Britain’s top cycle race visits Westcountry
ORGANISERS of the 2021 Tour of Britain have confirmed more route details for this year’s race – including a first-ever stage in Cornwall.
The Duchy hosts the start of the cycle race, which will see more than 100 of the world’s best riders take on eight stages from September 5 to 12.
After racing from Penzance to Bodmin in a stage that visits many of Cornwall’s leading attractions, stage two is focused on Devon – and starts in the new town of Sherford.
The Devon stage on September 6 sees riders head out into the South Hams, passing through Modbury on the way to Dartington, before making a loop via Tor Cross and then Kingsbridge back towards Ivybridge.
Riders then weave their way through Shaugh Prior and through Yelverton on the way to Horrabridge and Tavistock.
The race then heads out across
Dartmoor, passing through Rundlestone and past the Warren House Inn on the way to the Exeter finish.
One of the country’s biggest sporting events in terms of the number of spectators, the Tour of Britain is expected to be watched by hundreds of thousands of people as it passes through Devon and Cornwall.
It is hoped that around 180,000 people will line the roads in Cornwall to watch stage one, which would make it the biggest-ever sporting event to be hosted in the county.
Riders will encounter a challenging ending to the first stage on September 5, culminating outside Bodmin General Station.
After a fast run in to the town centre, riders will climb for 500 metres up Turf Street and St Nicholas Street, in a section that begins with a 13% incline and averages a gradient of 5%.
While the final 250 metres flatten out, sprinters will need to time their efforts to perfection to avoid being beaten in the battle to win the opening stage of the race and claim the first leader’s jersey of the 2021 tour.
Tour organisers SweetSpot Group are working with Cornwall Council, British Cycling, the UCI (cycling’s governing body) and other stakeholders to ensure that the Tour of Britain’s visit to the region takes place in line with the latest Government regulations regarding public sporting events, come September.
Cornwall previously hosted the Milk Race – the Tour of Britain has never before visited the Duchy
DEVON’S top tourist businesses have been rewarded for their quality, with members of the county’s top attractions association taking a clutch of prizes at the Devon Tourism Awards.
Seven of the 36 members of the Devon Association of Tourist Attractions (DATA) were named as finalists in four different categories for the prestigious 2020 Devon Tourism Awards, and a number of the coveted medal titles went to DATA attractions at the online awards ceremony.
The annual Devon Tourism Awards are organised on behalf of the county’s destination marketing organisation ‘Visit Devon’ by ‘Services for Tourism’.
The seven DATA finalists were: The Big Sheep, Bideford; Quince Honey Farm, South Molton; Pennywell Farm, Buckfastleigh; Powderham Castle, Kenton, near Exeter; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Stuart Line Cruises, Exmouth; and the South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh.
Current DATA chairman and the South Devon Railway’s (SDR) PR and business development manager, Dick Wood, and former DATA chairman and Pennywell Farm owner, Chris Murray, were both losing finalists in the ‘Business Leader’ category, which was won by Kerry Dawson of the National Trust.
The Tourism Innovation Gold award went to Quince Honey Farm, South Molton, and the Silver to The Big Sheep, Abbotsham.
The ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ Gold medal went to Pennywell Farm, along with two joint Bronze medals for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, and Quince Honey Farm, South Molton.
In the ‘Unsung Hero’ award category, which had five nominations, all five were declared as winners by the judges, including three DATA members: Naomi Hunt from Powderham Castle, Hannah Pattle from Pennywell Farm, and a posthumous award for the late Ian Stuart of Stuart Line Cruises, Exmouth.
Commenting on the 2020 Devon Tourism awards, DATA Chairman Dick Wood said: “It’s always a pleasant surprise to be even nominated for an award, let alone then being named as a finalist in this year’s
Devon Tourism awards, but all of the finalists are winners, of course.
“I was very pleased that the great contribution towards Devon tourism of my good friend and DATA colleague, the late Ian Stuart of Stuart Line Cruises, was also fittingly recognised as an Unsung Hero in these awards – a great man who is sadly missed by all who knew him.
“Seeing that so many other fellow DATA members also reached the finalist stages too is a great honour
for our association which is now in its 36th year.
