The Conant Courier

  ‘Curlews not curfews are what we should be talking about’, say organisers of the ‘Reclaim the Night’ event which was held at the Otter Estuary Nature Reserve on the evening of Friday 12 December last year.   More than 50 women and girls joined what was described as a lantern-lit procession of solidarity.   ‘It was just magical’ commented India Laurence Othen, one of the participants. ‘Hope to do it next year, too!’   ‘Let’s lift the curfew’ has been the slogan of a campaign supported by groups across the UK since October 2023, following the start of the Reclaim the Night movement in Leeds back in 1977. Its aim has been to showcase women’s stories and concerns around getting active outdoors in the darker months. Research by Sport England has found that almost three quarters (72%) of women in the UK change their outdoor activity routines during winter.   Last December’s was the first-ever ‘Reclaim the Night’ gathering to be held...

 

  Otter Head, Budleigh Salterton Photo by Tony in Devon; Wikipedia   It’s an iconic scene which draws thousands of visitors each year to a beach that Sir Walter Raleigh and Roger Conant would still recognise. But a talk in Budleigh Salterton’s Peter Hall on 25 March will highlight the problems which blight the river flowing onto that same beach.   South West Water is the water and wastewater service provider for around 1.8 million customers. It has been rated ‘red’ for its environmental performance for the 14th year in a row by the UK’s Environment Agency. In July last year, its CEO Susan Davy announced her retirement.   In February 2026 the company claimed to have reduced spills by 17% in the last twelve months, and stated that spill duration was down by 25%. However local campaigners continue to make counter-claims. ‘South West Water dumped untreated sewage into the River Otter over 6,000 times in 2025 alone,’ alleged Otter Valley Associat...

 

The Pickering House, pictured above, is Salem’s oldest surviving home. Built around 1660, the original structure was modest and functional, consisting of a simple two-storey, single-room-per-floor plan typical of mid-17th-century domestic architecture. The house has seen many transformations as various Pickering family members renovated to suit their taste. In 1841 the front façade was reworked in the Gothic Revival style.   The building remained in the same family for ten generations, making it the longest continuously occupied family home in the nation. Among its notable residents was Colonel Timothy Pickering, Revolutionary War officer and U.S. Secretary of State. It also welcomed guests such as George Washington, who dined at the table that still stands in the dining room!   The non-profit organization Historic Salem, Inc. (HSI), has been welcoming visitors on the annual Christmas in Salem holiday house tour for 46 years. The Pickering House was one of...

Photo: Facebook It won the ‘Best of Budleigh’ award in 2024 as the organisation ‘that best embodies the heart and soul’ of the local area.  An area which boasts one of the outstanding literary festivals in the South West.  And 2026 has beeN designated by the UK government as the National Year of Reading. Santa’s visit to Budleigh Library last Christmas.   So, not surprisingly, there was strong local opposition to a proposal by the body which operates libraries in Devon on behalf of Devon County Council to reduce services at Budleigh Salterton Library and 49 other libraries in the county.  Susan Woodman, of the Budleigh Library Friends Management Committee, warned that the proposal would have meant that the town’s Library would have been open only three days per week and would have been closed at lunchtime on two of those days. She urged residents to make their views known by responding before the closing date of 22 February 2026 to the consu...

  Are you a descendant of the celebrated American journalist Charles Arthur Conant (1861-1915) or do you happen to know someone who is related to him?  If you can answer yes, you may be able to help Johnny Darren Fulfer, a PhD candidate in history at Indiana University.   If you have access to any documents, photos or other written items relating to Charles Arthur Conant the future Dr Fulfer would be so pleased to hear from you. He tells us that this descendant of Roger Conant whom he is researching is one of the most important actors in his dissertation.  Charles Arthur Conant was born in Winchester MA in 1861 to parents Charles Edwin Conant and Marion Crawford, née Wallace. He began his career as a journalist with the Boston Daily Advertiser, going on to become the correspondent in Washington, D.C., for the New York Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin.  Conant became recognized as an expert on banking and finance, and was see...

The Literary Festival was founded in 2009 by the late Susan Ward, whose aim was to attract critically acclaimed authors, poets and play wrights to Budleigh Salterton to share their work and experiences. The festival has more than doubled in size over the past ten years. It now features more than 65 or 70 talks, workshops and events across five days, with a shorter programme of events in Spring. Double Man Booker Prize Winner, and former Budleigh resident Dame Hilary Mantel, DBE, took over the role of Festival President in 2012.  

Community assets such as a village shop, pub, recreation ground or library have long been recognised by UK local authorities as worth saving. But the announcement by Budleigh Salterton Town Council that it is building a Community Asset Register of a very different nature may be a sign of the times.   ‘Neighbouring towns tell us the biggest factor in responding to an emergency is people power – and we want to be prepared,’ reads this recently published poster.   An appeal has been recently launched by the Council for volunteers with ‘time, strength or willingness to help’ in case of need. In particular, owners of equipment such as 4x4 vehicles, submersible pumps or electrical generators are being sought to assist in an emergency.   Budleigh Salterton’s Town Clerk Alice Gater-Wildgust, an East Budleigh resident, explained that the town has an emergency plan in place. She mentioned that incidents such as the recent severe flooding in villa...

