Devon
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From Devon to Canterbury
In the entire history of the Church of England there has only been one father and son who have both become Archbishop of Canterbury – and they have a strong Devon connection. The father was Frederick Temple, one of whose...
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Winter sun shines on Colleton Crescent, Exeter
I took this picture of my home town of Exeter on 22 January this year. You will see the sun shining on Colleton Crescent, perhaps the finest group of late Georgian houses in Exeter. It was built above the...
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When Cathering of Aragon stayed in Exeter
My wife Sheila (not shown in photo) has a meeting this morning at the Old Deanery in Exeter. I have reminded her that when the 16 year old Catherine of Aragon (shown in picture) was enroute from Spain...
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Where England’s oldest canal begins
The Exeter canal was begun in 1564 - 200 years before the main era of canal building in England. Here it was last Saturday at the point where it begins with the river Exe to the right and the...
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On this day: a remarkable (and rich) Devon man
On this day, 432 years ago on 26 September 1580, Drake and the Pelican arrived in Plymouth, Devon, ending an astonishing three-year voyage around the world and carrying treasure beyond imagination. Once home Drake's first move was to send a...
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Dartmoor today
Cawsand Beacon and High Willhays on Dartmoor this morning taken from Serston Farm north east of Bow. On a clear day, from the summit of Cawsand Beacon, you can see Teignmouth on the south Devon coast and Bude on...
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Menacing buzzards in Devon
Three buzzards are circling high and menacingly above Down St Mary, mid-Devon, making their characteristically plaintiff and sinister squeals. Take care if you are a rabbit.
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John Wesley and the Bishop of Exeter
John Wesley (1703-91) John Wesley always claimed that he didn’t enjoy controversy. However due to the opposition which Methodism, which he founded, generated he was often drawn into controversy. When he began to write his second letter to Bishop...
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How are things down Maggie Burleigh way?
The Tamar Belle nosed out of its moorings at the Barbican, Plymouth, with my wife and me aboard, bound for Cotehele Quay. Our skipper told us about Drake's Island, Plymouth Breakwater, German frigates and atomic submarines berthed in the Hamoaze...
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From the hedgerows of Devon to the Foreign Office
The earliest known photograph of Ernest Bevin shows him as a little boy of three wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat and sailor suit at a Sunday-school treat in 1884. He was born in Winsford, Somerset, on 7 March 1881. His...
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