h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why thank you Paully, we do aim to please

Parferris, if you could that would be marvellous!

FB, great; one regional quirk missing - know anything about Goosey Fair? A big Tavistock event I've never been to

Mol, the more the better! I know you're busy, but any more gems would be gratefully received

I've added a short section on Torbay and will add sections on Dartmoor and the A38 towns in due course - unless there are any volunteers for these?


Great job, everyone; we're beginning to do the county justice now

The Devon Flag, incidentally, deserves a mention if only because it was conceived right here on the DNA Servers, so to speak! In case any of you don't know, the idea arose amongst a group of us on the old 'Sense of Place - Devon' site. Typically enough, by the way, it was off-topic; the thread was about Celtic saints! A debate began on possible designs, and the BBC Devon online team got involved, leading to a brace of online polls. The winning design was by an Ashburton student, Ryan Sealey. A number of influntial people got behind the idea, notably the Dartmouth poet Kevin Pyne, the BBC itself and the MD of a well-known flag-makers (who clearly knew a good thing when he saw one).

Some Cornish folk got very upset - apparently they have sole ownership of the concept of flying a flag - but they did us a favour in the long run, gaining some media attention which culminated in a ten-minute slot on the Today programme.

When, sadly, the SoP sites were closed, Peta kindly agreed to archive the relevant pages and threads here on h2g2. As the flag has caught on so well, it seemed that these conversations might have some historical value!

I've often wondered whether there might at least be a Post article in all this...

Wow, that is definitely worth a mention - for hootoo to have actually influenced the choice of Devon flag is certainly worth archiving - and what better place than the Devon entry?

If you know where the links are, it's certainly worth a section in the entry - if not its own entry. Pursuing this line would, I think, be an absolute gem of a find. Isn't it typically Devon that we have nothing on our county capital but potentially a whole wealth on the flag

I know you're a busy guy, Parrferris; even if you just have the links for me to put a section together, I would appreciate it!

I can't see any reason why bigging up Hootoo re: the flag would be inappropriate... so go for it!

Paully

Comprehensive section on Dartmoor added

I'll probably get a chance to do some stuff tomorrow night e.g. the East Devon towns and the flag. I'm a bit tied up with some work-related 'homework' tonight, unfortunately.

I know that fans of a certain football team were somewhat influential in choosing the colours of the flag

It's not yellow and blue, is it?

"Green Army"

Hello folks. I've just spotted this thread (I've not been on h2g2 for weeks due to technical problems) and thought I should possibly volunteer...

[Bear with me, I've read the first half a dozen posts, and the last half a dozen, so I might be a bit behind the times]

I've got an entry on Okehampton which is still on my laptop and not even posted, let alone submitted to PR or anything. I'll try and get round to that soon.

Hope that helps.

Fantastic, Paff, welcome aboard

The entry we're working on is at A6021505, please feel free to post any paragraphs or sections here for me to edit and add. We do need a section on Okehampton, but it doesn't need to be anything like edited entry length. About halfway down the page you'll find some completed towns to give you an idea of size; the idea is that in the future they can link to entries like your Okehampton entry, so just a few brief paragraphs would be perfect.

Anything you'd like to add would be very much appreciated!

So if I get my Oke entry submitted anyway (I need an excuse, I wrote it 2 months ago) then write an Oke summary in here for you to include in A6021505 ?

That would be perfect, Paff; you'll obviously get a full co-writer credit for your contribution, too

Update: 'A38 Towns' section completed tonight.

OK. I'm on it. Back in about 24 hours...

[Old Mr Grace from 'Are You Being Served] You're all doing very well! [/Old Mr Grace]

Paully

Well, that's all the hootoo Devonians I know involved now, anyway

A short piece on Honiton. I rather like the place, but it has to be said that apart from lace-making there isn't a lot to be said about it! See what you think...

Located in the Otter Valley on the edge of the Blackdown Hills, Honiton is centred on one long, straight, broad main street. This road was one of the main routes into Devon from Roman times until the 1990s when the rebuilt A30 finally bypassed the town centre. Goods from around East Devon were shipped by road from here to the rest of the country, most notably the fine lace for which the town became world famous. Many of the present buildings built after a succession of fires between 1672 and 1765. Before the London & South Western Railway reached the town in 1860, the road was so busy that the town boasted no fewer than 25 coaching inns!

Still the district's chief shopping centre, Honiton offers little to the visitor in itself but makes a well-connected base from which to explore East Devon.

Great, Parrferris; I know there's not a lot to write about but it's such a big town we couldn't ignore it! Thank you very much for that. I've added a short section on Escot at the bottom, let me know if this fits ok.

The page as a whole seems to be coming along rather nicely, chaps

HOT NEWS: Paff's Okehampton entry now in PR!

For the "For The Visitor" section, possibly...


Devon locals occasionally use the expression "dreckly" (ie. "directly", said with a Devon accent), which is like "mañana" only without the sense of urgency. If a Devon car mechanic says he'll pop over to take a look at your car dreckly, expect him to arrive at some point next month.