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Sidmouth Folk Week is an annual folk festival in early August attracting musicians and visitors from around the world. After 2005 all commercial sponsors pulled out of the festival. To continue the tradition of the festival, individuals grouped together to form Sidmouth FolkWeek Productions, a limited company. Since the change of format, the event has been held on a relatively smaller scale, with no arena at the Knowle. However, FolkWeek is still going strong and the 2008 event is already being planned.
[edit] Literary references
Sidmouth has featured in several literary works, including as "Stymouth" in Beatrix Potter's children's story The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930). The author includes views of the beach and other parts of the Devon countryside in the work. In Thomas Hardy's Wessex, the town is the inspiration for "Idmouth" in West Wessex. "Baymouth" in William Makepeace Thackeray's Pendennis, and "Spudmouth" in the "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyles, are both based on the town.
Sidmouth has also been the setting for several television shows; most recently in an ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's Marple in Summer 2005.
Sidmouth was a favourite location for Sir John Betjeman. He chose it as the subject of the first programme of the television series John Betjeman In The West Country that he wrote and presented in 1962. The script takes the form of an extended poem and was republished in 2000 as a short book, illustrated with shots from the programme.[7]
[edit] Economy
The principal income of the town is from tourism. The town is also a popular retirement destination, so pensions and other investment returns form another large part of the town's income. Sidmouth has many independent retailers, including a surprisingly large independent department store. There are several pubs, restaurants, coffee houses, and tea rooms. The town also boasts an indoor swimming pool, sports hall at the leisure centre, a college, cinema, and golf course.
[edit] Education
The state secondary school, Sidmouth College, is a comprehensive school which takes children aged 11-18 from as far away as Exmouth. The school was recently awarded specialist Technology College status.[8] At the time of the last Ofsted inspection (early 2005), there were 869 pupils on roll and the school was considered to be 'satisfactory'.[9]
There is only one state junior school in the town, St Nicholas Church of England Junior School, which takes children from between the ages of 8 and 11.[10] There are two state infant schools, All Saints Church of England Infants School[11] and Sidmouth Infants School[12].
There is also a private preparatory school in Sidmouth, St John's School,[13] which takes children from 2 - 13 years old including many overseas boarders. In 2007, the school was taken over by International Education Systems (IES).[14]
Another educational institution in the town is the Sidmouth International School, an English Language school for foreign students.[15]
[edit] Twin towns
 Le Locle, Switzerland
[edit] References
- , Neighbourhood Statistics Home Page
- , The Sidmouth Harbour Company of 1836
- , Manor Pavilion - Sidmouth
- , Scott Cinemas: Sidmouth - the Radway Cinema
- , Sidmouth Museum
- , Lockyer Observatory and Planetarium
- , Betjeman, John (2000). Still Sidmouth: The Lost Poem. Ottery St Mary, UK: Peretti Publishing. ISBN 978-0906038093.
- , Sidmouth College Website
- , Offsted Report
- , St Nicholas Junior School
- , All Saints Infant School
- , Sidmouth Infants School
- , St John's School Website
- , IES Magazine 2007 - News (pdf)
- , Sidmouth International School
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |