Tag: Exeter

Sad news reported about a man found on the road next to my home

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/man-30-dies-exeter-after-8136443

There is very little reported so far about this situation and the only news outlet that is reporting the death of the man today is the local newspaper online site (link above).

According to the time line presented at present a man was found with serious head injuries at 9:40am yesterday morning. I happened to be standing at the bus stop just around the corner from the area of the road that the police closed off at about 8:40am yesterday morning and so I contacted the police last night on a none emergency number to inform them that I was there at that time and tell them what I had seen that might have been relevant to any ongoing investigation.

I don’t know if I was there at a time when anything might have happened but you just can’t be too careful. Having lost a brother in completely different circumstances it does make you realised though that the person that lost there life is most likely to be someones brother, son, father or partner and those close to him will have so many questions about what happened and so if I can help fill in a time line for police enquiries then that is something I felt I should do.

This week is one of those weeks where I have struggled to watch the news in any great detail and feel somewhat helpless and sad in the loss of life and earthquakes which have occurred in Turkey and Syria. The main element of the story that I appear to absorb is that it is being reported that not enough aid is getting to the people that need the help, quickly enough and that the weather is particularly harsh and cold effecting the chances of survival for those still alive and trapped and inflicting further suffering on those that are living out in the open after the quakes. Finally the sadness of the relatives that are alive and desperately wanting to see there loved ones alive and safe again (seeing those people real does make it difficult for me to watch the television reports).

Blade Runner – All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

WW2 bomb detonated in Exeter

A 400m cordon was set up before the bomb – which was 1,000kg heavy, around 2.5m in length, and would have fallen from a Nazi bomber in 1942 – was detonated at about 6.10pm on Saturday 27th February. I could hear the explosion from my house which sounded like a firework going off when they detonated it. Social media in Exeter went a bit crazy as well with reports of what was happening from peoples homes at the time of the detonation.

One friend commented on his FaceBook site about the bomb going off, only to have people that did not know what was happening jump on him, saying that there were no bombs in Exeter and they certanly were not being detonated that night (little did they know).

The news that the bomb had been discovered at first broke on Friday 25th February it was found on a buidling site probably for new student accomodation as that is what most buildings sites are for in Exeter or so the locals would have you believe, this site was just by the university. My boss was one the people that had to go on site throughout the weekend and other staff were also called upon to assist during the weekend.

The video below is an edit of a classic 1960’s film scene called the Italian Job with Michel Cain and the actual expolsion in Exeter edited together.

It was a bloody big explosion on site with many properties being damaged close by. Though fortunaly no one was injured and properties are being checked for damage and people being provided ongoing support.

More than 2,600 households and University of Exeter halls of residence were evacuated after the device was found on Glenthorne Road on Friday.

Police declared a major incident and put up an initial 100m (330ft) cordon, extended to 400m (1,310ft).

Bomb disposal experts used 400 tonnes of sand to create an enclosing “box” before it was made safe at 18:12 GMT.

About 1,400 students were evacuated from 12 halls of residence after the explosive was found by builders on private land next to the Streatham campus at about 09:20 GMT on Friday.

The bomb evacuation zone in Exeter Pictured above

Police said bomb disposal crews “worked through the night to establish a walled mitigation structure” and they had been expecting “a big bang” to be heard “quite a distance across Exeter” during the operation to make it safe.

Any residents who have been directly affected who are in need of support should phone the helpline on 01392 265000. The line is open form 9am to 5pm.

Strictly Confidential!

Well where to start. Like all cities, towns and places people call home Exeter, Devon in the UK, has taken a bit of a beating this year. Shops shut, people staying at home and all that Jazz. As for me on the other hand I’m now working in the city again that I love to call home, at the heart of the city council in for want of a better word a pandemic planning room.

I work now for the environmental health team answering phone calls and emails for the team directing them to where they need to go to or sometimes I am even able to answer the questions myself.

Business is booming in the office lots of environmentally unhealthy things to deal with, listen to, act on and treat. Though I donā€™t really want to or cannot go into too much detail because the calls we take emails we get and things we act upon are all really related to peopleā€™s lives and are personal to them and strictly confidential!

So during this pandemic when most people are stopping going into the city, I on the other hand turn about face and do the opposite. I sometimes catch a bus to the city centre, sometimes walk (less than I should), sometimes stop in a bar for a beer on the way home (possibly more than I should under a pandemic year but less than I would in a normal year).

I go out to a bar about twice a week and this feels too much like I am taking my life in my own hands with regard to the potential picking up of Covid-19. I am very overweight have a borderline diabeties diagnosis and am nearly mid 40’s so I am not exactly in the young and just passing it on bracket of the pandemic population.

Though I do think that if I get used to not socialising I might permanently not go out. I instead continue to go out and love doing so more for company really than Guinness. I donā€™t drink at home and still love to meet people and watch punters when sitting in a local bar. My social lockdown beer drinking acquaintances have been one of the joys of this year.

My original group of socialising friends that I used to drink with in a local pub has really gone tits up though. Some are social isolating, some have had mini meltdowns, and others like me are just getting on and making the most of it. Our little group were like ten pin bowls knocked down very quickly by the bowling ball that is Covid-19.

Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap