Category Archives: Press Release

A DOG show is the new attraction at this year’s free Party in The Park (PIP) which is due to take place in Courtenay Park, Newton Abbot, on July 12 – 13.

The family-friendly weekend, organised jointly by Newton Abbot Town Council and Rotary Newton Abbot, has been a big hit in the past.

And with dog shows proving hugely popular at other district events, next month’s PIP looks set to become a real blockbuster.

The pet pooches will be a feature of Saturday’s entertainments which also include a bouncy castle, The Rock Choir, Taiko Drummers, face painting and circus skills.

Charity and trade stalls will share the field with food and drink vendors, these being the only element of the weekend that visitors have to pay for although families are welcome to bring picnics.

Sunday’s fun and games include children’s entertainment such as face painting, balloons, bubbles and crafts with Creative Newton Abbot.

The day will also feature a bungee run, circus skills and mini challenges from SPACE Youth Centre.

Live music will come in the form of ska, funk, rock, pop and brass.

Events Coordinator at Newton Abbot Town Council, Natalie Hicks, said: ‘Both Saturday’s and Sunday’s brilliant free activities programmes will run from 11am to 4pm, providing families with a fantastic free weekend that will create memories to treasure.

‘Newton Abbot Town Council is both proud and very happy to help arrange Party in The Park at a time when the cost of living just seems to spiral.

‘We are also honoured and grateful to have Rotary Newton Abbot as our partner in the project, the value of the volunteering their members give to our community cannot be over-estimated.

‘The only cost that people might choose to bear is a visit to our ice cream stand, bar or food vendors but please, bring a picnic from home if you prefer.

‘And we can’t wait to see all the proud owners and their pets flocking in for the dog show, we look forward to a whole lot of wagging tales and smiling faces.

‘Just keep everything crossed for good weather!’

Visit www.newtonabbot-tc.gov.uk for more information.

Images below from Party in the Park 2024

PLANS to create a £1.1 million state-of-the-art collection store with improved accessibility and workspaces at Newton Abbot Museum are going down well with the public.

Staff took to the town centre on Saturday May 17 to showcase the What’s in Store? project that should result in a sleek modern extension to Newton’s Place, the former Victorian church in Wolborough Street that has housed the museum since 2020.

The team had already secured a National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) grant of £78,952 to develop their ideas and will soon submit a major grant application for approximately £850,000 to help pay for construction, fitting out and to run a programme of community-focused activities.

Public fundraising will also be carried out to avoid any cost falling on council tax payers.

Curator Dr Charlotte Dixon said: ‘People are being really positive about the What’s in Store? plans, including the general design.

‘They’re also liking the fact it means they will be able to access the objects more easily and work with us in the future, they’re very interested to see our list of activities.

‘Our relationship with the NLHF is really positive and we’re now at the final stage of the National Lottery application process.

‘It’s been quite long so far, having secured funding for the first year, now we’re at the last hurdle, hoping to get the financial support for what will be called the delivery phase.’

The NHLF decision is expected in the autumn and if the grant is awarded the build should be completed in the winter of 2026.

David and Jane Clarkson are Friends of the Museum members and keen to see the finished product.

‘Now we’ve seen the design it fits in there just fine,’ said Mr Clarkson.

‘I’m pleased the museum is where it now is, rather than in Devon Square, and it’s a valuable resource for keeping history alive.

‘It’s going to be good if more people can be involved and future generations can see what life here was like.’

The Museum is free to visit. Opening times are Tuesday – Friday 9.30am-4.30pm, Saturday. 9.30am-1.30pm. Closed Bank Holidays.

Above image shows David and Jane Clarkson with Dr Dixon and the What’s in Store? display.

Below shows father and son Stuart and Ellis Frisby who enjoyed free badge-making laid on by museum staff as part of the event.

Newton Abbot Town Council, which operates the museum, has no plans to increase its share of the precept to help fund the project.

TRIBUTES have been paid to former Newton Abbot Mayor and Town Crier, Ken Purchase, who has died at the age of 87.

Born in Tiverton, Ken was adopted at an early age by the Purchase family of Newton Abbot.

On leaving home at 16 he began his working life as a painter and decorator, later moving to the turbine manufacturers Centrax and then taking up a long-standing role as caretaker at the Adult Education Centre in the Passmore Edwards Building.

Always a practical and sociable man who liked to keep busy, Ken was a keen gardener who provided his family and friends with bountiful home-grown produce.

He also volunteered with the Scouts and was an active churchman and bellringer.

Ken was equally supportive of amateur dramatics, mostly behind the scenes but occasionally on stage too.

A tall man, he once emerged comedically from a panto set oven dressed as a baby complete with nappy.

When time permitted, family travel was something Ken enjoyed with Spain being a favourite destination.

It was his wife Dulcie who spotted an advertisement for the role of Newton Abbot Town Crier and Ken agreed it might be an interesting challenge.

Having secured the position, he and Dulcie would go as far afield as Australia, taking part in competitions and acting as ambassadors for the town.

Ken’s contact with the Town Council led to him becoming a member, impressing his colleagues sufficiently to be appointed Mayor in 2018.

After stepping back from much of his public life a few years ago, Ken, together with Dulcie, turned to volunteering at Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum.

