The Wurzels are heading to The Factory, Barnstaple for a Bank Holiday Special

Scrumpy and Western legends The Wurzels are heading to The Factory on Saturday 27th May for a bank holiday weekend special with Thatchers Cider.

Westcountry cider-supping legends The Wurzels will be celebrating the May bank holiday weekend at The Factory along with some additions from our mates at Thatchers Cider!

🍏We have teamed up with Thatchers to bring you a Pop up Thatchers Haze Bar, serving cloudy cider!

🍏Thatchers 'Cider Drinker Raffle' with prizes up for grabs on the night! 1 raffle ticket for every pint of Thatchers Gold or Thatchers Haze bought!

The Wurzels formed in 1966 by Adge Cutler, this bunch of haystack-headed, cider-soaked and dung-booted, not-quite-so-young Avonside lads play good-time traditional Zummerzet Scrumpy 'n' Western music.

Best known for their number one hit The Combine Harvester and number three hit I Am A Cider Drinker


LOCAL SUPPORT: Bicycle Repair Man, James Spencer & Matthew Warren,  a Devon based acoustic duo, playing covers & original material.

The Wurzels Saturday 27th May for a bank holiday weekend special.

Local support comes from Bicycle Repair Man. 

 Minimum age recommendation 16+
ADVANCE TICKETS £15

STANDING ONLY DOORS 8pm
The Factory Petroc Brannams Campus, Oakwood Close, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 3NJ
M +44 (0)7446 692751
www.thefactoryvenue.co.uk

Nature and people benefit from improvements to Dartmoor haven

Visitors and wildlife at a Dartmoor nature reserve have been the beneficiaries of a generous funder.

Help from the SUEZ Communities Trust has enabled Devon Wildlife Trust to make some significant improvement to its Bellever Moor and Meadows nature reserve. The reserve covers 72 hectares of mainly wildflower-rich hay meadows and moorland near Postbrige on Dartmoor. It became one of Devon Wildlife Trust’s 50 nature reserves as recently as 2015.

A funding grant of £13,340 from SUEZ Communities Trust, which supports community and environmental improvement projects through the Landfill Communities Fund, has allowed the conservation charity to install nearly a mile of new fencing and replace eight dilapidated field gates. The grant also provided the resources with which local volunteers were able to repair traditional stone walls.

Steve Hussey of Devon Wildlife Trust said:

“Fencing and the repair of stone walls doesn’t sound the most glamorous types of conservation work, yet they are vital if we are going to properly manage Bellever Moor and Meadows for wildlife. Stock proof fields allow us to introduce grazing livestock which then control grasses and allow wildflowers and other wildlife to flourish.”

“We also think the repaired traditional stone walls look magnificent in this moorland setting. They were the work of local volunteers, all trained in the skills needed through financial help from the SUEZ Communities Trust.”

Support from SUEZ Communities Trust has also allowed Devon Wildlife Trust to improve public access to the reserve. Two new kissing gates have been built on main routes, while discrete signage now welcomes and directs visitors.

The charity’s Steve Hussey said:

“We’re especially proud of a new bench which gives visitors a place to pause and enjoy local nature and some stunning moorland views. Subtle illustrations on the bench let visitors know about the wildlife they can hope to see.     

Support from the SUEZ Communities Trust has helped us improve this wonderful part of Dartmoor for people and wildlife. We’ve been able to make it easier for locals and visitors to the area to access Bellever Moor and Meadows and when they do visit they will find the nature reserve in better shape than it has been for a generation.”

Marianne Ivin of SUEZ Communities Trust added:

“This is another wonderful project funded through our Accessing Nature fund. Being able to open up new areas of the site to allow the public to gain access to some beautiful wildflower meadows is very exciting for us to be part of. SUEZ Communities Trust provides grants through the Landfill Communities Fund. This important source of funding has been available since 1997 and has provided such worthy projects with more than £1.4 billion.”

