Heritage Harbour Blog

North Devon Journal

The River Torridge Heritage Group has been contributing this column in the North Devon Journal since December 2023. The column was previously written by the late Peter Christie, who did so much to research and promote the history and heritage of Bideford and North Devon.

The column follows a similar style with historical themed stories mixed with local politics and community interest.

The River Torridge Heritage Group is a partnership of local heritage organisations led by Way of the Wharves

Columns are copied here after publication

  • Heritage Harbours in the South West NDJ 04/06/2026

    The seas around us have shaped our history and the harbours and ports along our coasts, rivers and canals are a key part of this story. The national Heritage Harbour scheme is organised by the Maritime Heritage Trust with input from National Historic Ships and Heritage England. Although there are now 14 Heritage Harbours in…

  • Pasaia Maritime Festival NDJ 28/05/2026

    It’s great news that the Waverley is coming to Bideford again on 15 June and we would love to see more historic ships visit our ancient port alongside the SS Freshspring. Last week, seven of us from Bideford, including both town and district councillors, visited a ‘Factory-Museum’ in northern Spain specialised in traditional shipbuilding, to…

  • Hartland NDJ 21/05/2026

    This week’s column is provided by Bideford and District Archive. The area covered by the community archive is geographically large and some of the outer edges still hold shimmering echoes of their Celtic past.  For those of us who like our history ancient, this is the place for us. On 21st June at 4pm there will be a…

  • Appledore and harbour NDJ 14/05/2026

    Proposals to create a Trust Port for the whole Taw and Torridge estuary have sparked a search for a historical document dating from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.  When proponents of the Trust Port addressed a packed meeting in Appledore recently, they were told in no uncertain terms that residents had a historic right…

  • Tarka NDJ 07/05/2026

    How useful is Tarka as a local brand? We have the Tarka Trail, the Tarka railway line, and goodness knows how many businesses using the name from cafés to self-storage, van hire, and plumbing. A statue of the hero of Henry Williamson’s 1920s novel (full title: ‘Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-life and Death in…

  • Abandoned boats NDJ 30/04/2026

    Pollution of our waterways and seas has been much in the news recently and the television programme ‘Dirty Business’ has brought this to an even wider audience. The programme showed how heavy rainfall and inadequately maintained treatment systems have resulted in frequent pollution incidents. At the same time, policy changes regarding self-monitoring by water companies…

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