8 hours ago ‘In the distance I see tiny glowing silhouettes sprinkled like salt’: birdwatching on Devon’s Exe estuary

The spectacular estuary is a haven for thousands of migrant birds each winter, and perfect to explore on foot and by boatThe Christmas market doesn’t know what’s hit it. At 8.30 on a mid-November morning Exeter is a whirl of white, a city half-blinded by tumbling flakes. Four market workers, caught out by this overly authentic addition to the festive decor, are busy shovelling the ground in front of the bao stalls and craft gin chalets. Above them, the cathedral’s medieval towers stand tall and cold in the heaven-filling flurry. Winter has arrived in Devon with bells on.I’m here to catch a train to see some birdlife. A breakfast blizzard wasn’t part of the plan, but sometimes these things don’t go as expected. The city’s Queen Street has turned into a real-life snow globe – Narnia with ...

Politics

8 hours ago Devon sent: a short, epic train ride into the wintry wonders of the Exe estuary

The spectacular estuary is a haven for thousands of migrant birds each winter, and perfect to explore on foot and by boatThe Christmas market doesn’t know what’s hit it. At 8.30 on a mid-November morning Exeter is a whirl of white, a city half-blinded by tumbling flakes. Four market workers, caught out by this overly authentic addition to the festive decor, are busy shovelling the ground in front of the bao stalls and craft gin chalets. Above them, the cathedral’s medieval towers stand tall and cold in the heaven-filling flurry. Winter has arrived in Devon with bells on.I’m here to catch a train to see some birdlife. A breakfast blizzard wasn’t part of the plan, but sometimes these things don’t go as expected. The city’s Queen Street has turned into a real-life snow globe – Narnia with ...

Politics

11 hours ago Man City have already lost ideal Kevin De Bruyne successor and missed another £40m opportunity

De Bruyne is out of contract in the summer and City will have one eye on his succession plan

Economics

28 hours ago New plans for City's tallest skyscraper create 'environment of surveillance'

Britain’s biggest private pension fund objected to a seven-metre-high screen at the base of the planned tower

Events

29 hours ago New plans for City's tallest skyscraper create “environment of surveillance”

Britain’s biggest private pension fund objected to a seven metre high screen at the base of the planned tower

Events

34 hours ago Plan to cut Berlin arts budget will ‘destroy’ city’s culture, directors warn

Leading theatre figures warn ‘drastic’ reduction in funding will cause bankruptcy and harm city’s tourism appealPlans to slash Berlin’s culture budget by tens of millions of Euros have led to a huge backlash, with leading venues saying they have been forced to cut performances and others warning they will be pushed into bankruptcy.About 450 institutes that are reliant at least in part on state subsidies, from theatres and opera houses to nightclubs and galleries, have formed an alliance in an attempt to force a rethink over the €130m (£108.6m) cuts. At around 12 to 13% of the current annual budget, they have been described even by those proposing them as “brutal”. Continue reading...

Events