Uncategorized
-
In February 2025 we wrote about how wonderful it would be to get the bottle kiln outside the Burton fired up again. The kiln was a millennium project, designed to celebrate Bideford’s ceramic heritage, and firings took place regularly till about 2013. Since then, it has lain empty and rather abandoned but now the tradition…
-
This year in August Bideford celebrated 50 years of twinning with Landivisiau in Brittany, Northern France. A reception was held in the Pannier Market to mark the occasion. It was a delight to see friends greeting each other. The speeches were valiantly given in both languages by the mayors and twinning officials of the towns.…
-
Congratulations to Bideford Town Council maintenance team who won first prize in the Bideford Carnival float competition for their impressive replica of Revenge, the ship Sir Richard Grenville famously defended to his death off the island of Flores in the Azores. Grenville’s reputation as one of Elizabeth I’s fiercest and bravest commanders is derived from…
-
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…
-
With warnings of the El Niño weather system bringing heavy rain and storms this winter, the Environment Agency held a public information event explaining the work they will be undertaking to help keep Bideford safe from flooding. Major construction works are about to start as part of the Kenwith Valley Flood Scheme to update the…
-
Dissatisfaction with water authorities is nothing new. In September 1976 the Bideford Gazette reported calls for the resignation of the holders of top jobs in the South West Water Authority. A letter said ‘Let them have their supplies cut off, have no outside help and learn the misery of what they have brought on others’.…
-
On the site which is now the Rose Saltern on Bridgeland Street (Wetherspoons) the original buildings dated back to when the street was first laid out in 1691. This is one of the sites we’ll be featuring next Thursday 17 September as we celebrate a Heritage Open Day in Bridgeland Street. The original building was…
-
The 630 miles of the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Poole Harbour, including the north and south coasts of Devon and Cornwall was, until the opening of the King Charles III England Coast Path in 2026, the longest long-distance path in the UK. The route is said to have had its origins in…
-
Have you noticed the old stone building on the corner of Nelson Road and Nelson Drive in Westward Ho!? The folk at Bideford and District Archive provide a bit of background. In 1887 the Appledore Baptist Church started a mission at Westward Ho! in a cottage given free of rent by a late Mr James…
-
Heritage Open Days are coming to Torridge, courtesy of the Heritage Harbour and our partners. Billed as ‘England’s largest festival of history and culture’ Heritage Open Days run from 11 to 20 September this year. Thousands of volunteers across England organise events to celebrate their local history and culture. It’s a chance to see hidden…
