Herald Express; Torquay (UK)

Try Something New Today ; It's Never Too Late to Start Exercising at Friendly Centre... Advertisement Feature

THE MOTORCISE HEALTHY LIVING CENTRE in Fleet Street Torquay has been open for six years and is celebrating with an OPEN DAY on Saturday, 3rd October. TEN machines, half an hour 2/3 times a week - at Motorcise Exercise Centre, Jenny Clarke, owner of Motorcise Torquay and Motorcise Exeter explained it really is that simple. "In just half an hour you get a full body work-out, but the beauty of Motorcise is, anyone at any age can use the machines because they are driven by motors. This enables th...

Staff Pool Tips to Help Charity

BIG-HEARTED staff at celebrity chef Mitch Tonks' Dartmouth restaurant gave all their tips and raised almost Pounds 500 for the Fishermen's Mission charity in Brixham. The kitchen and restaurant workers donated all their tips during one of the busiest weeks of the year in the Seahorse restaurant which totted up to Pounds 490. Said Mitch: "The Fishermen's Mission really is a great charity and the mission in Brixham is a focal point for the community. I eat breakfast there after the morning mark...

Unsung Hero Paul in Line for Award

AWARD-WINNING fitness instructor Paul Harrison has been nominated in the Pride of Britain awards. The 51-year-old from Paignton said 'it is like winning a grammy' after making it into the final four in the regional heats for the ITV Feelgood Factor Award, as part of the Pride of Britain Awards 2009.

Firm's Gun Carriage Will Be Home to Armada Canon

AN IPPLEPEN business has made a replica gun carriage to be shipped to an Irish museum. Castle Joinery has made the piece for Ulster Folk Museum in Belfast. It will be used to support a cannon used by a ship in the Spanish Armada.

Man Who Grew Cannabis at Home Spared Jail

A PAIGNTON cannabis user, grower and dealer who grew his crop in his bedroom and had one of the highest levels of drug use ever heard of by Judge Phillip Wassall has been spared jail. Darren Bailey, 32, from New Park Road, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and five further charges of supplying, possession with intent to supply and possession of the drug at an earlier hearing.

Established Fish Bar Now has New Owner

YE OLDE MANOR Fish Bar in Old Torquay Road, Paignton, a well established lock up fish and chip shop and takeaway, has been sold by Riccardo DePaulis of Bettesworths, Commercial Property Agents. The business was trading limited hours and offered scope for a purchaser to improve the turnover.

Village's Farewell to Brave Nick

HE WAS christened Howard but everyone knew him as Nick. Nick Nicholson, the policeman turned publican, left the beat to become landlord at the Church House Inn at Churchstow where his laidback style won him many friends.

Singers Cement Anglo-French Relations

TWINNING enthusiasts who proudly put up road signs proclaiming friendship with foreign parts find all sort of common interests, from art and drama to the hilarious absurdities of It's a Knockout. For one group in Totnes, however, it is a love of music.

Happy Memories From a London Evacuee

AS A SENTIMENTAL old devil I was pleased to see so many events marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war including re- enactments of the great evacuation of schoolchildren when the bombs started to fall. One came very close to home. Children from the village school at Broadhempston dressed up in 1940s clothing and pretended to be evacuees arriving by steam train in Totnes.

Solved... The Little Piece of Land Which Will Be Forever Canada

I KNEW it wouldn't take long. By mid afternoon last Wednesday I had the answer to that question sent to me by former BBC cameraman Don Proctor -- where in Devon is there a patch of land which belongs to Canada? Quite a large patch as it turns out. Richard Putt emailed to say the place the absent minded Don had forgotten is Wolford Lodge which can be found on the road from Honiton to Dunkeswell Aerodrome. You can't miss it, he says, because it is clearly marked by the national flag of Canada.

Autumn Showers and Folk Memories

AUTUMN is the season of the Apple Moon, St Luke's Little Summer, cider making and the memory of the pony drifts. It officially arrived a few days ago. Leaves are turning and October will deliver the sunset colours -- the old golds, browns, yellows, crimson and orange; and let a little more 'blood' loose in the bramble leaves.

Andrew's Head Start in Art World

ARTIST Andrew Lacey is getting a head start when it comes to showing off his work -- as Dartington Hall throws open its famous medieval courtyard as a showcase for local talent. The two-metre high bronze horse head by the sculptor has been put on display in the outer courtyard at Dartington Hall where it will be seen by hundreds of visitors heading for the main courtyard.

Allotments Plan a Step Nearer

DARTMOUTH'S wannabe green fingered townspeople could be veging out with their own allotments by next spring. Town councillors want to spend Pounds 600 on drawing up plans for an acre of new allotments before putting in the necessary planning application to change the use of the land.

'Delightful' Evening of Music

A CONCERT of popular music For Your Delight is being held at All Saints Church, Lower Brixham, on October 17. It will feature many talented artists singing mainly songs such as the Toreador's Song and the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi's Nabucco.

Chaos Prediction As Town Roadworks Start

TOTNES could be faced with market chaos as workmen moved in this week to begin a major pavement project and virtually sealed off the town's market square. The move has already brought protests from the town's Tuesday Elizabethan Market.

Hammer Blow Is Good News for Centre

WITH one blow of a hammer, the demolition of an outdated community centre is begun. Centre chairman George Thomson made the symbolic gesture yesterday at the Foxhole Community Centre in Paignton.

Vietnamese Found in Drug Factory Jailed

A VIETNAMESE man will be deported after he was found sleeping on a mattress in a Shiphay house that had been turned into a cannabis factory containing almost 1,000 cannabis plants. Judge Graham Cottle sentenced Nghia Ngo, 43, to 15 months in custody after he pleaded guilty to being involved in the production of the Class B drug at a house in Shiphay Avenue in May this year.

Digital Retuning Information Very Vague ; Your Views

FURTHER to my letter in Saturday's letters page regarding the digital retune today, we have just received an update from Digital UK clarifying the final details. It would appear that up to September 25 even Digital UK and Freeview could not give us precise details to the changes taking place today, as they affect different areas in various ways.

Your View

RESIDENTS are drawing up battle plans to save acres of green fields around Torquay and Paignton. OF COURSE, if our council hadn't signed up to the 'new growth points', we wouldn't be in this mess.

Timber for Trawler Project Just Goes with the Flow

TWELVE tonnes of timber were floated down river from Totnes to Dartmouth as part of a Pounds 1million trawler restoration. The 19th-century boat is undergoing a massive refurbishment, having received a Pounds 950,000 Heritage Lottery grant last year.