September Sewage Pollution in South West England

Following sewage pollution incidents all around the coast of South West England on August 31st we’ve since enjoyed/endured 6 days of an official heatwave. However that hasn’t prevented a heavy shower this morning causing the activation of several combined sewer overflows in Plymouth. Here is the Met Office’s rain radar map at 6 AM this morning:

Here is South West Water’s WaterFit Live map of Plymouth a few hours later:

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West Devon Boatbuilder Sails the Northwest Passage

In 2012 Will Stirling from Buckland Monachorum literally and metaphorically launched his wooden cutter Integrity at the Plymouth Mayflower Marina. According to Classic Boat magazine:

The 62 ft / 18.9 m (LOS)  larch on oak, 1880s-inspired, gentleman’s yacht is due to debut at the British Classic Yacht Club regatta in July. Will has spent two years building Integrity which represents a departure from the replica Pilot Cutters that have been the standard wooden replica yachts from various British boatbuilders in recent years.

Our first impressions were a bit: wow! The lines of the 7 berth yacht are very sweet on the eye. She seems destined for the Med regattas or maybe the Caribbean where she would not look out of place among her ‘original’ sisters. Classic yacht broker Barney Sandeman (selling her) agreed that her £300,00 (sic) price tag was probably a bargain, but Stirling’s view is that as a first yacht of her type she acts as a prototype for what he is trying to achieve. He was joined by four boatbuilders who had helped him on the project.

However, according to a more recent article in Classic Boat, written by Will Stirling himself, thoughts of the Caribbean couldn’t have been further from his mind:

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