Helenโ€™s Poem on BBC Upload

A quick one from me today, offering our congratulations to our new writer, Helen Edwards from Devizes, who read out her poem โ€œMotherhood,โ€ on BBC Wiltshire this week on James Thomasโ€™s Upload show. โ€œIt was fun,โ€ she told us, โ€œexcept my phone started ringing!โ€

Listen here from the BBC website, or Soundcloud link, here. I love writing, but poems, hum, something about bacon, not to mention Iโ€™m an absolute bag of nerves on radio! The article on the Bournemouth Writing Festival Helen mentioned is here too, and this one worked both ways, also inspiring Helen to write. Well done you, and we look forward to hearing some more soon!ย ย 


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McDonalds Coming to Devizes?!

Okay, it was the April Fools joke I broke the Internet with in 2021, but it’s not the 1st of April todayโ€ฆ.. Bishop’s Cannings Parish Council announced that they are โ€œawareโ€ of a proposal for a new McDonaldโ€™s drive-thru restaurant on the site of the Murco garage at Cannings Hill.  They explained a dedicated websiteโ€ฆ

Using Fulltone as a Proper Noun

To most, โ€œfullโ€ and โ€œtoneโ€ are two separate words, but around here it’s been a portmanteau and a proper noun since 2019, conveying a unique musical experience where orchestral meets pop, thanks to The Fulltone Orchestraโ€ฆ. Yeah, they may play elaborate concerts around the South West from Exeter Cathedral and Bath Abbey to Londonโ€™s Cadoganโ€ฆ

Devizes’ Sammi Evans Features on Innereyefull Dub

If I was pleased to hear the vocals of Devizes singer-songwriter Sammi Evans would feature on a single, I was even more delighted when I asked Sammi if it was an electronic dance track, and she replied โ€œitโ€™s reggae!โ€ Well now, this is really pushing my buttonsโ€ฆ.. West London producer Andy Kent founded Innereyefull inโ€ฆ

Looking Back At Devizes Arts Festival 2026

Featured Image: Gail Foster. Features extracts from reviews by Andy Fawthrop, Ian Diddams and Madelaine Blake. Does it ever stop?! The weekend is upon us again. I think I might need to skip this one, not getting any younger, and besides I did enough laughing, dancing and meeting interesting people over the past fortnight, thanksโ€ฆ

Phil Beer to Perform at The Pump on Friday 4th December!

โ€œMr Phil Beer needs no introduction to anyone,โ€ says a spokesperson for The Pump in Trowbridge, our grassroots venue kicking up turf on Rolling Stone Magazine last week! Regardless of their mainstream coverage, thankfully The Pump hasnโ€™t forgotten our grassroots media, and let us into their secret, announced only today. One half of the legendaryโ€ฆ

โ€œBullshot Crummondโ€ at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath June 17thย โ€“ 20th 2026

by Ian Diddamsimages by Ian Diddams & Lisa Hounsome A few weeks ago I scribbled a preview of this production โ€“ Bullshot Crummond. I extolled its virtues of daftness, craziness, car chases, sword fights, stage punches, raised eyebrows, lingerie, and deadly tarantulas. Not forgetting the high dangerous converse forcefield! Read that preview for further descriptionsโ€ฆ

Award-Winning Circus Cortex BizZzar Comes to Devizes This July

Get ready for an unforgettable family day out as Circus Cortex BizZzar brings its award-winning Big Top spectacular to Devizes from 9โ€“12 July 2026….. Performing at The Green, Southbroom Road, Devizes, SN10 1LL, this thrilling production promises four days of world-class live entertainment for all ages. Featuring an exceptional cast of international performers, Circus Cortexโ€ฆ

Who are you most looking forward to seeing at CrownFest?

CrownFest at The Crown in Bishops Cannings is making a fantastic comeback this July with a stellar lineup, particularly supporting local acts, begging the question, who are you most looking forward to seeing there? It’s not as easy an answer as it might sound, and hey, I’m not intending to answer it myself; I’ve gotโ€ฆ

โ€œDon’t Drive to Stonehengeโ€ Advises English Heritage!

Summer Solstice in Wiltshire; it’s a crowd-puller, but even forty years after the Battle of the Beanfield and decades of attempted commercialisation, it remains a tourism the authorities clearly don’t appreciateโ€ฆ.. Wiltshire Police and English Heritage have ganged up on social media to warn revellers not to drive to Stonehenge or Avebury for this year’sโ€ฆ

Nothing Seems as Sweet as the Start; NRWO as Devizes Arts Festival’s Finale

All Images: ยฉGail Foster If last Saturday’s Celtic punk band quipped if the Devizes Corn Exchange was a bingo hall, and Milton Jones jested โ€œit’s great to be here, in the past,โ€ it took a band with roots to the town to introduce Devizes Arts Festival to a next generation, and, predictably, Nothing Rhymes withโ€ฆ