Some of the audience got to experience what it feels like to be a ‘blood biker’ at the 2025 Christmas Concert presented by Budleigh Salterton Ladies’ Choir on 10 December.   The Choir raises money for local Devon charities with its popular concerts and last year’s choice of charity was The Devon Freewheelers Blood Service.   The charity covers South-West England. It’s a non-profit organisation relying on donations and offering a free courier and transport network of ‘blood bikers’ to help National Health Service establishments, medical surgeries, air ambulances, and the community. Its riders are volunteers who use their advanced motorcycle skills to provide an ‘out of hours’ service. Donors and volunteers are always welcome.  You can find out more by visiting the website www.devonfreewheelers.org.uk    Photos: Facebook

  ‘This land is Naumkeag, or fishing place, where generations of Indigenous peoples lived and passed through for centuries,’ reads a state ment by the organisers of Salem 400+. ‘From the village upon the Naumkeag River (now known as the North River) to Sachem Nanepashemet’s fortification (now known as Castle Hill), the people of Naumkeag farmed, fished, traded, raised families, discovered and invented, created art, and, above all else, honored the lands upon which you stand today.’   ‘This portrait portrays Squaw Sachem and Nanepashemet, two prominent Tribal leaders of the Naumkeag village and the Pawtucket band of the Massachusett Tribe. This artistic representation was created by Indigenous artist, Chris Pappan, in deep collaboration with the Massachusett Tribal Council.’ (https://www.salem400.org)   Thus have the city authorities of Salem recognised that, long before European settlers chose the name of ‘City of Peace’ for their community, there w...

  Roger Conant, founder of Salem and Beverly, has been celebrated both in the UK and the US for his diplomacy and peacemaking in a time of turmoil. In the run-up to East Budleigh’s Peacemaker Festival, to be held on 15-17 May this year in his honour, local artists, writers and musicians have been thinking of how creativity can be used in the cause of peace.   ‘My first choice of an anti-war painting by a long way would be ‘Guernica' by Picasso, which I have seen in Madrid,’ writes Alan Cotton MBE, one of Britain’s most distinguished landscape artists, an East Devon resident. ‘A stunning, large scale piece of work about the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.’   It was on 26 April 1937 that Guernica, a town in the Basque province of Spain was razed to the ground after being attacked over a period of three hours by aircraft of Nazi Germany’s Condor Legion and Fascist Italy’s Aviazione Legionaria.    Franco in 1930. Photo by J...

  The Peace Flag, specially designed by Budleigh artist John Washington   A peace-themed classical music concert attended by the Bishop of Exeter will be one of the high lights of East Budleigh’s first-ever Peacemaker Festival over the weekend of 15-17 May, when this specially designed flag featuring the iconic Dove of Peace will fly over All Saints Church.  The event has been organised in honour of Roger Conant, born like Sir Walter Raleigh in the village but a generation later, in 1592. It coincides with the 400th anniversary celebrations this year in the American cities of Salem and Beverly, founded by Conant after he sailed with his family across the Atlantic to New England, a few years after the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620.   ‘Roger Conant is known as a peacemaker, who resolved a potentially bloody dispute over a fishing stage in New England,’ explained Festival organiser Maria Malinowska. ‘As the first governor of what is now Salem, he co...

  Above: Salem City Council members following the ‘twinning’ vote   On February 12, 2026, Salem City Council voted to formalize officially its relationship with the Devon village of East Budleigh, issuing the following announcement:   ‘As the United States marks its 250th anniversary in 2026, Salem is celebrating a much earlier milestone. Four hundred years ago, Roger Conant founded a settle ment that predates the nation itself. Throughout the quadricentennial year, the City of Salem is commemorating that legacy with Salem 400+, marking the enduring impact of Roger Conant, who was known as a tradesman, peace maker, and community builder. This spring, Conant’s legacy will be celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic, with events in Salem, Massachusetts, and in his birthplace of East Budleigh, England, including the formal establishment of a Sister City relationship – known as ‘Twinning’ in the UK and Europe – between the two communities.’   ‘Sal...

 

  The First Muster, by Don Troiani. Source: Wikipedia  In 1626 Roger Conant and his companions settled at what was to become Salem — meaning ‘City of Peace’ — in the Indian fishing village of Naumkeag.   Ten years passed. More settlers arrived. On 13 December 1636, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony laid the foundations of America’s Army National Guard.   The Colony’s militia companies were organised into the North, South and East Regiments. What has become known as the First Muster took place on Salem Common, though the exact date is not known. The colonists had adopted the English militia system which obligated all males between the ages of 16 and 60, to possess arms and participate in the defense of the community. The early colonial militia drilled once a week and provided guard details each evening to sound the alarm in case of attack.   Reenactments of the First Muster have taken place annually on Salem Comm...

