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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Boats large and small NDJ 23/10/2025
We hear that Navantia, Appledore will shortly start cutting steel for the bow sections of the first new Fleet Solid Support Ships. A massive 100 x 30-metre barge will transport them to Belfast. It should be something to watch as it comes in and going out of the estuary fully laden. When we hear about…
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The Torridge upstream NDJ 16/10/2025
Few people look upstream of Bideford Long Bridge and imagine industry and shipping. However, vessels transited up as far as Weare Gifford. The arches of Bideford Long Bridge dictated all activity upstream, even the size of the sea lock at Rolle Canal: the widest arch on the bridge is 20 feet and so is the…
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Bideford Community Hospital NDJ 09/10/2025
One hundred years ago, on 23 September 1925, a new hospital was opened on Abbotsham Road. Bideford & District Community Archive has researched the background to the Bideford Community Hospital, which is still a key element of our community. Although there was a public dispensary in Bideford, the need for hospital beds became evident and…
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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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Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 