As part of their commitment, the couple could often be seen greeting visitors to St Leonard’s Tower during its summer opening season.

In recent months, Ken’s health began to fail, leaving him frustrated that he could no longer tend to his beloved garden or take part in his social and civic activities.

He died in Torbay Hospital on Friday May 9 with family at his bedside.

Mayor at the time of his passing, Cllr Alex Hall, said: ‘Ken was a man who led by example, always looking to see how he could contribute to the wellbeing of others.

‘He was admired and respected, indeed loved by most people who knew him.

‘He and his family are in our thoughts.’

Museum Curator Dr Charlotte Dixon said: ‘Ken was a long-standing volunteer at Newton Abbot Museum and for many years welcomed thousands of visitors to the medieval Clock Tower.

‘Ken always raised a smile and was a much-loved member of the museum team.

He will be greatly missed by us all.’

Ken is survived by his wife, two daughters, three grandchildren and a great granddaughter.

The Town Flag will be hung at half-mast on the day of his funeral, the date of which has yet to be confirmed.

The above image shows Ken as Mayor.

Below Ken and Dulcie Purchase

Please address any queries to Newton Abbot Town Clerk Phil Rowe.

Email [email protected] or call 01626 201120.å

THE Mayor of Newton Abbot has said the proposed Band D increase of 16.9p per week to provide town council services such as street cleaning, public events and the museum would be the lowest since he became a councillor.

Cllr Alex Hall took his seat in the chamber in 2021 at a time when the pandemic and international affairs were sending prices sky high.

An additional burden on the Town Council had been the public’s expectation that services were maintained at a time when county and district authorities were reigning back from their traditional roles owing to cuts in government funding.

As a result, Newton Abbot Town Council’s share of the Council Tax bill had needed to increase by as much as 21 per cent in recent years.

But with some pressures easing, a meeting of Newton Abbot Town Council’s Finance and Audit Committee on Wednesday January 15 was given a report from Deputy Clerk Sam Scott.

She said that an increase of 16.9 pence per week for a Band D property, a figure calculated after scrutinising the books since July 2024, would be sufficient to cover the authority’s costs.

‘The increase is more in line with pre-Covid times which is encouraging,’ she said.

Cllr Hall, recommending that members approve the 4.83 per cent lift, said: ‘This is one of the lowest percentage increases I’ve seen since I started with the council.’

Committee Chair Cllr Colin Parker agreed and said the ‘economic crisis’ the entire country had experienced had increased costs all round.

He added that Newton Abbot Town Council had invested in new street cleaning equipment and additional maintenance staff while providing the wider area with many of its cultural services, such as the museum.

Cllr Phil Bullivant said the ‘regrettable but small’ increase was needed at a time when the chances of both the district and county councils being replaced by a larger authority were increasing.

‘I want Newton Abbot to be at the forefront of any developments that take place,’ he said.

The proposed 2025/2026 budget was discussed at Full Council on Wednesday January 22.

The Newton Abbot Town Council Band D charge in 2024/25 was £ £181.88. If the 4.83 per cent change is adopted the rate for 2025/26 will be £190.67.

For more information email [email protected] or call 01626 201120.

NEWTON Abbot Museum is set to re-open on Tuesday January 21 with five ‘firsts’ for visitors.

Bound to catch peoples’ attention as they enter the popular free attraction in Wolborough Street is the collection of silver on loan from the medieval church of St Blaise in Haccombe.

‘These ecclesiastical items are incredible, the earliest is Elizabethan and they are in such good condition,’ said Curator Dr Charlotte Dixon.

‘We have flagons, chalices, alms plates and patens, all of which would have been used in church services.’

Another first is a boy’s sailor outfit with likely connections with the Curtis family of Denbury Manor.

‘Lettice Curtis was a notable Newtonian and during the Second World War she was one of the first female pilots and certainly the first female to pilot a four-engined bomber,’ said Dr Dixon.

‘The sailor outfit is new to our collection, coming in late last year from someone with links to Denbury Manor.

The costume case is now graced by a Victorian lady’s embroidered silk dress that was worn at Buckingham Palace while the object of the month is a 19th century barrister’s horse hair wig discovered in a local office that once housed a legal firm.

‘It’s an amazing find being so fragile yet still intact and with its original case,’ said Dr Dixon.

The conservation case houses a display about specialist techniques used in keeping objects in good condition while the last ‘first’ is a uniform worn by a midwife whose 1940 visit to a patient near the railway coincided with a Luftwaffe bombing raid.

‘We’re optimistic about the coming season and looking forward to welcoming people in,’ said Dr Dixon.

‘The old museum in Devon Square used to attract between 2,000 – 2,500 people each year, now we’re in Newton’s Place and we predicted perhaps 12,000.

‘Last year the actual figure rose to more than 15,000 and we’re hopeful of matching or even exceeding that.’

The new collections are being complemented by an extensive program of mostly free family activities and workshops, details of which can be found at www.museum-newtonabbot.org.uk.

Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum is funded by Newton Abbot Town Council.

The below images show the barrister’s wig, Victorian dress and new Museum Assistant Joanna Eccles with the Haccombe silver

For more information email [email protected] or call 01626 201121.