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 […]
For the second part of our review, here are some articles which were read by hundreds rather than thousands. We think you might have missed some of them! We are particularly anxious that the passage of time and the power of propaganda does not wipe our memories of some of the terrible people who have […]
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 […]
More than 30,000 people have read the story of the police visit to two women, and if you haven’t – you can catch up here! Fran Swan, of Fishpond, and Beverley Glock, of Lyme Regis, had registered for a public meeting for Chideock residents, which was held on Friday 25 November. They had to give […]
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 […]
I was brought up in Kent and we moved to the countryside when I was about 11. One of my first memories is of dragging a dead blackbird back through the snow on my sledge to give it a burial in the garden, tears streaming down my face. I used to walk for miles and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Here’s a thing about detail and why it matters. Defra missed the deadline for setting Environment Act targets on Oct 28. But they have suggested a bunch of targets in the consultation and there’s a REALLY important target missing. In a nutshell, as it stands, there is NO proposed target for improving the condition of […]
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 […]
Warning: contains reference to a distressing incident of animal cruelty. Ed Some notes towards understanding why we find ourselves so alienated from nature. Isolated events can sometimes coalesce together to make a coherent pattern. On a scorching day at the end of August I was driving past some pasture-fed cattle in a parched brown field: […]
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 […]
Stefan Simanowitz on a new platform for Indigenous voices ahead of COP and the Brazilian elections At the opening session of the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow last year, Maori activist India Logan- Riley laid down a challenge to delegates: “Learn our histories, listen to our stories, honour our knowledge…or get out the way.” A […]
Climate Emergency! This government and its over-influential fossil fuel and fracking-loving, regulation-hating, climate-wrecking corporate backers should not be allowed to ditch decades-worth of scrupulously researched and negotiated health and safety protections, workers and consumers’ rights and environmental and Net Zero commitments. We have to stop them! Everyone at every political level can step up to […]
We didn’t plant the orchard just for fruit. In some ways the wildlife interest and impact on the landscape were more important. We wanted proper trees, full standards on non-dwarfing rootstock. We wanted trees that would outlive us and probably our children as well, growing tall and hanging heavy with mistletoe, becoming crusted with lichen […]
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 […]
Sewage discharges have been in the news across the country and beautiful Charmouth and Lyme Regis have also been affected. But we are not alone in our efforts to combat this scourge. Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb, one of two peers representing the Green Party in the House of Lords, visited Lyme Regis on Thursday […]
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 […]
Since prehistoric times, farming has allowed our species to grow, and an increasing number of non-agricultural professions have made it possible to leave behind the hunter-gatherer way of life. In spite of this, as late as 1700, approximately 40 per cent of the population in England were still small-scale subsistence farmers, growing their own food […]
The (Dis)United Kingdom has a new King and Cornwall has a new Duke. Perhaps Prince William would like to have a word with the water company that is relentlessly pouring raw sewage onto Cornish beaches, and with the MPs who have failed to stop this, suggests Tom Scott. With politics suspended for ten days and […]
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 […]
Britain’s imminent energy Armageddon, and how to avoid it: in a long read, Andrew Levi warns that the scale and nature of the crisis is still widely misunderstood, and the measures needed to address it woefully underdeveloped. Brexit, a unique act of self-harm, worsens the UK’s situation. Without great good luck, only radical immediate action […]
We rarely publish unsolicited press releases but this is an important insight into the challenges farmers face. Truss or Sunak? When it comes to food, farming and the environment –what should be the top policy priority for the next PM? The race to become the UK’s next Prime Minister is almost over. As the two […]
“Your government?! What a joke that is!” That was the sniggering reaction earlier this afternoon, albeit not in so many words, from our Danish neighbours in the Spanish village where we are spending a few weeks. OK, so it’s human nature to find it easier to recognise other people’s problems than to acknowledge our own, […]
Look, it has to be said, Mr. Rushforth is sorry about your poke bowl or whatever it is you have instead of a decent breakfast, but ever since word got out that a majority of Tory MPs, including our Prime (pork and cheese) Minister-in-waiting, Liz Truss, voted against amending a bill to stop water companies […]
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 […]
The Final Straw battle is won – but Pat’s fight against plastic pollution goes on, reports Jane Leigh. “It bothered me enough to make me decide I wasn’t just going to be cross, but actively try to do something about it.” Cornwall grandmother Pat Smith has made a name for herself as a plastic pollution […]