All around the country, Heritage Open Days 2026 attracted visitors to enjoy and explore local heritage in castles, cottages, factories and workshops around the theme of ‘everyday lives of working people’. 

Locally we recorded over 250 visits to events that highlighted working life at: railways with Bideford Heritage Railway Centre and Tarka Valley Rail, steamship SS Freshspring, the history of Bridgeland Street, restoration of a 100-year-old lifeboat, and a shipyard trail connecting Bideford and Appledore along which workers used to walk to work. The shipyard trail launch was supported with exhibits at Pannier Pantry featuring maritime themes with local artist Pete Newell, lifeboat Jane Hannah MacDonald and the Young Shipwrights project involving 150 pupils from local primary schools building 30 cardboard boats, with help from Freshspring volunteers and apprentices from Navantia shipyard. 

The Bridgeland Street Open Day was coordinated with Bideford Bridge Trust, who opened their offices for the day, creating great interest with their architectural drawings and old maps. Panels on buildings along the street showed how they had changed, whilst census returns and adverts provided information about who lived there and the businesses and trades. 

A well-attended talk from local author Liz Shakespeare, about the 19^th century doctor Dr William Ackland, brought to life one of the important influential characters in the development of the town’s health services – and was all the more special as it took place in the house where he lived. It is now the Con Club – something that would have been quite a shock for this doctor who was a committed liberal. 

The real value of Heritage Open Days is bringing people together to enjoy and appreciate their heritage; whether they are locals going back for generations here, more recent ‘blow ins’, or visitors on holiday. Over 60% of visitors were from local EX39 postcode but we also welcomed folk from as far away as Leeds and Germany.

None of it would have been possible without the volunteers who researched and created displays and organised and stewarded the events. Special thanks to the businesses and residents of Bridgeland Street who allowed panels to be put up, Bideford Town Council cleaning team and UpClose Radio for broadcasting the event.

Lastly, a big thank you to all our visitors and their sentiments in the recurring comment on feedback forms – ‘thank you for opening this building and the fascinating displays’.