We have heard a lot recently about ships bringing in cargoes of animal feed and wood pellets that have been docking at New Quay, Appledore – previously Harland and Wolff and now owned by Spanish company Navantia. Some have questioned why these cargoes have not been discharged in Bideford.

There are some good reasons for this. The size of these vessels means there are only very few days in any month when they could get up river on highest tides and that makes it just too restrictive for shipping companies’ planning. Secondly, there is a strong local memory of when a cargo of animal feed was discharged in Bideford some years ago. Animal feed is extremely dusty and very, very sticky. Apparently, the last time the resulting mess on pavements, cars and properties, especially when mixed with a little rain, took a long time and great effort to get cleaned up – and the complaints lasted even longer. So, it seems like a good decision to keep this away from the town centre. It is estimated that each ship is performing the work of some 110 lorries which would otherwise be transporting the cargo to North Devon, a considerable reduction in carbon emissions as well as wear and tear on the roads. 

But if those cargoes aren’t getting into the port some readers may have spotted other activity happening on Bideford Quay. Recently a large yellow navigation buoy clearly marked ‘Exmouth’ had the potential to cause confusion for visitors – had they somehow gone to the wrong coast of Devon? The UK flagged workboat Mair, still showing Barry as her home port, is now owned by a North Devon Company – Severn Sea Shipping. Mair is 24 metres in length and can make 10 knots with a range of 1200 miles carrying up to 9 crew (3 double and 3 single cabins plus galley and mess) and will be based out of Bideford. With crane, winch and welding and burning plant, Mair’s speciality is repair and maintenance of buoys and sea marks. 

As Mair has a repair and maintenance contract with Trinity House, the organisation responsible for all navigation marks and buoys around the UK, then don’t be surprised to see buoys with even more surprising names, turning up on the quay. There has already been one that originated from off North Wales. Perhaps we should offer a prize for the person who spots the one that has travelled furthest.