News in Honiton

The Red Arrows will be seen in the sky above Devon this weekend.

The planes will be flying back to Exeter Airport from an air display at Fairford, near Cirencester this afternoon (Saturday, June 5) – and they will take off from Exeter tomorrow as they head for the Midlands Air Festival.

A volunteer for Honiton-based Devon Freewheelers touched the life of man from Okehampton when a routine Covid-19 swab revealed a shared military passion.

Volunteer Steve Randell went above and beyond in his role to help when he was called to Jon Jackson's home, in Lower Crooked Meadows, Okehampton, and spotted a host of Royal Marines memorabilia.

Organisers of a popular local music festival, held in the idyllic countryside estate of Escot House near Honiton, have got ticket-holders buzzing.

Beautiful Days posted a photo on social of the grounds looking splendid in the sunshine, with the caption: "Main Arena looking beautiful today. Ready and waiting."

A pair of by-elections are set to be held in East Devon in July after the resignation of two councillors.

Vacancies on the council have arisen in the Feniton and the Honiton St Michaels ward, with polls pencilled in to take place on Thursday 8 July.

Coronavirus infection rates in Devon are falling and are currently lower than when England moved into step 2 of the roadmap out of lockdown.

Nationally, the number of new cases is increasing, with a 34.7 per cent week-on-week rise, but Devon is not seeing the same trends.

The NHS in Devon is reminding people how vital it is to have both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination to get the best protection from the virus and circulating variants; including the so called Indian and Kent variants.

The number of people in Devon not attending their second appointment has risen in recent weeks.

While it waits for updated news from the Government on the final lifting of Covid restrictions, the Hot Pennies Ceremony Committee is busy planning a bumper event to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the granting of a charter to hold a market in Honiton.

The hope is that this will go ahead on 27 July this year but, if that proves not to be possible, all celebrations will be moved to 2022.

A Mid Devon woman has completed a 400 mile 'Ramble Against Racism' through every parish of Mid and East Devon.

Tsara Smith, who lives in a small village in Mid Devon, was prompted to undertake the walk after last year's Black Lives Matter protests and noticing that there was little activity in rural areas.

Tonight's full meeting at Honiton Town Council promises to be a momentous occasion.

What with a jam-packed and somewhat explosive agenda, the fact that this marks the first in-person meeting since March 2020 and the attendance of nine newly elected members – as far as town council business goes, this is fairly major.

Emotions ran high for an Exeter woman remembering her much-missed dad when a trio of grueling challenges for the Honiton-based Devon Freewheelers came to an end.

Mum-of-three Kelly Lawson, aged 43, of St Leonards, in Exeter, this month completed her own Challenge 62, as a tribute to dad David Meyer, from Chelston, in Torquay, who died from coronavirus in March 2020, aged 62.