It’s not a competition, but Hatherleigh Tar Barrels are definitely upping their game.

Their marketing strapline is “Raw, pagan energy since 1903”.

You can almost imagine the sponsor being Red Bull.

Over at Ottery St Mary the original version of scaring off bad spirits with a flame party is more famous and goes back to the 1600s.

Both have carnivals and torchlit processions, but they are different.

Hatherleigh pulls its barrels on sledges, Ottery has the edgy, danger element of men and boys carrying them on their shoulders.

Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels, near Exeter. Thursday 5th November

Hatherleigh Carnival, near Okehampton. Saturday 8th November

They’re both well-loved heritage events, but just for fun, which is best? Vote in the member poll below.

Yours in Devon,

P.S. Don’t forget there are entertainment ideas, events, and offbeat unusual things to do on our North Devon and South Devon listings pages.

Stand up comedy with Babatunde Aléshé

You can tell if someone is going to be big — they just seem to be everywhere.

In the last 2 years Babatunde Aléshé has been on I’m a Celebrity, Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo, Celebrity Gogglebox, Would I Lie to You and The Last Leg.

Now he’s coming to Exeter with stand up comedy about family life, new-found fame and the joys of shopping in Costco. Watch a preview (video).

Exeter Northcott Wednesday 12th November. Tickets: £19.50

Morris-ers meet for a huge jinglefest

Q: Where can you see more than 200 Morris dancers all in one place?

A: Tavistock’s Bedford Square on Saturday 16th November, as the morris folk gather for a day of fun and dance for Children in Need.

16 Morris “sides” are expected, led by locals Dartmoor Border Morris. Last year they came from Glastonbury, Exeter, Taunton and Penzance and raised £2,824 in 6 hours. Bravo!

150 proud years of Plymouth Symphony Orchestra

Cello soloist Maxim Calver started playing at the age of 4 and was quickly recognised as natural talent. He went to the Yehudi Menhuin school aged 8.

The BBC Young Musician finalist made his concerto debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2018 and has since been in demand with symphony orchestras around Europe.

Now he’s the main draw at Plymouth Symphony Orchestra’s 150th anniversary concert, playing Verdi’s Nabucco Overture, Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4.

The concert caps off a celebratory year for the orchestra which has performed both timeless classics and bold contemporary works since 1875.

7.30pm, Wednesday 26th November, Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth.

Tickets: £16 in advance, £18 on the door.

How to save a cetacean

What would you do if you came across a stranded seal, shark or whale?

Learn how to respond at a marine strandings training session, run by the Devon Wildlife Trust.

At the end you will be qualified to join the trust’s volunteer network. £17.50 fee.

Saturday 25 October, Wembury Marine Centre

Saturday 1st November, Sideshore Community, Exmouth

Saturday 15th November, Braunton Countryside Centre

MEMBER POLL

Last week’s result: “How often do you visit food festivals?”

• Often 7%

• Sometimes 72%

• Never 21%

Devon Curiosities #80: Fox Tor Mires

“That is the great Grimpen Mire...a false step yonder means death to man or beast” — The Hound of the Baskervilles.

So said Sir Arthur Conan Doyle perhaps with a little bit of artistic licence.

• Sir Arthur spent 2 days in Dartmoor researching his novel and is said to have visited White Works, close to the 370-acre mires near Princetown.

• So it makes sense this is the place he called Grimpen Mire, where at the climax of the book Sir Henry Baskerville is thrown into the bog by the villain Stapleton.

Gripping stuff, but what you need to know as a walker is the “paths” across the bog on the Ordnance Survey map don’t actually exist.

Fox Tor Mires have caught me out more than once, battling an endless lack of footing and getting in up to my knees in swamp water, but thankfully I was never close to death.

• BONUS FACT. Close to the edge of the mires is Childe’s Tombe, a memorial to a lost hunter. Read more here (scroll down)

WHAT ELSE IS ON?

🌊 North Devon 

🐬 South Devon

🏆️ Get lucky! Win Devon leisure prizes

FEATURED: 🎼 2 tickets to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at Exeter University Great Hall. Your choice of either Sunshine & Shade on 13th Nov or Hollywood Hit on 27th Nov (no closing date given)

NEW!   🌳 A Secret Garden glamping overnight stay in their “Blossom” accommodation. (18th Oct)

NEW!   🎄 An Exeter Xmas market getaway for 2 with an overnight stay in Hotel Indigo and free admission to a festive workshop (19th Oct)

🍻 A riverside stay for 2 at the Maltster’s Arms, Tuckenhay, worth £450 (20th Oct)

📚️ A Kindle worth £200 and free bus travel for a week (20th Oct)

🐽 An “ultimate stay” for 2 at The Pig at Combe worth £975 including 3-course dinner and breakfast plus a hands-on introduction to the world of wine (20th Oct)

🐎 2 tickets to see Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote at the Theatre Royal Plymouth (18-21 March 2026) plus an overnight stay at a Premier Inn with evening meal and breakfast (23rd Oct)

🐎 Same prize as above, different provider (29th Oct) 

🐏 A 3-course Sunday lunch for 2 at the Two Bridges Hotel, Princetown (31st Oct)

💫 A 4-course Michelin star lunch at Lympstone Manor, Exmouth (31st Oct)

NEW!   🔑 A Michelin Key stay for 2 at The Collective at Woolsery, with dinner, bed and breakfast (2nd Nov)

🐎 2 tickets to see Don Quixote, as above but no overnight stay. (5th Nov)

🌳 A huge boost to your photography credentials, a tree photography book and a framed photo of the winning entry. Exeter’s tree photography competition (20th Nov)

NEW!   🕸️ A chance to win either a 2-night stay at Crown Plaza Hotel, Plymouth; 2 tickets for a halloween experience at Plymouth Argyle; or 4 tickets to Pennywell Farm Pumpkin Festival including refreshments (no closing date given)

GET LUCKY? Have you won a prize from a link here? Let me know

More competitions here

New member? Catch up here

🍰 Foodie heaven in Dartmouth

🎸 Live music nights with tunes you know and love

🥳 40+ offers and discounts for Devon residents

🎨 Satisfy your inner creator with an autumn workshop

That’s all for this week. Thanks for being a member.

NEXT WEEK   Beyond Van Gogh exhibition

Andy, Esme and Lara