East Budleigh, Littleham, Woodbury and Lympstone are just some of the historic villages that Sir Walter Raleigh and Roger Conant would have known from their childhood. In some parts of the district they would still recognise the landscape over which they walked or rode four centuries ago. But sewage leaks, potholed narrow roads, loss of good quality agricultural land and destruction of wildlife habitats are among the issues raised nowadays by protesters in East Devon, furious at the British government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade, including in areas of outstanding natural beauty.   ‘Stop EXMO 20!’ ‘No more sewage!’ ‘Save our Pebblebed Heaths!’ ‘Exmouth is big enough!’ These were just some of the demands made by protesters from all generations who gathered outside Budleigh Salter ton’s Public Hall at 2.00 pm on Sunday 18 January.   There is growing anger at the plan to build 700 homes on greenfield sites just 5...

  The City of Salem announced several new preservation planning projects last year as it prepared for its 400th anniversary in 2026.   Fort Lee, located at a high point next to Fort Avenue on Salem Neck, sits mostly hidden from view within the treeline above Salem Willows. There is some documentary evidence that the Neck was fortified as early as the 17th century.   However the fort itself dates to the Revolutionary War and is one of the only 18th century earthwork forts remaining in near original condition in Massachusetts. At that time it is thought to have had a garrison of three officers and 100 artillerymen with 16 guns.   The four-pointed fort was constructed in 1776 with renovations undertaken during the American Civil War. In 1927, the 2.3 acre site was deeded to the City of Salem for use as a public park.   Today, the fort is suffering from erosion, vegetation overgrowth, inappropriate use and a lack of public awaren...

Gadus morhua (Atlantic cod). Wikipedia   The subject of Historic Beverly’s first exhibition of 2026, was well chosen to coincide with the city’s 400th anniversary. After all, it was the cod industry of the 1620s that prompted Roger Conant to leave his homeland in Devon, crossing the Atlantic to settle with his family in New England and founding both Salem and Beverly.   ‘Built on Cod: The Fish that Fed a Revolution and Crowned an Aristocracy’ opened on 13 December 2025 at the Cabot House in Beverly, and included a Curator’s Tour on 29 January in the New Year.   In the words of its curator, the exhibition explored the remarkable legacy of this industry and ‘the outsized influence of a species (Gadus morhua) that shaped communities, fueled economies, and sustained a nation in its fight for independence’. Visitors learned how the cod industry’s global trade routes aided the American Revolution, supplying ships and goods that supported the wa...

  Historic Beverly is the nonprofit responsible for preserving and interpreting Beverly’s history.  Last November, the organization was delighted to announce the exciting news that its Director, Abby Battis, had been selected to serve on the prestigious American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Content Advisory Committee.  The Committee has an important role in that it evaluates content for the Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo — the largest museum conference in the world. The conference brings together museums of all types and sizes, from art and history museums to zoos and botanic gardens, to share ideas and make transformational connections. AAM 2026 will take place this year in Philadelphia, PA from May 20—23.  Historic Beverly, originally named The Beverly Historical Society, founded in 1891, is headquartered at the John Cabot House at 117 Cabot Street in Beverly. It is responsible for other properties including The Balch House also on Cabot Street,...

 

East Budleigh High Street from the tower of All Saints Church, and the consequences of a Russian missile attack on Dnipro on 14 January 2023. Image: Wikipedia   What makes an ex-Royal Marines officer choose to leave peaceful retire ment in a Devon village and join convoys delivering aid from Britain to an embattled country fighting for its survival? Andrew Canning OBE writes below about his most recent experience, which highlights the extreme situation of the people of Ukraine, and the small but significant part that he and his colleagues, and the people of East Budleigh, have played in helping them.   I am SO grateful to the many folk from East Budleigh and elsewhere that have donated either cash or material goods to the cause for which I volunteer in collecting and delivering much needed aid to Ukraine. The Ukraine Freedom Company (UFC) is a not-for-profit company, not a charity, that was estab lished shortly after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The founder, ...

  A recently founded lineage group open to membership from descendants of important historical figures, including Roger Conant, has chosen the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) to receive a donation of $2,000.   The board of Descendants of Early American Governors (DEAG) voted in favour of the donation, and at the Annual Meeting last November over 50 members confirmed this choice.   Founded in 1791, the MHS is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The $2,000 donation will be used for digitization of the Thomas Prince Papers.   Thomas Prince was a Boston clergyman and historian. He served as minister at Boston's Old South (Third) Church from 1718 until his death in 1758. His published works included the multi-volume A Chronological History of New-England, in the Form of Annals.   His papers in the MHS collection include an astronomical diary containing brief, inte...