“It just goes to endorse the quality of ‘Devon’s Top Attractions’ and the high calibre and standards of our members,” Mr Wood added. “It augurs well for the future that we are going on into 2021 as a stronger, more unified organisation to promote the best of Devon.”
The awards are a confidence boost for Devon’s tourism sector, as the UK slowly emerges from lockdown.
ALARGE tree which fell on to a car being driven by a Devon father-of-two and killed him instantaneously should have been cut down six years before his death.
An inquest held in Plymouth last Friday heard that in the midst of Storm Erik in February, 2019, a diseased and decaying oak tree crushed Nicholas Marino’s car. He had been travelling to work along the A384 between Buckfastleigh and Totnes at about 5.30am.
The 50-year-old delivery driver for St Austell Brewery suffered fatal head and neck injuries after the tree crushed the vehicle when it fell on top of it.
Another driver on the opposite side of the road to Mr Marino collided with the tree after it had fallen, and said she had not seen it blocking the unlit dark road.
The inquest heard she had to be cut out of her vehicle by fire crews and was discharged from Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital the following day.
What initially was referred to as an ‘act of God’ by a collision investigator then became the subject of an investigation by Devon County Council (DCC).
The collision investigation concluded that, although the cause of the collision was not due to any human factors, the condition of the fallen tree was of concern.
A vehicle examiner confirmed the car had no mechanical defects which could have caused or contributed to the collision.
Detective Constable Dan Ritson, the officer in the case, told the inquest that a wind speed of 63.3mph was recorded around the time of the collision, and the tree had ‘very extensive decay’.
It was reported as being diseased to DCC during a routine inspection in January, 2013, and it was recommended for felling.
However, it was never removed. An investigation revealed ‘human error’ had occurred when the tree record was updated incorrectly, to state responsibility for the tree had been accepted by the landowner, ending the council’s responsibility to remove it.
DC Ritson confirmed that, had the tree record not been closed, it would have progressed further and the recommended works would have been carried out by DCC. He added that the identity of the owner of the land remains unclear. Police concluded there was no criminal liability.
DC Ritson said: “The tree remained standing six years later. Sadly, Mr Marino lost his life as a result of this failure.”
Evidence was also heard from independent arboriculturist Graham Joyce, who was called out to inspect the fallen tree on the day of the incident. He concluded that the large oak tree, believed to be about 200 years old, was ‘extensively decayed’ and had been so for many years.
He added the dead wood was visible on street view images as far back as 2008, and was in the high-risk category.
Mr Joyce said: “I consider the extensive decay in the base was the most significant factor leading to the tree’s collapse.” He added: “There was a risk there of failure there during severe weather conditions.”
Details of lessons learned since the tragedy were shared with Plymouth coroner Ian Arrow.
In a letter sent to him earlier this month from Meg Booth, DCC’s chief officer for highways, infrastructure, development and waste, she told how there had been a ‘genuine human error’ while inputting data and that steps had since been taken by DCC to reduce the chance of it occurring again.
Changes implemented included carrying out sample audits of closed records, a review of general tree safety management on highways, and specific job roles now requiring basic tree safety inspection training.
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Arrow said: “This case is a tragedy. I was particularly saddened to hear of this incident as it must have been so unexpected.”
He added he was considering using his powers to issue a Regulation
28 report highlighting the need for additional resources to help DCC tackle ash dieback, a serious disease of ash trees, and the burden of dying trees.
Councils are now required to carry out annual inspections, whereas in 2013 the frequency was every three years.
Following Mr Marino’s death, tributes were paid by friends and colleagues. Andy Caffry, who worked with Mr Marino for many years as a driver for Carlsberg UK at the Torquay depot until it closed, said: “Nick was a great colleague to work with. Never moaned or had a bad word to say about anyone. He kept himself fit by cycling to work at Carlsberg in Torquay from Totnes.
“A really likeable, gentle man who kept himself to himself – even to the extent he worked with a driver’s mate for six years, went on a fortnight’s leave and came back a married man. His mate had no idea!”
He added: “Everybody loved Nick. It is so tragic and sad, taken from us way too soon.”