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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Dawlish News

We hope we have seen the end of the snow for this Winter in Dawlish. The cold weather has killed some of the semi-tropical plants which we all grow. We have been complacent for the past ten years but have been caught out this winter.The snowdrops in our garden have lasted much longer. The primroses are all coming into bloom.

 

 The Darwin tulips will soon be in flower in our gardens.We commemorate 200years since the birth of Darwin this year. 

 

Work is progressing well on the new pavement on Brunswick Street. Motorist will find parking much easier along the street and pedestrians can walk along to view the waterfowl.

The new Piazza is coming along. The produce market will soon be held there each month.

Also various events throughout the year  .

 

The Beach at Dawlish Warren is still mostly pebbles much to the disappointment of the children. Some areas are still sandy, there were lots of people on the beach during half term enjoying this spell of mild sunny weather.

 We were hoping the sand would be put back on this beach before the Summer season, but I don't think it will happen. It is the usual plea of no money and who will foot the bill.

A pilot scheme is to be carried out by putting sand beyond the Red Rock Cafe and checking the flow. I am also told it has to be the right sort of. sand or it could set like concrete. 

This not going to help this seasons visitors  or the children who want to build their sandcastles 

Britain gets an unexpected Winter Holiday

In the midst of the credit crunch the Country is having fun in the snow. This takes me back to my childhood in Derbyshire. We would drag out our sled and spend many happy hours sledging down the fields around. We had to be called in for  bed by our parents and fell asleep happy and exhausted. We had no television just play and natural exercise.

 

We are having fun watching the birds in our garden enjoying the food we put out. The blackbirds spend so much energy seeing off their rivals. We have to send the pigeons packing or there is nothing left for the smaller birds. Flocks of long tailed tits arrive each day to enjoy the seeds and suet balls. Robins and chaffinch's starlings and magpies are also appearing each day. It is a problem keeping the water defrosted

 

One person who doesn't enjoy the snow is our cat. She goes out when she has to and shakes her paws with each step.The chickens don't like the cold weather but are still keeping us in eggs

 Our efforts in the garden and freezing our excess vegetables and fruit are now paying dividends we are living on the fruits of our labours.

 

One benefit of being retired we can watch all the young folk struggling to get to school and work. We are told  travel only if you have too.

We are expecting more snow showers today.Our fuel allowance is helping   towards keeping warm and enjoying the view from the warmth of our lounge window. The snow news has brought a little light relief and a change from all the normal doom and gloom in the papers. 

 

Devon County Council have been working hard throughout the night keeping the roads open. A big thank you goes to our paper boys and girls, our paper arrived at the normal time of 6.30am

 

The family in Australia and New Zealand are having very high temperatures especially in Queensland Australia Over 40degs Celsius we are lucky to get 40degs F

 

Green Shoots of Recovery

The only green shoots of recovery I have seen are in our garden, where the snowdrops are a welcome sight and heralds of Spring.

 

Our Prime Minister tells us in Sunday's paper not to look on the gloomy side. Tell that to the steel workers who are  to be made redundant 6000 in total.Will this industry be offered the same support by the government as the banking industry  We read that the Country is officially in recession for the first time since 1991 What has happened to Mr Brown's 2007 promise to deliver 'British jobs for British workers' It made good headlines at the time.

I still cannot see how borrowing from the public purse is going to get us out of trouble.

 

In Dawlish at long last the work is starting on the new footpath at The Brunswick . Motorists will be able to park alongside the  footpath without getting caught by the brambles or getting stung by nettles

 

We hold our Church Community lunch on Wednesday A two course meal for £3.50. Everyone is welcome this is our contribution to   the Credit Crunch.

 

I am still getting letters complaining about the new route for Stagecoach buses. A lot of the elderly people have to walk much further to catch the bus.

A new bus stop has appeared on the A379 just outside Dawlish beside the new car wash. If the wind is in the wrong direction it could cause a few problems. Who sits in their office and decides these things.

 

What will this year bring?

Again we hear the sad news another young Royal Marine killed in Afganistan. When will it end and are we gaining anything by our troops being out there. Mr Brown tells us the soldiers will be coming home this year. I hope and pray they will.Since the time of writing two more soldiers have been killed in action.
The government have announced extra armoured protection for vehicles in Afganistan We hope this will help to save lives out there.

Dawlish may lose Black Swans

The Enviroment Agency the water quality watchdog has received complaints from a member of the public in Dawlish that the Town Council does not have a proper disposal system to deal with water from the pond in the waterfowl encloseur at Brunswick Place in Dawlish
The results of an impact study by a public analyst laboratory gives the opinion that the waterfowl pond is not having an adverse affect on the bacteriological quality of the water in the Dawlish Brook

Dawlish Town Council will consider carefully suggestions for disposal of waste water from the compound and hopefully a way forward will be found.

The Town Council is justly proud of the black swans and other ornamental waterfowl which are an important tourist and educational attraction for the seaside Town and throughout the world.
Councillors fear the costs of disposal of water from the enclosure, currently estimated at around £30.000 per annum will be so high that keeping the waterfowl will prove uneconomic unless sponsership can be found to alleviate the costs

The black swans are a familier sight in the Town and local businesses have the Blacl Swan insignia in their logos and promotional material Records show Black Swans being on the Brook in the early 1900's
The flock has increased . from 8 to 13 through careful management by the Waterfowl Warden.
It would be devasatating to lose this well loved asset to our town.

Tourism in Devon.

Dawlish relies heavily on Tourism, It is hoped the state of the euro will bring more visitors to Devon instead of visiting destinations on the continent. After two wet Summers and a very cold Winter we are looking for better weather this year.

Welcome to 2009

I hope you all had a good Christmas.We had a very pleasant time with friends and family.Thanks to the wonders of  technoligy we were able to watch our grandchildren opening their presents in Brisbane Australia. We were able to link up with our son in New Zealand at 9.30 our time Christmas Eve which was 10.30 am Christmas morning in Auckland .and 7.30 am in Brisbane Australia which helped to bring us all closer as a family

 

One of our presents from the family was a bird feeding station  

.The weather has been so cold we need to feed the birds and also leave water out as the ponds are frozen over  We have seen a varitey of different species. Lots of blackbirds, pidgeons, bluetits, longtailed tits, robins etc  We have also seen a bullfinch they are so brightly coloured and stand out on the bare branches of the trees.We normally don.t see them until the buds are appearing on the trees.We have spent some happy hours watching all the birds coming and going.

The decorations and lights are now  put away in the loft for another year and we look forward to 2009.

 

 This Winter so far has been the coldest since 1996 and bought chaos on the roads

 Is it all doom and gloom for the coming year. In Dawlish it is sad to see the closing of the Woolworths store. This will leave a large empty space on The Strand. Who will take over these empty premises, and will the staff be able to find jobs.

 

We also hear that Wedgewood and Waterford Chrystal .are closing. Most households have items from Wedgewood some where on a shelf .Marks and Spencer are laying off staff

 

Is our Prime Minister going to help low-paid and part time staff cope with the financial crisis by scrapping tax for people earning less than £10.000 per year, time will tell.There are still half a million workers who are paying more in tax than they were bef