Good week/bad week: the Devon news roundup

By PRSD, on Sunday, December 28, 2008

posted by Cptn

Christmas week has seen news that Santa wasn’t welcome in an Exmouth church, and that Crediton toffee makers may be out of a sticky situation. All that and more in the last Devon News Roundup of the year.

IT’S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR
Sweet teeth… The family toffee makers, Bristows in Crediton, who went into receivership earlier in the month, could be saved by an other as-yet unnamed confectionary company, which might see the biggest employer in the town re-opening after Christmas

Alderman announcement… Former Conservative Topsham Councillor Mary Evans has been awarded the title of honorary alderman by Exeter City Council. Evans served as a councillor for 14 years and was involved with all kinds of community activities and continues with voluntary work in the town. The role which gives her the right to herd sheep through the streets of Exeter.

Paint the town… Topsham, Budleigh Salterton and Branscombe have found immortality in pigment. Exeter-based Nutshell Natural Paint, which produces eco-friendly paint, have launched a new range of paints called, surprisingly enough, the Devon Collection.

IT’S BEEN A BAD WEEK FOR
There’s no smoke without choir… Rev Jerry Bird of St Gregory the Great Church, who has fallen out with his choir and congregation – with the 18-strong choir quitting en mass last year – is to have four months away from the parish in order to ‘seek God’.

Information sieve… According to an exclusive in the Western Morning News the latest of a series of information leaks from Devon Primary Care Trust occurred in December last year, when the minutes of meetings between social services, healthcare providers and the police were lost in the post.

Father Scrooge… The Holy Ghost Catholic Church kicked out a children’s Christmas party, including Santa, because it was the wrong time of the year. According to the Exmouth Journal, which published the story on Christmas Eve, a parent was told Santa was not welcome and Father Philip Austen considered it was not officially Christmas.