Laurie Preece reports: On Saturday 24 April at 4.00pm in St Saviour's Church, Dartmouth, the Exeter Cathedral Senior Choristers directed by Andrew Milligan, will be performing a concert in aid of Dart Music Festival and the Choristers. The choir's extensive repertoire covers a wide range of music from medieval plainsong to contemporary works and they will be joined at this concert by the Dean of Exeter Cathedral, The Very Revd Jonathan Meyrick.  Tickets for the concert are available from the Dartmouth Tourist Information Centre, priced at £10.00

2.   New facilities in Dartmouth Market

Dave Cawley, Chairman of Dartmouth Town Council's Corporate Property Committee and Town Mayor Debbie Morris opened the new Public Lavatories in the Old Market yesterday.  Cllr Dave Cawley said "these are not just new lavatories, this is the start of a new beginning for the Market Regeneration" 

Featuring Lamborghini yellow cubicles with Ferrari red doors, these loos cannot fail to impress!  Even the wall tiles start off blue near the ground and fade into a sunny yellow then white to echo the river on a sunny day.

The next phase of the Market Regeneration will include several new small shops and has already been submitted to SHDC's planning department.  Robert Seymour and Helen Needham worked hard with Cllr Dave Cawley and the Town Council to make these probably the best loos in the West Country?

3.   Trade Talk

Are you are a business in Dartmouth? now is the time to check your details on the three major Dartmouth tourism websites.  We recently checked to see who was advertising where and were amazed that so many advertisers were paying to be on websites and had old information, old pictures, and worse still links to websites and e-mail that simply did not work.  Try all three, see if you are there, click on your website link, does it work?  And finally, go back to where you are advertising, click to send yourself an e-mail, and see if you get it in your inbox within a few minutes?  Talking about e-mail, did you know that many potential customers expect a reply to an enquiry about booking accommodation within 2 hours, after that time they will get bored and try elsewhere, and that might not even be Dartmouth.  So consider checking and dealing with your e-mails frequently?

4.   Pamper Me

Escape to a place of peace and quiet, pampering and rejuvenation. Dart Marina offer a 'Be Pampered Break', designed to refresh the skin and calm the mind, includes two nights, two luxurious treatments and dinner on both nights featuring the freshest, seasonal, local food. When you manage to stroll back to your luxury room, you'll be glad of the large bed and endlessly changing river views from your window.

This two night break is inclusive of accommodation in a luxury room, breakfast, evening meal in the River Restaurant and two spa treatments for you to select from the following list:

Herbal Lavender facial
Fruit active glow facial
Exotic cream moisture dew facial
Elemis deep tissue massage
Elemis exotic lime and ginger salt glow
Manicure
Executive Hand & Nail Treatment for Men

For more details click here

5.   Small News

• Sarah from Bellini's reports: We now have our first dates of music booked for Bellini’s.
  Saturday 17th April  9pm  Mark Ely sings and plays guitar to his own material and the popular tunes we all know and love.
  Sunday  25th April  7pm  Koburn, a duet with a smooth melodic repertoire covering songs from the likes of Nina Simone and Diana Krall
   

• St George's Day Concert, Dittisham
  Tom Leeman reports: Dittisham is once again gearing itself up for its annual St George's Day Candlelit Concert of music and verse to be held in the stunning thirteenth century church of St George on Friday, 23 April at 7.30pm.
  Traditionally supported by a highly regarded mix of musicians and other artists drawn from the South West the programme also includes performances from local school children and town crier, Lez Ellis. This year they will be joined by distinguished international soprano soloist Alison Pearce who appears with the world's leading conductors and orchestras at major venues and festivals as well as broadcasting for radio and television in many countries. Alison will be accompanied by Jonathan Watts, renowned organist and scholar of Queens College, Oxford
  Other highlights of the evening will include a first public reading of works by internationally acclaimed resident poet Brian Patten, music from versatile trumpeter Martin Holland and a performance of well known English songs from Martin Dibben to include There'll always be an England and A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.
  We are delighted to announce that all profits from this year's concert will go to the British Red Cross. Tickets are £7.00 per person to include a complimentary glass of wine. (Children free.) Bar opens at 6.30 pm  Tickets are available from Bob Bull on 01803 722 298

Why not come and visit Dartmouth?

• Self catering accommodation click here
   
• Dartmouth B and B  click here
   
• Dartmouth Hotels click here
   
• A Tourist Guide to Dartmouth click here

Stop Press

As this news is being sent out, the Fire Brigade are dealing with a chimney fire in The Royal Castle Hotel.  We expect the bar to be open again soon, so pop in and spend some money!

Images copyright Dave Cawley, Andy Kyle & others.