Summer Exhibition. Sir Alfred Munnings: Exmoor Through the Seasons at the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

An exhibition of paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings, former President of the Royal Academy of Arts, capturing the evocative landscapes, people and ponies of Exmoor.

Sir Alfred Munnings and his wife, Violet, escaped the restrictions of their requisitioned Essex home, during the Second World War, by moving to a cottage in the Exmoor village of Withypool. During this period, Exmoor provided a joyful retreat. The oil paintings he produced while there capture the wild beauty of Exmoor through all four seasons. This exhibition showcases his love of Exmoor and its changing landscapes, its people and wild Exmoor ponies. The exhibition brings together art works and selections from Munnings’ published diaries and poetry written while living in Withypool. These offer a rare personal insight into his artistic process, the people he befriended while living there, and his relationship to the land.

 

Our summer exhibition is complemented by a series of events and activities for both adults and children, including En Plein Air sessions in Barnstaple and on Exmoor, and our regular Curious Creators programme of family-friendly artist-led sessions on Wednesdays throughout the school holidays.

Sir Alfred Munnings: Exmoor Through the Seasons

Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon, The Square, Barnstaple EX32 8LN

4th July – 26th September 2026

Website link - Sir Alfred Munnings: Exmoor Through the Seasons – Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

The Story Behind the Nurse, Annapurna’s Journey at Hatherleigh Nursing Home

During International Nurses Week, there’s a common focus on recognising the role of nurses, the responsibility they carry, the decisions they make, and the impact they can have on people’s lives. Behind that are individual stories shaped over time by personal journeys, experiences, support, and the reasons someone chose to care in the first place. This is Registered Nurse Annapurna Thirmalreddy’s story at Hatherleigh Nursing Home.

From a young age, Annapurna was told by her mother “Be brave, stand on your own feet, and learn all types of work”. This advice stayed with her, and when the time came to choose a career, nursing felt like the right path, offering both stability and a sense of purpose.

Annapurna completed her General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) training in 2005 at St. Ann’s Nursing School in India. With a hospital on site, she gained experience across different departments, building the foundations of her practice early on. “They taught me to be diligent and hardworking” she shared, and this is something she has carried with her ever since.

This year for International Nurses Week, the theme is “Empowered Nurses Save Lives”, we asked Annapurna “What does feeling empowered in your role mean to you personally?”

She shared, “Feeling empowered has given me the responsibility to care for, and sometimes even save the lives of those in my care. It’s made me feel stronger and more confident in my professional life.”

This sense of confidence has been built over time, supported by the care community around her. Annapurna describes Hatherleigh Nursing Home as somewhere she has been able to grow, both personally and professionally. The Devon nursing home provides continuous training for team members, offering opportunities to develop and progress in their careers through their Evolve Care Academy.

“Hatherleigh Nursing Home feels like my own home,” she said. “The whole leadership team, including Tamsin, Ashley, Elena, and the QA team who are available day to day are supportive and approachable. I am especially happy and proud to have Ashley as our Home Manager. She is kind, compassionate, and understands everyone’s needs, always offering support.”

However when Annapurna first arrived in the UK, things felt uncertain. “I didn’t know anyone and was struggling to find a place to live and a job for my husband,” she explained. “There were days when I thought about going back to India, but Ashley supported us through that time. She helped my husband find work as a care assistant, and we were able to settle into a nice flat.”

Annapurna was supported to complete her Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and gained her Nursing and Midwifery Council registration (NMC pin), making her a registered nurse in the UK.

Reflecting on that period, she added, “Ashley has played a big part in helping me become the nurse I am today.”

Her experience shows how encouragement can shape not only a nurse’s confidence, but the care they give to others. With the right support around her, Annapurna and her husband were able to build a life in the UK, both now with their own careers and settled into their own home.

Through her role at Hatherleigh Nursing Home, she now supports family members (residents) each day through clinical care, reassurance and advocacy, often acting as a calm and trusted presence during difficult moments.

“Nurses are often the voices for the people we support. We should treat them as though they were our own family” she shared, “Kindness, compassion and empathy are at the heart of nursing.”

We asked Annapurna what advice she would give to somebody starting their nursing career today.

“Be ready to learn, learn from your mistakes and just be happy”.

During this International Nurses Week, Annapurna’s story is a reminder that when nurses feel supported and empowered, that confidence reaches far beyond the individual themselves. It shapes the care, reassurance and advocacy they provide to people and families every single day.

If you would like to learn more about Hatherleigh Nursing Home, visit: https://www.hatherleighnursinghome.com/join-our-team/

International Nurses Week: Care Rooted in Compassion

Nursing is often spoken about as one profession, but the day-to-day reality can look very different depending on where a nurse works, who they support and the kind of care being given. While some nurses work in fast-paced hospital environments focused mainly on treatment and recovery, nursing within social care can offer more opportunity to build long-term relationships and support people not just physically, but emotionally and socially too.

As part of International Nurses Week, we spoke to Lucy Hernaman, a social care nurse at Heanton Nursing Home in North Devon. Reflecting on her experiences supporting people living with dementia and complex needs, Lucy shared how working in social care changed her understanding of compassionate nursing and the importance of truly knowing the people you care for.

Lucy, who joined Heanton in 2021, spoke about how different the home felt compared to more traditional and institutional care settings she had previously experienced.

“Heanton is about as far from institutionalised as it could possibly be,” she said. “I wish more nurses had the opportunity to experience placements in homes like this during their training.”

Lucy explained that one of the biggest things she learned was the importance of understanding the emotional and social needs behind a person’s behaviour, rather than simply reacting to the behaviour itself.

“When I first started at Heanton I had very little dementia knowledge,” she said. “I soon found that people behaved a certain way for many different reasons and that it was important to identify those reasons, especially when someone may not have the capacity to tell us themselves.”

She also spoke about the home’s flexible approach to care and supporting people to continue living life in a way that feels natural to them.

“In some places I had worked before, people were expected to fit into the home’s schedule,” Lucy said. “At Heanton, family members are supported to live as they wish. There is no strict routine, and people aren’t made to fit into a mould.”

Lucy described the home’s approach to medication as another area that stood out to her, explaining that understanding distress and recognising early signs of discomfort could often help avoid situations escalating.

“I love Heanton’s stance towards medication and that it is always used as a last resort,” she said. “Far more work and skill goes into meeting a person’s needs than simply managing the after-effects of an incident.”

Speaking about what matters most to her as a nurse, Lucy said human connection remained at the heart of good care.

“The thing I most love about my job is that I am allowed to love the family members as if they were my own family,” she said. “Sometimes that human connection is what makes a person’s day. The people we look after are our equals and this is how we should care for them.”

To read the whole story:  International Nurses Week: Care Rooted in Compassion - Heanton Nursing Home