lovemydevon top tips...from those that know
Our lovemydevon guide comprises over fifty tips from those in the know, well known chefs, musicians, authors and TV presenters, all experts in their individual fields, as well as Devonians who love living in their county and want to share their insider knowledge. The guide includes everything from favourite pubs, walks, views and beaches to the very best place to tuck-in to an ice cream or great spots to sit and watch the world go by. To view click onto our 'top tips' pages.
Our lovemydevon winner announced!
After a month’s campaigning and collating the results, we are thrilled to announce Anne Tattersall from Torrington in North Devon as our winner of the lovemydevon competition. Anne was awarded the £10,000 prize for ‘spreading her love for Devon’ during January promoting the county to the rest of the UK.
Anne’s wacky antics saw her promoting Devon’s ‘rooms with a moo’, travelling the country in her very own customised ‘love-bug’, giving away 35 love weekends to lucky winners from all over the UK, posing on the beach with a group of scantily clad young farmers and baking a rather large scone.
It was a close competition and we were really pleased with our three finalists, their varied approaches and the overall results achieved. We’ve had Rik Mayall singing about Devon, a life-size fibreglass cow, a customised ‘love-bug’ and our contestants travelling the length and breadth of the UK in all manner of crazy costumes in their quest to spread their love for Devon! We want to thank all our finalists for their gallant efforts and the time they put into each of their campaigns, but in the end their had to be one winner and Anne impressed the judges with her constant stream of ideas, her infectious enthusiasm, her ability to get Devon businesses behind her and most importantly the level of publicity she secured in a variety of media across the country.
Anne of course is delighted and commented “It’s been a long journey but worth it, I’m absolutely thrilled. I really enjoyed the experience and the highlight was definitely seeing the publicity the campaign generated actually in print. I plan to share some of the prize money with the people that helped me, have a really big party and take a long awaited holiday!"
A little more about the lovemydevon campaign
We searched for Devonians who really love Devon, think it's an amazing place all year round and wanted to shout about it to the nation for their chance to win £10,000.
November saw us hold three lovemydevon auditions travelling from north to south Devon. We visited Barnstaple, Exeter and Plymouth searching for the ultimate 3 finalists to continue in the competition.
Why don't you see for yourself, view our short film which captures some of the judge’s highlights during the auditions.
During an exciting round of auditions, we met the counties rich talent, heard some fabulous stories and realised the great passion amongst Devonians! We'd like to thank all the candidates who took the time to come along to the Lovemydevon auditions and tell us why they loved Devon.
Our judging panel, including Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines, learnt all about Devon's heritage, the fantastic people and of course the quality food and drink the county has to celebrate! During the three days we were joined by an array of candidates vying to make it as one of our three finalists including fifteen dancers from Plymouth, a Baker from Exeter and a surfer from North Devon. During the auditions, our judges were treated to homemade mini scones, local cheese and ham, cider and even local wine!
However, in the end a tough decision had to be made and after much deliberation, our 3 finalists were chosen to move forward to compete for the £10,000 prize.
Our 3 finalists:
To find out a little more about each of our finalists and the winner Anne, please click on the links below.
Barney Sutton, Dick Smith and Jona Ahearne
We would also like to thank the following for working with us to make the auditions happen and find our 3 finalists:
Our panel of judges:
Nicola Poultney, Chief Executive Visit Devon
The audition venues:
Barnstaple Hotel, Barnstaple
The Abode, Exeter
The National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth
Our media partners:
South West Media Group
We are looking forward to the beginning of the campaign in January and will be sure to keep you posted with the finalist's progress before announcing our winner in February 2009!
Our contributors:
For a full list of our contributors, please click here