People can plan their visit to Devon Wildlife Trust’s Bellever Moor and Meadows at www.devonwildlifetrust.org/reserves

Bellever Moor and Meadows Nature Reserve Photo copyright Devon Wildlife Trust (All rights reserved)

New bench at Laughter Hole, Bellever Moor and Meadows. Photo copyright Devon Wildlife Trust (All rights reserved)

About SUEZ Communities Trust (formerly SITA Trust)

SUEZ Communities Trust is an independent funding body set up in 1997 to provide funding through the Landfill Communities Fund. To date SUEZ Communities Trust has supported more than 3,900 projects to a combined value of over £110 million using tax credits donated by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK (formerly SITA UK).

SUEZ Communities Trust funds improve vital public recreation facilities such as village halls, community centres, sport, heritage, green spaces and play areas.

For information on how to apply for funding from SUEZ Communities Trust call (01454) 262910 or visit www.suezcommunitiestrust.org.uk

About Landfill Tax and the Landfill Communities Fund

The Landfill Communities Fund is an innovative tax credit scheme enabling Landfill Operators (LOs) to contribute money to organisations enrolled with the scheme regulator, ENTRUST, as Environmental Bodies (EBs) EBs use this funding for a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites. LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 5.7%) against the landfill tax liability for 90% of the contributions they make.

Since its inception, in 1996, over £1.4 billion has been spent on more than 53,000 projects across the UK. For more information please visit www.entrust.org.uk

Charity and fire service team warn of wild fire threat

The threat of wild fires may seem like a long way off after a typically wet Bank  Holiday weekend but a leading wildlife charity is now joining forces with an emergency fire service to warn of the rising risks that fire is posing to some of the region's most treasured landscapes.

Despite rain over the Bank Holiday the South West still finds itself in the middle of a prolonged dry spell which has left parts of the countryside vulnerable to wild fires. With the long range weather forecast predicting little prospect of rain Devon
 

Wildlife Trust has become concerned enough about the risk affecting its nature reserves that it has now teamed up with Devon & Somerset Fire Rescue Service to promote a message about safe and responsible use of rural areas.
 

The warning comes after a devastating fire struck East Devon's Woodbury Common on 23 April. 120 acres of the heathland beauty-spot owned by Clinton Devon Estates were badly burned in a fire which began on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
 

Steve Hussey from Devon Wildlife Trust said:
"Wild fires can be devastating for wildlife, as well as potentially dangerous for people and damaging to farmland. Heathlands, with their coverings of gorse and grasses, are particularly vulnerable when the weather remains dry for several weeks. Having experienced a couple of months without significant rainfall, even though the weather has been cold, parts of our countryside are now at risk."

Devon Wildlife Trust is asking people to take care on all its 50 nature reserves but especially on its heathland sites which include Chudleigh Knighton Heath and Bovey Heathfield nature reserves near Bovey Tracey, and Venn Ottery and Bystock nature reserves in East Devon.
 

The charity is now working with Devon & Somerset Fire Service to promote a message which asks people to use the countryside responsibly while also being vigilant.

Joe Hassell, Area Manager of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, said: "We want people to be able to enjoy the countryside, but ask them to be vigilant during drier weather to help prevent more gorse fires in the future. A change in wind direction can cause the fire to spread rapidly, putting fire fighters at risk as well as nearby people and property."
 

The fire service is advising people to some simple advice:

• extinguish cigarettes and other smoking materials properly;
• never throw cigarette ends out of car windows;
• don't leave bottles or glass in the countryside - sunlight shining through glass can start fires; take them home or put them in a waste or recycling bin;
• avoid using open fires (including barbeques) in the countryside;
• if you see a fire in the countryside, report it immediately;
• don't attempt to tackle fires that can't be put out with a bucket of water - leave the area as quickly as possible and call 999.

Devon Wildlife Trust's Steve Hussey concluded:
"We are doing our bit to protect our wonderful countryside from the risk of fire. Our staff and volunteers are remaining vigilant and cutting fire breaks, especially on vulnerable grassland, heathland and moorland sites. But with 50 nature reserves in Devon we have a lot of ground to cover. That's why the public's help is so important. What we're asking people to do is follow the good advice of the Devon &

Somerset Fire Rescue Service."
In 2011, a large wild fire destroyed a third of Dorset Wildlife Trust's Upton Heath nature reserve near Wareham killing many rare plants and animals. It's estimated that it can take up to ten years before habitats and their wildlife are able to recover.

A small heathland fire in Devon - Photo copyright Devon Wildlife Trust (All rights reserved)