Getting up to date

Spent the past couple of weeks getting the site up to date from being off line for two months. almost finished but thoughts not on it today as my daughter Alice got married this afternoon. Pictures will be added to the site as soon as they are sorted.
Dream come true for me. She had a pretty rough up bringing with her mum and the one thing I wanted for her was to find a partner and settle down. Now she has and he seems to be a good bloke.
Anyway- back to the site. I've spent a lot of time checking that all the links are working so if you find one that isn't PLEASE let me know - usual e mail tourdevon@gmail.com.
I am on the hunt for info and pictures of all the villages/towns in north devon also historic family shots or businesses. In fact any info about our area would be gladly accepted. I want the site to be full of information for locals and visitors but I also want to add a lot of interesting bits. SO if you have anything in your attic that you would not mind contributing - PLEASE do.
This is a great place to live and an ideal holiday destination but we cant attract the full potential if we don't tell people about it.
Thats it for today - more in the week.

An apology

Been very lax on doing the blog over the past weeks- simple reason - Change of broadband and a long wait to get it re connected. Why do these companies promise something in two weeks and then take two months.
I see the dear government are into trying to catch us pensioners votes by giving us free swimming. I think I would rather see the money spent on some help in the home or at least a service that we need. I think I know why they chose swimming. Looks good on paper but in truth not that many will take up the offer so it wont cost very much.
Makes me laugh when I see all the hype and spin about fitness for everyone, especially the kids when, not that long ago, they were encouraging the schools to sell their playing fields.
Back to the site news.
The Ilfracombe town Crier site is changing. Originally it was just about Ilfracombe and the area immediately surrounding it. thanks to feed back from many of you the site is now expanding to cover the towns and villages of North Devon and hopefully to link to sites with info on the south, east and west. So good people, if YOU know of any site relative to Devon that you class as a good informative one then please let me know about it.
My site is now Tour Devon and with your help it can be the best source of up to date information on our lovely county.
Thats me for today - Do get in touch if you want to make any sort of comment or feed my appetite for Devon info. usual e mail - tourdevon@gmail.com
Just remember - never put of till tomorrow that which you can put off for a month.

I'm a bit puzzled

You will have seen the link on the tour-devon.com to a petition at number 10 with regards to fire service cuts.
On the news the government have announced spending a lot of money on metal detectors for schools and the police. This is to try and stop some of the deaths from knives and other weapons. It's a good idea but the official figures show between 2 and 300 deaths from knives in the past year. In the same period close on 600 have died in fires so my logic tells me that more money should be spent to try and stop some of these deaths. Unfortunately government see it different and are cutting that budget.
Is it just me or is this wrong.

Been Busy

Been busy for a few days doing a re-design for the site - now it's all up and running and your opinion on it would be appreciated.
The amount of info on there now is huge and I still have at least another 100 pages of stuff to add.
I'm hoping I can keep the site going but funds are funning very low and I'm not sure I can. Loads of people e mail me to say how much they enjoy the site and how much info they've got from it but no one ever thinks to give a small donation to help keep it going and my pension is at full stretch
.
Anyone have any ideas what I can do to raise funds or encourage a sponsor.

A CHALLENGE FOR A LOCAL TEAM

A CHALLENGE FOR A LOCAL TEAM

Hi I was on your site and hoped you could post this for our school social group Social visit / friendly Football game wanted in june 2008 Friendly football game wanted in june this year by visiting school social group from Cardiff. Mixed group of teachers, looking for pub team etc, we can pay for any facilities.contact mike_sman@yahoo.com regards Mike Sweetman Social organiser Whitchurch high school, cardiff, 02920 629700

ANY TEAM GAME ENOUGH TO TAKE THEM ON???? CONTACT HERE tourdevon@gmail.com

looking for information

I've had various enquiries from people trying to trace distant relatives that had connections to Ilfracombe.
If you know anything about any of these people please let me know here tourdevon@gmailcom

The first is

Nicholas Lovering - a well know family even now but he was one of the quay hobblers and not much else known at the moment.

Next

John Reeves who drowned of Lundy 28th July 1843

Next

Charles Lower Buckingham who drowned when the yacht Monarch sank off tunnels beaches in 1887

Next

George or Nicholas Comer - george was one of the hobblers and Nicholas drowned in 1848

Next

John Eastaway - drowned 23rd January 1806

relatives living in other parts of the world from America and Australia have asked if anyone can provide any information about any of these people or their families.

Just wondering

As a relative newcomer to North Devon but a West countryman at heart I just wonder what it is that brings people here. The attraction seems to be fairly universal and yet when you take a good look at the area we don't have many of the amenities that can be found in other places.
Jobs are low paid in comparison with other areas and less of them. Housing and products in shops are more expensive than in many areas. So What is it about the place????