Best of January on ThisisNorthDevon
As part of a new monthly round-up we will be putting together a list of the best read stories and most viewed picture galleries on ThisisNorthDevon.
We will also be looking at the stories which provoked the most discussion on our website, and delving into the forums to see which forum post sparked the most debate.
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Our ‘Best of’ will be published at the end of each month and will look back on the stories our readers found the most interesting that month.
Stories:
In January, an illegal rave , a hotel demolition and a mystery man seeking love in a supermarket all got you talking.
The best read story of the month was about an illegal rave at an isolated woodland site near Chulmleigh. Police arrested a man and seized thousands of pounds worth of sound equipment after annoyed residents reported the 50 revellers.
The second best read story was about a North Devon woman who used a company credit card to pay off a gambling debt. Caroline Shopland-Saich, head of marketing at Barnstaple-based Applegate Media, admitted fraud and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, ordered to do 200 hours’ unpaid community work and curfewed for four months at Exeter Crown Court.
The COURTFILES were popular this month. We had three weeks’ worth of court listings detailing all the offences dealt with by North Devon Magistrates Court.
Court listings published on January 4
Court listings published on January 16
Court listings published on January 27
Readers also loved the ‘Crimewatch’ style piece which asked members of the public if they could identify criminals.
Another well-read story was about a woman seeking a mystery man after he gave her his number in a supermarket car park. Karen Medakka was handed a phone number by a man who asked if she was single in Morrison’s car park. She accidently lost his number and appealed for him to get in touch.
The ‘Not the best way to park a van…’ story was popular among readers. Reader pictures showed a white van which became stuck in a tricky position in Lynmouth.
Another well-read read story was about an unusual fire service call-out. Firefighters had to use bolt croppers to free two males who become stuck in a public toilet in South Molton.
Photo galleries:
The best-viewed photo gallery in January was a picture gallery of the demolition of the Collingwood Hotel in Ilfracombe. In the ‘pictures’ section of our website, you can find a number of galleries showing the different stages of the demolition process.
The New Year derby clash between Bideford AFC and Tiverton Town proved a popular photo gallery. The match, played at the Sports Ground, ended in 1-1 draw.
This month we introduced the ‘Your Party Pics’ section of the North Devon Journal onto the website. Every week we upload photos of party-goers in Toko and The Venue into the ‘pictures’ channel of the site.
Discussions:
The most commented discussion of the month was ‘Should females carry rape alarms around with them?’. Add your thoughts to the discussion here.
The most commented story of the month was entitled ‘Devon and Cornwall is missing out on EU millions’. The story has so far sparked 116 comments and 2 recommendations.
Related:
3 Comments
by accom
Sunday, February 05 2012, 12:02PM
“The only thing is you can't comment on court listings i.e. what a pointless waste of public money taking someone to court over things like not having their cars taxed, and the criminalisation of dozens of people every week who will now find insurance, mortgage, jobs etc. impossible due to having a criminal record for the next x number of years.”
by Bangtastic
Wednesday, February 01 2012, 9:43PM
“Court listings are the best read, but I seemed to have missed them when they came out.”
by BenDover169
Tuesday, January 31 2012, 10:10PM
“Good article.
A good way to look back at the month and also interesting to see which stories are most viewed or commented on. Gives you an insight into which stories people find most interesting.”