Latest news with #Exeter
BBC News
2 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Former Exeter flanker Ewers retires aged 34
Former Exeter flanker Dave Ewers has retired from rugby 34-year-old came up through Exeter's academy ranks and was a key part of the side that reached six consecutive Premiership finals and won the 2020 European Champions Cup. Injury kept him out of Exeter's 2017 Premiership final win over Wasps, but he started in their 2020 final victory against the same opponents having also started the Champions Cup final the week was called up to the England squad in February 2016, but a series of injuries meant he never went on to win an England made 226 Exeter appearances and scored 40 tries before joining Ulster in the summer of 2023. The Zimbabwe-born forward has spent the past season playing for Cape Town-based side Stormers in the United Rugby Championship where he played nine times. "Thank you to Rob (Baxter, Exeter director of rugby) and everyone involved at Exeter for giving me the opportunity all those years ago, was a special journey going from the Championship to winning the double in 2020," Ewers said on social media as he announced his retirement., external"To all the boys, thank you for all the memories, I feel nothing but blessed to have experienced everything along the way with you all, on and off the pitch."We shared some incredible memories that I will never forget. "A special mention to all the backroom staff of everywhere I've been, and especially Exeter where I had all my injuries. Thank you for getting me back on the pitch. "To all the fans, near and far, thank you for all the support over the years, it's meant a lot to me."
BBC News
4 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Completing walking challenge with rare condition a 'miracle'
A woman has completed a challenge to walk 5km a day during the month of May in order to raise funds and awareness of the rare condition she has. Lucy Murphy, 25, from Exeter, has Dravet Syndrome - a form of epilepsy - and her walk raised money for the charity Dravet Syndrome UK which supports families of those with the Syndrome causes learning disability and a spectrum of associated conditions such as autism, ADHD and speech Murphy's mother, Denise Murphy, said her daughter's accomplishment was a "miracle" after frequent ambulance trips and admissions to intensive care throughout her life. 'Constantly seizing' Ms Murphy lives in supported accommodation and has a carer who helps her daily. She was diagnosed with the condition at the age of three, having had her first seizure at four months old, and she now has the comprehension ability of an eight or nine year old, her mother her early years she was "constantly seizing", Denise Murphy added."We knew every ambulance crew in the area," she said. "We made the decision to move house to be closer to the hospital and never travelled further than a 10-minute radius of our home in Exeter unless we had a nurse with us."Lucy is currently in the longest seizure-free period of her life and we never thought we would be in this position so it's a miracle really."Ms Murphy said she was trying to do as much as she could to raise awareness."If this can spread awareness to others it will make me happy to know I was a part of it," she said. 'Pretty remarkable' Claire Eldred, the Cornwall-based director of Dravet Syndrome UK, also took part in the challenge."What Lucy is doing is incredible," she said. "Dravet is a spectrum and... over 50% of adults need to use a wheelchair, over 50% will have severe to profound intellectual disability and many are non-verbal. "So it is actually pretty remarkable for a person with Dravet Syndrome to be able to take on something like this."
Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘You don't build a medieval manor house with a great hall to sit on your own'
Charlie Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon, has been having a clear-out. At his home, Powderham Castle near Exeter, 'up in the attics and roofs there's what we refer to as the 'wild archives',' he says, 'just a bunch of stuff that we never really get to'. Now the wild archives are no more. Next week Dreweatts auctioneers will sell 209 pieces from the Powderham attics, as well as 172 lots from the Earl of Yarborough's Brocklesby Park in Lincolnshire. It isn't a downsizing sale; more of a consolidation. 'Powderham spends a lot of its time being used for public events, and every time you do that you're lifting and shifting, so it's not nearly as fully furnished as it once was,' says Lord Devon. The castle is open six days a week, nine months of the year, with a vibrant events calendar. This summer it will host Duran Duran as well as comedian Frank Skinner, food festivals and Shakespearean productions. This is exactly what it ought to be doing, says Lord Devon. 'You don't build a medieval manor house with a great hall to sit on your own and not see people. You build it for the purpose of entertaining and bringing people together. I'm strongly of the view that Powderham does today what Sir Philip Courtenay intended to do when he built it in the 1390s.' The auction is an eclectic mix. Lots range from a pocket telescope (est. £80-120) to a George VI coronation chair (est. £300-500), a pair of three-metre tall mahogany and parcel-gilt cabinets (est. £5,000-10,000), and a pair of rare Chinese imperial Qiangjin and Cloisonné sedan chair poles (est. £8,000-12,000). Lord Devon has long had 'a bit of heartburn around sales'. In August, it will be a decade since he succeeded his father to both the earldom and Powderham, and the same week he will turn 50. With this has come a realisation. 'It's very easy to sit there and do nothing, and hold on to everything like the dragon in Lord of the Rings,' he says. 'But that's not creative. I've done a lot of work retaining stuff and it's time to get my arms around the collection and responsibly manage it. That requires letting some stuff go to make room – and hopefully raise some funds to assist in our programme of works.' Lord Devon's father Hugh was born in the state bed at Powderham in May 1942, on the night the Luftwaffe bombed Exeter. Since it was wartime, no beacons were lit nor cannons fired in recognition of his arrival, and his mother Venetia was heard to remark: 'poor little heir. No church bells. No fireworks.' Post-war, Venetia and her husband Christopher Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon, poured all of their efforts into Powderham. First, they established a finishing school, before in 1960 the house opened to the public, with Powderham's 116-year-old tortoise Timothy in tow with a label attached that read: 'My name is Timothy. I am very old. Please do not pick me up.' 