Candlelit had a great start with the best ever procession of  lanterns including a truly huge duck!  Julia Makepeace said she had had a great time making hers. The procession finished with Santa arriving by boat giving presents to hundreds of delighted children.  Later on the Dartmouth dot TV crew retired to Santa's new Hotel/Bar in Bayard's Cove for a well deserved drink or four!

2.  Dinner @ Wildfire

Food: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Dartmouth dot TV crew. Their mission: to explore new restaurants, to seek out new menus and new food, to boldly go where no Nikon has gone before.  And so we did, starting with the complimentary bread and olive oil and finishing with a sparkling sweet, literally!  As usual there was plenty of good food, impeccable service and river views. You can always pop in for a drink to check Wildfire out first, but you may end up staying the night!  Click here to see their website and menu?

4.   Cued Speech Association

Kim Fricker reports:  A contingent from the Cued Speech Association UK (CSAUK), a small national charity based in Dartmouth, Devon, were honoured to be the only beneficiary of funding from Lloyds TBS Foundation for England and Wales to be invited to speak at a Parliamentary Reception held by the Foundation at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 24th November.

The CSAUK group was made up of Executive Director Anne Worsfold, parent Donna Rooke with her two young sons Matthew and Ashley and Jonathan Worsfold frpom Stoke Fleming who was brought up with Cued Speech. It was a golden opportunity to explain what the CSAUK is all about to MPs and others present, and also to thank the Foundation for their generous grant of £30,000 over two years which comes to an end in Spring 2011, given for the provision of information.

Cued Speech is the only sound-based system that allows a deaf baby or child to see the whole of language as it is spoken. A simple system of ‘cues’ (handshapes positioned around the mouth) supplements the lip patterns of normal speech so that every ‘sound’ looks different. It can be learnt in only a few hours and then parents can say any word in the English language in a way that is totally clear to their baby or child.  The CSAUK run one day introductory workshops and other courses including bespoke training for family and other groups, plus they provide a 5-day annual residential Summer School. If you would like to join a course or have further information about Cued Speech contact Kim on 01803 832 784, or click here to see thier website.

6.   Small News

• Diane Coates reported after last week's news: I would just like to say what a wonderful service you provide with such  up-to-date photos & news of the place I love ! Up here, in the North of Nottinghamshire, it's been like the North Pole all week and is affecting day-to-day life considerably.
  
  I do hope the events of this coming weekend can still go ahead  including the candlelight procession. Our local "lights switch on" &  festivities tonight have had to be cancelled and our local church
  "Christmas Tree Festival" this week is suffering considerably because people can't get out and about so much -such a shame after all the hard work of organising it. Keep up the good work !!
   

• Christmas lights switch on.  No, not what you think! The photograph to the right is the Christmas Lights Switch on at Bellinis where the X-Factor team did the honours?
   

• If you're not feeling Christmassy enough yet, why not go along to the Flavel Church next Wednesday 15 December at 7.30pm for a Christmas Wassail, music, readings and carols for choir and audience, organised by Britannia Choral Society.  Admission is free!
   

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

Images copyright  Dave Cawley,  Andy Kyle,  & others.