Uncategorized
-
In December last year the Navantia shipyard at Appledore held the ceremony for the commencement of ‘cutting steel’ as they started work on the construction of the bow section of the first Fleet Solid Support Ship. At 216 metres long – the length of two Premier League football pitches – these new ships will provide munitions,…
-
Number 5, The Square, is the imposing building in the centre of Northam, next to St Margaret’s Church, and has a long and distinguished history dedicated to the care and welfare of the ordinary people of Northam. As far back as 1741 it was the workhouse and, thirty years later, it could accommodate 80 inmates.…
-
The shipyard at Appledore has new owners who plan a bright and secure future for the yard. The Spanish company, Navantia, purchased the site last year and have just started construction of the bow section of a new Fleet Support Ship for the Royal Navy. The Torridge has a long history of shipbuilding and building…
-
From Sir Richard Grenville’s ill-fated attempts to set up a colony in the New World to the participation of North Devon ships in defending England against the Spanish Armada, Bideford’s role in key historical events of the sixteenth century is well recognised. But how much do we really know about what it was like to…
-
Among the most significant changes the switch to digital has brought in recent years is the change in use of libraries. Once focussed only on book lending, they are now hubs for everything from baby weigh ins to memory cafés. Now Devon County Council has put out a consultation on the best ways to maintain…
-
Bideford Archive tells us of a curious custom dating back more than four hundred years which celebrated in Bideford every year on New Year’s Day: the distribution of John Andrew’s Dole. John Andrews was a 16th century Bideford merchant and Mayor. In 1942, it was reported that he had made a ‘goodly pile by importing salt…
-
The late Peter Christie, who contributed so much to this newspaper over many years, was a longstanding advocate of reinstating the old railway line between Bideford and Westward Ho! as a footpath and cycleway. The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore railway opened in 1901 but did not reach Appledore until 1908. It was built to…
-
It is usually assumed that young people in their early 20s have full and varied social lives and that it is the elderly who suffer most from the loneliness that is especially acute at Christmas time. That some older people in our community do suffer loneliness is sadly true. Reduced mobility, rural living, poor public…
-
What is it about pirates that we see as attractive? Despite them being models of male violence and lawlessness, we encourage our children to dress up in pirate costume. Our association with pirates is used to attract visitors and even to define our local identity. The North Devon and Torridge Place Story, recently published to uphold…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 