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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…
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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…
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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…
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In preparation for Bridgeland Street Open Day on 17 September, our research continues. One surprising finding is that, although it was built for merchants and well known for its solicitors and doctors, it was actually a street of women! In 1861 about three quarters of the adults living there were women, including almost all the…
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With the Heritage Open Day events planned for Bridgeland Street on 17 September, we continue with another piece about the history of the street. Knowing how much the late contributor to this column would have liked this event, we have edited an article about The Custom House from an original article published by Peter Christie…
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Bidefordians are rightly proud of the antiquity of our Grammar School, celebrated on a plaque attached to Bridge Buildings, where the school once stood. But that history hides an uncomfortable truth – that the school was for boys only and there was no similar provision for girls. Bideford Grammar School only started to admit girls…
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There are many fine houses in the Bideford and Northam districts, Victorian and older – although they have been much modified. Knapp House is one of the foremost. The placename Knapp is fairly common in Devon and refers to a hill or ridge. Bideford Archive has several documents relating to various sales or lettings of the…
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In February, the Navantia shipyard hosted dignitaries from government and the Royal Navy to celebrate work starting on the bow sections of the new Fleet Solid Support Ship RFA Resurgent for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.At 216 metres long, these new ships will provide munitions, spares, food and other essential stores to naval vessels enabling the Royal Navy to remain…
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Have you ever noticed a brass plaque outside 24 Bridgeland Street, which reads ‘Rooker and Bazeley, Solicitors’? The antique Gothic script in the word ‘solicitors’ suggests there is a long history attached to the building, as indeed there is in houses up and down what is one of Bideford’s most emblematic streets. The difference is…
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The history of Bideford and the Torridge is inextricably linked to tides, which are dictated by the moon’s gravity. Early civilisations recognised the correlation between tides and the phase of the moon but could not accurately predict tidal behaviour. It was Eudoxus of Cnidus, an ancient Greek astronomer, who as early as 356 BCE explained…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 