Local Author Danny Hughes publishes his Children’s Book, “Life’s Crazy! Esme’s Story”

Danny's children’s book “Life’s Crazy! Esme’s Story” receives its launch at 11.30am on Saturday 11th December at the Plough Arts Centre, Torrington. He will be reading excerpts from his book, and there will be music with Fleur Sparrow, followed by book signings. It is a free event, everyone is welcome.

Danny, who lives in Great Torrington, said,”It is the story of Esme, who has hair like fire, is proud, kind, almost nine years old, and dances to her own tune!” The book is set in North Devon and bursts into life with thirty beautiful colour paintings by the artist Klara Plumtree.

Danny, who has been a Community Arts Organiser and worked for the Devon Wildlife Trust for many years, has merged his passions of arts and nature into this story, which has been 20 years in the making.

He conjures up an exciting tale influenced by his own experiences living with his children in a caravan in the Devon countryside. Life's Crazy! Esme’s Story, aims to capture the quirkiness of Roald Dahl, the playfulness of Pippi Longstocking and the message of climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Serious subjects are tackled including bullying, the loss of a parent, and the threat of the destruction of an ancient woodland. But this is not a dull read. It is a fast moving, magical story about the power of fun, personal courage and hope! 

 “Life’s Crazy! Esme’s Story” by local author Danny Hughes

 

Local Author Danny Hughes 

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Danny's book “Life’s Crazy! Esme’s Story”

is available at the Plough Arts Centre Craft Fair, Great Torrington from 1st–23rd December. 

 Suitable for children aged 7–10 years.

 For further information and to order a copy email Danny at esmestory10@gmail.com

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Local stockists include: 

Plough Arts Centre; The Sweet Spot,  Great Torrington;

 Ilfracombe Book Shop; The Bookery, Crediton; 

Walter Henry’s Bookshop, Bideford; Appledore Bookshop.

Autumn Highlights. Time to celebrate the "Silver Darlings" down Along Clovelly

Clovelly Herring Festival always falls in November. It's the time of year when our historic village celebrates the coming of the great "Silver Darlings", better known as Herring. We celebrate and promote this tasty, nutritious fish whilst supporting sustainable fishing.

The Maritime historian and writer, Mike Smylie, attends with his "Kipperland" exhibition, which is devoted to the history of all things herring. Mike also turns the herring into delicate-tasting kippers and bloaters in his smokehouse for sale.

Flaxland will provide their exhibitions and demonstrations.  An opportunity to discover how the flax plant is used to make a vast range of goods.

On the quay, kitchens serve a variety of delicious herring specialities along with beer, gin and cider tastings, local food and craft stalls. Throughout the day there will be live music, street entertainers, face-painting, art workshop, an exhibition of Clovelly herring fishing, tasters & recipes, and children's activities.

Herring, an oily fish, whether fresh or smoked, is an excellent source of some great health benefits, such as low mercury and high protein content.  Herring contains many key nutrients, such as Omega-3 fatty acids (apparently giving good effects on brain, eyes, heart and muscle function) and other nutritional benefits with so many vitamins, including Selenium, etc.

Ahoy there. Couple of brave old sea dogs aka Vertigo Stilts on the cobbles - Photo credit Pat Adams

Locally caugh Perham Herring at Clovelly Harbour - Photo credit Pat Adams

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Clovelly Herring Festival
Sunday, 21st November 2021, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Standard admission charges include all entertainment.

Clovelly Harbour
Contact: Tel: 01237 431781. www.clovelly.co.uk

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The Clovelly Herring Festival features in lots of publications 

and TV programmes and is one of the best five autumn food festivals

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Clovelly Herring Festival - All Photos credit Pat Adams North Devon Focus

Burton at Bideford Exhibition: An English Eye: the photographs of James Ravilious 6th October - 30th December

A collection of iconic photographs by renowned local artist-photographer, James Ravilious are on display at The Burton at Bideford. The collection of black and white photographs provides one of the most important visual records of rural life in North Devon between 1972 and 1997, while also representing the best of James Ravilious’ work as a whole.

On public display for the first time since the gallery purchased the collection in 2020, this retrospective of James’ work takes us on a trip down memory lane. Highlights include the image of fondly-remembered Olive Bennett smiling somewhat nervously in the doorway of an outbuilding in the company of her herd of Red Devon cows. Also featured are images of Archie Parkhouse reminiscing in a wood, and of the weathered and life-worn traveller reclining on the grass surrounded by his belongings. As well as familiar and characterful locals, there are also nostalgic depictions of agricultural life, traditional practices and landscapes, as well as intimate domestic scenes.

The son of artists Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood, James Ravilious worked as an art teacher in London before moving to North Devon in 1972. It was here that he took up photography professionally and was commissioned by the region’s Beaford Archive to document and capture for posterity the fast disappearing traditional landscapes and practices of rural life in Devon. During the lifetime of the project, James Ravilious took more than 80,000 black and white photographs. The collection now on display at The Burton brings together approximately 103 of those works.

Working primarily in black and white, James Ravilious had a natural ability to perfectly capture the inner narrative of his subjects. He mostly studied his characters from ground level, and from the vantage point he gives us, we feel part a scene, as if we are shadowing the characters as they go about their daily business. The protagonists of the photographs are people who were clearly known to James - they were his neighbours. Named in the titles and captions that accompany the images, we feel a deeper sense of intimacy with them.

All bar a few of the largest images on display were developed by hand in James’ own darkroom. Even those few that were too large to be printed by hand, were printed commercially under the artist’s close supervision. When taking photographs, James developed a distinctive technique using older, uncoated lenses on his Leica rangefinder camera. A compensatory development process gave his photographs a subtle and ‘silvery’ quality.

Director of The Burton, Ian Danby says,
“It is fantastic to be able to show ‘An English Eye: the photographs of James Ravilious’ as part of our 70th anniversary celebrations, and we are delighted to be custodians of the works for the people of North and Devon and beyond, documenting – as they do – a period of great change in the area.”

In writing about the collection in the Matrix, Olive Cook comments,
"I know of no other presentation of a particular place and people which is a broad and as captivating as James Ravilious's photographs of North Devon. They are the fruit of a quite exceptional acuity and patience of witness and of a quite unusual humility and warmth of spirit. This great body of work establishes its author as a master of the art of photography whilst at the same time it makes an unparalleled pictorial contribution to social history."

The purchase of An English Eye: photographs by James Ravilious was made possible with the generous support of The Bridge Trust and the Friends of The Burton Art Gallery and Museum.

The exhibition was partially installed in July for Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall who visited The Burton as part of the gallery’s on-going 70th birthday celebrations.

 

Olive Bennett with her Red Devon cows. near Beaford, Devon, 1979. Photograph by James Ravilious copyright Beaford Arts digitally scanned from a Beaford Archive negative (All Rights Reserved)

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Exhibition: An English Eye: the photographs of James Ravilious runs until 30th December

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The Burton at Bideford Art Gallery and Museum,

Kingsley Road, Bideford, Devon EX39 2QQ

 >Website 

Tel No: 01237 471455 

Email: info@theburton.org