Glorious Devon

Devon is looking glorious we have put the clocks forward to British Summer time. The gardens are a blaze of colour with daffodils tulips and all the spring flowering bulbs, plus all the trees in blossom. The weather is set fair and hopefully the cold wind will disappear.

Checking the figures from the Tourist board the bookings are up for this year. The holiday camps are all gearing up for a bumper year. The visitors are choosing to stay in this country instead of holidaying abroad.

 

Dawlish has been named as one of the only six  Towns in the entire Country to achieve a prestigious five star rating in the biannual Clean Britain Awards officially making it one of the cleanest towns in Britain. Run by the British Cleaning Council, the awards celebrate the cleanest and tidiest towns and cities across the UK. . Thank you to the excellent staff at Teignbridge for all their hard work.

 

I was pleased to see Gordon Brown had a change of heart and will celebrate the D.Day.anniversary Perhaps he has read my fellow councillors Blog

Dawlish Warren in safe hands

Dawlish Warren in safe hands this Summer. The lifeguard launch was held at the Teign Corinthian Yacht Club on Friday with a demonstation by the  RNLI Lifeguards.The beachs at Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren will be served  throughout the season by the RNLI lifeguards.. The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea 

This  high quality lifeguard service patrols more than a 100 beaches in the U.K and works alongside the local councils.

 They are highly visible with their red and yellow vehicles and uniform. They are all highly trained in full scale rescue,to treating stings from weaver fish also in giving advice to prevent accidents. 95% of their work is prevention. 

. Dawlish Warren is  a safe beach but can also have undercurrents and rip tides at certain times. Take advice from the lifeguards and have an enjoyable and relaxing holiday. Swim only between the flags.Across the water at Exmouth is the allweather lifeboat which can also be called on in an emergency.Enjoy your visit and be safe.

 

As they are a charity money is needed to keep saving lives so rely on donations and fund raising.

 

 

 

Miners Strike 25 years on

 

 

We have been back to my home County of Derbyshire this past weekend to celebrate my sisters Golden Wedding and meet members of the family I haven't seen for a long time.The weather was cold but sunny and for once no holdups on the motorways. 

 

One topic of conversation was the miners strike which started 25 years ago.That caused a lot of hardship and some families never recovered.. Arthur Scargill the then president of the National Union of Mineworkers  versus Margaret Thatcher the then Prime Minister. 20 pits were closed and only six mines remain open today. It is still a belief of many that if only some of the uneconomical pits closed we could still have a thriving mining industry and not  buying the bulk of our coal from Russia, Australia, and South Africa. Even Norman Tebbit sounds remorseful and he was a strong supporter of the government. There  were very few winners in that battle 

 

Derby is also the home of the Loco works, thousands lost their jobs with British Rail  when the government sold off the franchise. 

There is also concern regarding the Japanese firms getting the orders to build the new trains. The hope is that some of the work will be done in Derby

 

Back in Dawlish  we seem to have gone back to Winter. Lots of snow in some areas and none in others. The spring flowers are appearing, crocus and snowdrops have been lovely this year. Daffodils are appearing everywhere with their lovely nodding yellow heads a welcome sign of Spring. The mornings are lighter and the birds are bursting into song.

 

 

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