Close shaves and record breakers

ROWING enthusiasts Sarah Luxton and Lucy Bufton break a world record in Teignmouth and raise more than £2,000 for the Devon Air Ambulance.

Very tired but elated and proud is how Sarah and Lucy described how they both felt after their marathon charity row into the record books.

Their record attempt on the longest continuous Tandem Ergo-Row took place outdoors at the town’s Seasports Watersports Centre.

Sarah and Lucy had set themselves the ultimate challenge and took turns to keep the fly wheel turning from midnight on Saturday and onwards to Monday – totting up a gruelling 60 hours of rowing.

CAMPAIGNERS with banners were out on the streets of Newton Abbot on Saturday to make their point about their vision for the future of the town’s Alexandra Theatre.

Andrew Malcolm, chairman of the Friends of the Alexandra Theatre, said: ‘We had an excellent turnout with just over 80 people attending.

THIEVES strike again this month and steal more catalytic converters from cars in the New- ton Abbot area.

A spokesman for the police’s Devon and Cornwall Alert system said: ‘We have received recent reports of thefts of catalyt- ic converters from vehicles in the Newton Abbot area.

‘This took place to a vehicle parked in a car park in Liverton between 2pm and 2.15pm on Sunday, and a vehicle parked in a car park in the area of Bovey Road between 1pm and 5pm on Sunday.

SOUTH Devon Railway manager Dick Wood must have regretted his crazy bet not to shave until his beloved tourist attraction reopened after lockdown number one.

Some 14 months later, ‘looking like Captain Birdseye’ he finally has his whiskers trimmed.

THE ANGLICAN Bishop of Plymouth took a tour to see how one of his former places of worship was faring in its new guise as a museum and community hub. The Right Rev Nick McKinnel visited Newton’s Place, formerly known

as St Leonard’s Church, in Newton Abbot earlier this week and was suitably impressed by the change.

THERE was high drama in Newton Abbot when a heavy goods vehicle struck overhead cables in a quiet road.

A fire crew from Newton Abbot attending the incident in Mile End Road, Highweek discovered that an articulated lorry had hit an overhead telegraph wire. This resulted in two, 10-metre telegraph poles being ripped from the ground. One of the poles hit a house, smashing through the kitchen door and coming to rest on top of a garage.

ASHBURTON mayor Jenny Giles cut the ribbon on a new community venture in Ashburton.

Community fridges reduce food waste by taking food that would otherwise have been thrown out from shops, wholesalers and private individuals.