At a recent meeting Dartmouth Town Council heard from Commander Andy Hancock of Britannia Royal Naval College, the good news that naval officer training will continue in Dartmouth for the foreseeable future and that in the longer term he hopes that all initial training will take place here, because of Dartmouth's proximity to the sea, a clear advantage over other establishments, as well as the long naval tradition at the College which celebrates 150 years training in Dartmouth in 2013. Currently the college has 351 naval cadets and representatives from 20 different nations are undergoing training there.

BRNC employs 185 local people and all staff are keen to continue to forge links with the town and local area. To this end the college is working with both the Dartmouth Academy and South Devon College and will be supporting the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta and the Dart Music Festival as it has done in previous years.

Future growth at BRNC will be excellent news for Dartmouth and we know that locals and visitors alike will be keen to support the college in its plans.

2.  First new shop in the market opens

Stocked with more dog food than you can throw a stick at, the Dartmouth Pet Shop moved into its brand new shop this week.  Mixing the old with the new has created a vibrant new look and is clearly a sign of all the good things to come.

Cllr Dave Cawley reported at this week's Corporate Property committee meeting "there are over 8 people in the queue to get these new shops" he went on to say "all government guidelines have been followed and a recent government audit of the market regeneration was passed with flying colours"  The MCTi via Devon Renaissance gave £6K funding several years ago.  Recently another £100K was obtained from Devon Renaissance who said they were "very happy" with all the documentation and progress of the project.

3.   TV Stars at Woodlands

Two very famous TV Stars visited a local Theme Park in Devon on Tuesday 19th April.

Ben & Holly from Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom left their Magical Kingdom to come all the way to Woodlands Family Theme Park in Dartmouth for the day. They were greeted by hundreds of fans who had come especially to see them. Ben the Elf & Holly the Fairy Princess had a great time greeting their guests and even had time to have a dance and experience the rides with their fans.

Everyone had a wonderful day especially 3 year old Poppy Stevens who was overwhelmed with excitement when she got to see her favourite TV Characters. “Holly!” she said, as Holly passed her magical wand to Poppy. “I’ve had great fun” said Poppy.

Ben & Holly went away with presents from their fans including lots of coloured-in pictures. Jessica Repton the Event Organiser said “The TV Character Days are exciting additions to the Family Theme Park at no extra cost. It was a brilliant day and so nice to see the children’s excited faces. I can’t wait till Fireman Sam on 31st May”.   Click here for more.

4.   The Secrets in Their Eyes

‘This Oscar-winning Argentinian thriller packs emotional punch and a dazzlingly virtuosic narrative…’ In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Esposito is writing a novel, using an old closed case (the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto) as the source material. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim's husband, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menendez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as they tracked the killer. For these reasons the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. At the time, despite the department already having two other suspects, Benjamín and Pablo were certain that a man named Isidoro Gómez was the real killer...  (129 minutes, Cert. 18, Drama/Mystery/Romance)

This film is on tonight at the Guildhall at 7.30PM. Guest tickets can be purchased on the night of the screening at The Windjammer pub in Victoria Road, Dartmouth for £3.60 per film, between 7.00 – 7.25 pm. New members can join at the door on any screening night. For further information contact: Clive Osborne on 079-6802-6449

5.   Elisabeth Sladen

Elisabeth Sladen who so many of us loved in her role of Sarah-Jane Smith in the legendary BBC series Dr Who, died of cancer this week.  Starring with Tom Baker she was the most charismatic of all of Dr Who's companions and most of us will remember her and dialogue with K9 (affirmative mistress).

As previously reported, Dr Who has an alleged association with Dartmouth.  Story 2 click here to see it, and story 5 click here to read it, tells a little.

To see an 10 minute sample of Elisabeth and Tom click here.  It isn't even documented on Wikipedia, but the first episode of Dr Who screened in 1963 was so popular that the BBC had to run a repeat of it the next Saturday before the second episode. The never forgotten theme music was prepared by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and a selection of all the theme tunes had be heard by clicking here.  Miss....tress we will remember you.
 

6.   Small News

• Every week we get people e-mailing in to say how much they enjoy the Dartmouth News and its wonderful photographs.  Here is one we particularly liked from Can Boyacigiller:
  
  I look forward to, and completely relish every edition. I now live and work in the US (having grown up and schooled in Dartmouth), but I devour every edition on my phone as soon as it arrives. For the last few weeks I was in Saudi Arabia, but still got to "be home" for a short interval reading Dartmouth News.
  
  Keep up the Excellent work (both for new "customers" and for the likes of me that are already "sold" on Dartmouth in our heart). The photos each week are a delight and I can't wait to see the first Spring edition of the year which often draws my wife and I back to discussions about it being time to head back.
  
  Regards from one of the ex-pat "Devon Boy-jig-lers".  Can Paul Boyacigiller.  Annapolis,  Maryland,  USA
   

• Come and celebrate the risen Christ this Easter in the Parish of Dartmouth churches.  Services on Sunday include:
  
  5.30am  Dawn Service at St Clement's
  8.00am  Holy Communion at St Clement's
  9.30am  Holy Communion at St Petrox
  11.00am  Sung Eucharist at St Saviour's
  6.30pm  Evensong at St Clement's
  Details of all the parish services can be read on their web site by clicking here

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
   
• Shopping in Dartmouth click here
  
  

Images copyright  Dave Cawley,  Andy Kyle,  & others.