has certainly put Plymouth on the map. It was a disaster, not just for Plymouth’s canopy cover, but for our city’s reputation and the relationship between the public and the local authority, which wasn’t great to begin with. It was described as “environmental vandalism” by many, resulting in the then […]
This December, Bournemouth Foodbank is bringing festive cheer to communities across the town, with a full programme of events and the launch of a brand-new hub in Winton, St Luke’s Hub. Across two weekends — 6–7 December and 20–21 December — from 10am to 4pm, the Foodbank will be hosting Festive Fun at the Sovereign Centre. Families […]
In freezing temperatures on Thursday 20 November 2025, and again in persistent rain on Sunday, members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Wimborne gathered on the footbridge over the River Allen near Wimborne Library to mark COP30 by reading aloud real testimonies from people already living with the devastating impacts of climate breakdown. The group’s action aimed […]
More than two hundred people packed the Civic Hall in Totnes to hear an outstanding line-up of panellists discuss the links between democratic systems and climate [and social] justice. George Monbiot, Klina Jordan, Anthea Simmons and Jonathon Porritt, all well-known for their work in different areas of political and environmental campaigning and journalism, started the […]
Yes, young people have too much pressure and expectation and it feels like nobody listens to you. We get it and we want to help. Share your voice, get published, and pocket some (not much) cash in the South West Future Journalists Awards. West Country Voices, Totnes Pulse and the PRSD have put their collective […]
Activists in Exeter will be joining a national wave of protest against the banning of Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist organisation’ this Saturday, November 29. Around 25 protesters will defy the ban by sitting quietly outside Exeter Central Station from 1pm, holding placards stating “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. It’s part of what […]
The south-west of England is a hotbed of newly evolved tree species. There’s a sentence you probably thought you would never read, but it is true. In Britain, we have numerous tree species that are endemic to these isles; they are unique species found nowhere else on the planet, species that evolved here after the […]
84 per cent of Cornish residents support a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs) Bottom trawling, which destroys reefs, seagrass and marine life, remains legal in all Cornish MPAs in the consultation despite bans elsewhere in the UK Iconic fish stocks are collapsing: cod in the Celtic Sea is down 98 per cent since 2012 and mackerel is down 78 percent over the last decade A new Cornwall-wide […]
Annie Hill-Smith: On 7 November at 10.00a.m. the Dartmoor National Park Authority’s Development Management Committee will hear the Tree Protection Order relating to the trees at Kenwyn. The Park’s Tree Officer is recommending that the order is granted. Hurray! The meeting will be at the DNPA’s office at Parke, just outside Bovey Tracey. I’ve lobbied […]
Do we truly have the kind of democracy in our country which is fit for the challenges of the 21st Century? Does our government fairly represent the views and aspirations of voters? How can we best tackle and mitigate the effects of climate change? All these questions, and more, will be up for debate in […]
There was no serious tradition of cider-making in New Zealand [where the author lived for several years before returning to Dorset]. I pretty much gave up drinking cider there, as it was usually too sweet. Though I love to drink cider, West Country cider-making is something I knew little about. I probably know more about […]
On the surface it looks like another ‘conservation versus industry’ planning controversy, with the odds predictably stacked against nature and wildlife. A multinational quarrying company wants to expand its operations in Devon, which will mean destroying a large forest. As the company prepares its application for planning permission, a group of local residents are fighting […]
There are plenty of very stupid and wasteful consumer shopping habits, but top of the list must be buying something quite expensive for one specific job or activity, using it solely for that purpose, and then storing it away in your shed or garage and forgetting about it. We’re talking about things like carpet cleaners, […]
One And All Aid is a small charity based in Penzance, Cornwall, but one that punches above its weight. Its trustees, Shelley Meister and I set up the charity in 2018 after a few years spent collecting tents and outdoor kit for refugees in Greece, where Shelley spent a week sorting aid in the early […]
WHAT: The Pilgrims: Our First Undocumented Immigrants demonstrationWHEN: Sunday 17 August 2025 1:00pm – 3:00pmWHERE: Mayflower Steps, The Barbican, Plymouth, PL1 2LR Protesting immigration raids, detainment camps, and deportation in the USAPlymouth, England – On Sunday, 17 August 2025, Indivisible Southwest and Americans for Action Bristol will join together to host a demonstration at the Mayflower […]
Friday, July 25, 6pm in Exeter city centre. Shops and cafes closing their doors for the evening, people heading home from work, others on their way to pubs and bars for the start of the weekend. None of them could miss the large crowd in Bedford Square, just off the main street, where hundreds of […]
For 51 weeks of the year, Tolpuddle is a sleepy, picturesque village nestling quietly in the South Dorset countryside – but for one weekend each July, it erupts! The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival is loud, busy, musical, thoughtful and, often, offers an insightful celebration of trade unionism. It is held in remembrance of the events that […]
I could feel the fear in a hall full of primary school parents in Totnes as they listened to campaigners going through the evidence about the impact of smartphones on kids at secondary school. The statistics are shocking: Nearly one in 10 children aged eight to 14 have watched online pornography Almost half of children […]
We hear a lot from politicians about immigration, and the debate is frankly toxic. So last week I went to Common Flora, near Diptford, to meet a group of asylum seekers who come here once a month to work on the land, share a communal lunch and sing together. I met a young man who’d […]