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
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Bideford Pottery and International Trade NDJ 02/10/2025
As part of Heritage Open Days last week, forty-six of us crowded into the Kingsley Room at The Burton to hear Sadie Green give a captivating talk on the links between our ceramic heritage and our maritime past. The link to the sea was crucial, not only for assembling the materials needed to produce pottery,…
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Elisabeth Deneys 1906-1917 NDJ 25/09/2025
Last Saturday the Mayor of Bideford, Peter Lawrence, unveiled a plaque on the old Bideford Railway Station dedicated to the memory of Elisabeth Deneys, a young Belgian refugee who was killed on the tracks there in 1917. Over a quarter of a million Belgians came to find sanctuary the UK at the start of the…
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J H Taylor Open Championship Golfer from Northam NDJ 18/09/2025
Northam in 1871 was very different to the village of today and into it a child was born to Joshua and Susannah (née Heard) Taylor. They lived at what is now known as 22 Castle Street which in the 1871 census was known as Back Lane, Northam. The house still exists and a plaque erected…
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Appledore Book Festival NDJ 11/09/2025
The Appledore Book Festival has long provided a showcase for local history and this year’s exciting programme is no exception. What is exceptional is the quality and variety of the new research which has been brought together, and what are sure to be some compelling stories of north Devon folk who inhabited these shores in…
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Heritage Open Days NDJ 04/09/25
With so much heritage surrounding us, it was disappointing that last year there were only two local organisations taking part in the annual celebration of England’s history and culture known as Heritage Open Days (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own). This year, Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour has stepped in to ensure that more events…
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Steaming in Bideford NDJ 28/08/2025
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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Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 