'They were very enterprising,' says Lord Devon of his grandparents. 'I often think that I run their business, which my dad did a great job developing.' The Devons were totally wedded to their titular county. Christopher never once spoke in the House of Lords in his 63 years as a member, nor did he partake in much of aristocratic society – possibly since his 1939 marriage to Venetia had been preceded by scandal. The pair had met when Christopher was still at prep school, and Venetia was the young bride of his second cousin, Mark Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham. After Venetia attended Christopher's coming-of-age in July 1937, the pair fell in love, and when Mark Cottenham sought a divorce from Venetia, he cited Christopher as a co-respondent. Following both this, and his experiences in North Africa – where he was shot through his helmet on Christmas Day – Christopher retreated to Devon with what would likely be diagnosed now as PTSD. He pursued a policy of never opening any of his post and, as his stepdaughter Lady Rose Pepys remembered, 'set about becoming an old man,' in his 30s. Finances were tight. By the time Christopher succeeded his father the Reverend Frederick Courtenay, 16th Earl of Devon, in June 1935, there had been a succession of deaths meaning that Powderham came with triple death duties. The Devons' estate, which had been over 53,000 acres in the 1880s, was severely reduced. Today, it is just 3,500 acres. The Courtenays' legacy is ancient: they were founding members of the Order of the Garter; fought at Poitiers, Agincourt and Bosworth; and had William of Orange to dinner on the first night of the Glorious Revolution. Lord Devon is the 19th earl dating from the fifth creation in 1553, but his ancestors have been earls of Devon, one way or another, since the 1140s. When both his father and aunt Lady Kate Watney died within two months of one another in 2015, Lord Devon became not only head of the family but also 'the authority,' he says. 'I was always the one asking the history questions and I thought, 'there's no one I can go to to tell me whether that's right or wrong'. That was a big loss.' He is also almost the last of the line, only his 15-year-old son Jack, Lord Courtenay, is in line to succeed him. 'Despite being a very long-established title, the earldom of Devon is a very weedy one.' He feels strongly about his role, and was elected to the House of Lords as a cross-bencher in 2018, becoming the most visible Lord Devon for several generations. 'I had a real interest in what the earldom meant and it wasn't until I got into the Lords and started offering some of the stories in the context of providing perspective to our legislative process that I realised there aren't many of us who are feudal earls with that sort of continuity,' he says. He believes that part of being a hereditary peer is to have a role in the Lords, though when the remaining hereditaries exit the upper chamber, he will remain a 'flag-waver' for Devon. 'I am fortunate to live in and run a business in the county of which I am the earl,' he says. 'We call Powderham 'the home of Devon'. Just because I'm not able to contribute to the legislative process, there's still that ability to provide a sense of perspective for the country – and a sense of identity for the region.'
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Exeter man killed in A38 crash
A Devon man has died in a crash on the A38, police have said. Devon and Cornwall Police said the single-vehicle crash involved a silver BMW estate and it happened at about 16:25 BST on Saturday, near Bickington. The force confirmed the man was in his 80s and was from investigation work was carried out the A38 was closed in both directions. Police have appealed for witnesses and dash-cam footage.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Baxter writes off Exeter's worst-ever season
Rob Baxter has been in charge of Exeter since 2009, leading Premiership and European titles [Getty Images] Exeter boss Rob Baxter says he will not refer to his side's worst-ever season again. The Chiefs' lost 30-26 at home to third-placed Sale in their final Premiership game of the season. The loss - which was an improved performance on some games this season - saw Exeter end in a club-worst ninth position in the top flight after just four wins all season. Advertisement It ends a difficult campaign for Exeter which has seen the club dispense with three coaches and suffer a record 79-17 loss at Gloucester a month ago. "I'm not going to refer to this season at all," Baxter told BBC Sport when asked about his plans for the next campaign. "What I'm going to refer to is my expectations of them going forward. "All I've referred to in the last three or four weeks is that my expectations of them are higher than their expectations of themselves are. "I'm not going to lower my expectations, so they have to raise theirs, and if they catch up with me they'll be winning trophies and they'll be winning in Europe and they'll be doing all the things that they could do." Advertisement Baxter has taken a more hands-on role coaching the side since long-serving assistants Rob Hunter and Ali Hepher were dismissed after the defeat at Gloucester. That loss was the nadir of a season which saw Exeter lose all four of their European games and win just four league matches - two of them against Saracens and Northampton who were without many of their international stars. But in recent weeks Exeter have improved and had chances to win the game, against a Sale side who knew victory would secure a fourth play-off campaign in the past five seasons. "A lot of teams need a dedicated start point - that Gloucester game was a dedicated start point for us," Baxter added. Advertisement "No player can come into my office when I'm talking to them and go 'everything was fine, I don't know why we're reacting'. "You need that sometimes, you don't need anybody having any second doubts that what's on the field isn't good enough. "We had that and now things are changing, and you can feel a change. But I think we probably needed that and we needed someone to go 'this is not good enough, things have to change' and that's what's happened."
