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

  • Challenges for the Voluntary Sector NDJ 04/12/25

    Heritage organisations like ours are vitally dependent on the voluntary sector but, like everyone else, they are finding the current economic environment very tough.  The heritage voluntary sector is a diverse ecosystem dominated by large charities like National Trust and an enormous number of smaller community groups where volunteers contribute to a wide range of activities. In…

  • Sir William Reardon Smith NDJ 27/11/2025

    Bideford Community Hospital opened in 1925 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a major feature of the town this year. The building of the hospital was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Sir William Reardon Smith, a wealthy shipowner who was born in Appledore in 1856. He made major contributions to hospitals in…

  • Solar panels and heritage NDJ 20/11/2025

    How best to look after our heritage when funds are short and there is a pressing need to reduce carbon emissions? This is a dilemma confronting all local councils across the country, but it is particularly difficult to solve here because we have so much heritage to look after – in both the built and…

  • Collar factories NDJ 13/11/2025

    Last year we reported on the planned demolition of Bideford’s first collar factory on the site of the old Littlejohns Coal Yard. Sadly, that historic building has been demolished, but a recent donation of 14 different styles of collars to Bideford and Community Archive provides another opportunity to reflect on an industry that contributed so…

  • The Borough family in the arctic NDJ 06/11/2025

    Last week brought the news that melting Arctic ice has opened up a new shipping route from China to the UK via a northeast passage along the north coast of Russia.  Oddly enough, this development has a direct connection to our local history. Members of the famous Borough family of Northam were among the first…

  • Port of Bideford in numbers NDJ 30/10/2025

    The number of ships using Bideford as a port has much reduced over the years. Ships queuing up to cross the bar and double moored on the quays to discharge cargoes are just memories.  Of course, it didn’t just stop overnight there were a series of changes which impacted port operations. Improvements to roads and…

Subscribe

Enter your email below to receive updates.