New Honiton HQ commemorated with time capsules and flag raising by local schoolchildren

Schoolchildren from Honiton Primary and Littletown Academy seen here lowering their time capsules into the ground at Blackdown House

Council Chairman, Cllr Andrew Moulding, welcomed guests and Honiton children to Blackdown House for special opening ceremony

Children and teachers from two Honiton schools – Honiton Primary and Littletown Academy – joined East Devon District Council's Chairman Councillor Andrew Moulding and the council's Leader Cllr Ian Thomas today (27 February 2019) for a special ceremony, involving the installation of two time capsules assembled by the schoolchildren, to celebrate the official opening of the council's new headquarters, Blackdown House in Honiton.

Councillors, council officers as well as guests gathered round the new flagpole, where Cllr Moulding welcomed everyone and made a short speech, before introducing the schoolchildren and asking them to explain what they had put in their time capsules. He then helped the children lower the capsules into a pre-dug hole in the ground near the flagpole.

The time capsules (one from each school) contained a diverse selection of objects chosen by the children, including local newspapers (Midweek Herald, The Paper for Honiton and First News), books, magazines, videos and photos of school life, school certificates, photos of Honiton, articles about contemporary events such as Brexit, a poster showing today's fashions, future predictions, and information about rural village life in East Devon. Each time capsule also contained a book, kindly donated by the Sid Vale Association, about the history of East Devon's former offices at Knowle in Sidmouth. Plus a programme commemorating the opening of the offices at Knowle in 1978.

A commemorative plaque to mark the opening has been kindly provided by the council's contractors Interserve, who built Blackdown House.

Cllr Moulding said:

I am particularly delighted to receive these time capsules from the children from Honiton Primary and Littletown Academy schools. They provide an excellent flavour of 21st century life in Honiton. My thanks to Cllr Alan Dent for visiting the schools and organising the time capsules and to the schoolchildren for putting together the contents.

Congratulations to all concerned with the delivery of our new headquarters in Honiton. A particular thank you to Steve Pratten and Simon Allchurch for the building, the fit-out and the furnishing arrangements, and to Karen Jenkins for overseeing the smooth transition of our staff.

We must not forget the patience of our staff throughout the process. I'm sure they are now pleased that the process is over and that they can looking forward to a successful relocation.

Following the time capsule ceremony, the Chairman invited the children to help him raise the East Devon flag to mark the official opening of the building.

All the children were presented with memory sticks, as mementoes of the day, featuring a time lapse video showing the construction of Blackdown House.

Guests were then invited into the new building to enjoy refreshments.