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We have had some hot weather recently which has given great pleasure to locals and holidaymakers. But it’s not only the weather that has been steaming. One of the visitors who came from Kent was returning to Bideford for the first time in some 80 years. In the 1930s, when the builders merchant Devon Trading…
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As mentioned in an earlier column, Lundy was the first place in England to instal a standalone wind generator. The effect on island life and economy was unprecedented. Prior to wind power, electricity generation was limited to small generators based in the village, Old Light and the Castle. All the machines were controlled by time…
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The horrific detonation of nuclear bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 killed between 150 and 246 thousand people, mainly civilians. Soon after, Japan announced its surrender and 15 August was made the official V-J Day in the UK, commemorating the end of the Second World War. Bideford…
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Now that the Government has awarded nearly £1.5 million for ‘modernisation and improvements’ to Bideford Pannier Market, we are all looking forward to seeing what the plans are. The Town Council, who will be responsible for managing the project, has said that it will be ‘a community hub’, with ‘updated facilities’, offering ‘modern workspaces, high…
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Informal discussions continue about suggestions for a sculpture of a woman in Cooper Street to add to those commemorating Bideford’s (male) history. One contender is a formidable woman about whom we have already written in this column. Eliza Honey, who took over the running of the Bideford Gazette after the death of her husband and…
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Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea, Shannon Southwest 6 to gale 8, increasing severe gale 9 at times, occasionally storm 10 later in Shannon. Rough or very rough in Lundy and Irish Sea, otherwise very rough or high, occasionally very high in Shannon. Occasional rain. Moderate or good, occasionally poor. If you are an insomniac then…
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Continuing the story of the MS Oldenburg’s arrival in Bideford. The year is 1985; the ship has just arrived at Poole from Wilhelmshaven, in Germany. She had been having problems with her fuel filters, so on arrival, the crew cleaned out the fuel tanks. One foot of sludge was found, and it was evil smelling,…
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With the Wimbledon season upon us, the good folk at Bideford and District Community Archive have been looking into the origins of the Atlantic Racquet Centre. From 1946, friends and enthusiasts played as a Tennis Club on the Council owned courts in Golf Links Road in Westward Ho! but as time went on it was…
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One of the most distinctive features of the creative heritage of our part of the world is the ornamental plasterwork dating from the seventeenth century which decorates some of our historic houses. One of the masterworks is the magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling at Lanhydrock House, recently restored, in which scenes from the Old Testament are intermingled…
