Blog - The West Devon Free Press

Much more sewage is in the sea

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:2 August 2023
Post category:Water Quality
Post comments:1 Comment

On Saturday we took the grandchildren to Summerleaze Beach in Bude. You can read all about that excursion (and see moving surfing pictures!), here.Yesterday the children went to Widemouth Sand…

The Heavens Open in Halwill Junction

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:30 July 2023
Post category:Water Quality
Post comments:0 Comments

Yesterday was a (comparatively!) nice day, but this morning it’s raining again here in Halwill Junction. This is the Met Office’s 11:AM rainfall forecast:

There appears to be heavier rain heading for West Devon. Whilst we await future developments, further west a new sewage pollution alert has popped up on South West Water’s “Water Fit Live” map:

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Surfing Bude in the School Holidays

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:29 July 2023
Post category:Water Quality
Post comments:0 Comments

Strictly speaking the title should start "bodyboarding", but it's already overly verbose!Here's today's Surfline surf forecast for Bude Summerleaze: We very rarely go to Summerleaze, and we very rarely go…

Summer’s in the air, and sewage is in the sea

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:27 July 2023
Post category:Water Quality
Post comments:1 Comment

School summer holidays are starting. I don’t know if there is a causal relationship, but it probably won’t come as a huge surprise to many residents of West Devon that the UK Met Office’s rainfall map of the area looked like this yesterday afternoon:

As luck would have it, I had just set up our shiny new Twitter account so that I could report to the rest of the planet on yesterday’s exciting news from Halwill Junction football pitch.

Twitter insisted that I “follow” several other accounts, and of course South West Water was top of my list! Whereupon Elon Musk‘s latest (single) X algorithm suddenly revealed this to me:

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Devon Air Ambulance in Halwill Junction

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:26 July 2023
Post category:News
Post comments:0 Comments

Having recently moved to Halwill Junction, we were in the process of sorting out a big pile of boxes in the garage when what proved to be the Devon Air Ambulance helicopter flew very low overhead.

This is what happened next, via Twitter (AKA X.com!) :

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Action on preparing for drought must remain

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:21 July 2023
Post category:Water Supply
Post comments:0 Comments

According to an Environment Agency press release concerning the current drought in South West England: As many parts of the world experience extreme heatwaves and severe drought, the Environment Agency…

Construction Starts at Chilla Junction

Post author:Jim Hunt
Post published:16 July 2023
Post category:News
Post comments:2 Comments

Devonshire Homes has announced that:

Construction has started this week at our latest new homes site, Chilla Junction at Halwill Junction.

Devonshire Homes is working with Porteous Groundworks to bring 32 new homes to the 1.9 hectare development near Okehampton. Located at Chilla Road, Chilla Junction will offer a mix of one, two, three, four and five bedroom homes which will include apartments, bungalows and houses, nine of which will fall under Devonshire Homes’ affordable homes contribution.

Properties will complement the local environment so that homes embed well into the village. Nestled in the Devon countryside, the site benefits from easy access to the A30 and A386. First occupations are expected in spring 2024.
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