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

  • Women contendors for Cooper St sculpture NDJ 31/07/25

    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…

  • Happy 100th Birthday to Shipping Forecast NDJ 24/07/25

    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…

  • Huguenots and Lace NDJ 17/07/25

    I’m very fond of the heritage statues peering into Cooper Street from the walls of buildings. We have a salmon fisherman, a cooper, an old merchant, and Sir Richard Grenville himself, heavily armed and armoured, reminding us of Bideford’s role in the colonisation of the New World. These provide a vivid depiction of our maritime…

  • Oldenburg History pt 2 NDJ 10/07/25

    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,…

  • Anyone for tennis NDJ 03/07/25

    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…

  • John Abbott of Frithelstock creating decorative plasterwork around Devon NDJ 26/06/25

    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…

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