Friday 23 September 2011




Carnival spirit as strong as ever...

WITH the rain teeming down and water seeping into my camera, I muttered under my breath “this is the last bloody carnival I’m covering”. “Cheer up and give us a smile”, said a passing collector. I won’t tell you what my reply was.

But through driving rain, the carnival spirit won through in Axminster on Saturday evening. Despite the conditions, a large crowd turned out and full marks must go to the procession entries, especially the five troupes of majorettes, who stoically carried on.

Photographically, it was a nightmare so let me apologise here and now for the quality of our pictorial coverage.

As always, it was a splendid carnival procession and collections, although down on previous years, were still well over £1,000.

A word of praise also for all the carnival officials and marshalls for putting on such a show in such terrible conditions, especially procession organiser Geoff Enticott who was still at it on Monday morning, finishing off the paper work, when I called in the Guildhall to get the procession results.

With increasing red tape and health and safety issues, the future of carnivals are under threat. But Saturday night in Axminster proved that the carnival spirit is as strong as ever.


IT’S difficult to say no to the people of Colyton, especially when their dander is up. I thought county councillor Roger Croad, responsible for the library service in Devon, did well enough when he entered the lion’s den at last week’s public meeting in Colyton to discuss the future of the town’s library.

But he will have left with one overriding impression - the people of Colyton will fight to the bitter end for the best possible library service for their town in these difficult financial days.

The Tory controlled county council should listen to their ultimate leader David Cameron’s Big Society ethos: when people volunteer, it’s best to embrace the concept rather than saying perhaps.

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