Bideford
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The shipyard at Appledore has new owners who plan a bright and secure future for the yard. The Spanish company, Navantia, purchased the site last year and have just started construction of the bow section of a new Fleet Support Ship for the Royal Navy. The Torridge has a long history of shipbuilding and building…
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From Sir Richard Grenville’s ill-fated attempts to set up a colony in the New World to the participation of North Devon ships in defending England against the Spanish Armada, Bideford’s role in key historical events of the sixteenth century is well recognised. But how much do we really know about what it was like to…
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Among the most significant changes the switch to digital has brought in recent years is the change in use of libraries. Once focussed only on book lending, they are now hubs for everything from baby weigh ins to memory cafés. Now Devon County Council has put out a consultation on the best ways to maintain…
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Bideford Archive tells us of a curious custom dating back more than four hundred years which celebrated in Bideford every year on New Year’s Day: the distribution of John Andrew’s Dole. John Andrews was a 16th century Bideford merchant and Mayor. In 1942, it was reported that he had made a ‘goodly pile by importing salt…
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The late Peter Christie, who contributed so much to this newspaper over many years, was a longstanding advocate of reinstating the old railway line between Bideford and Westward Ho! as a footpath and cycleway. The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore railway opened in 1901 but did not reach Appledore until 1908. It was built to…
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When you were young was there always a satsuma or clementine at the bottom of your Christmas stocking? Did you ever wonder why or just put it down to some strange whim of Father Christmas? When Devon ports became seriously involved in the cod fishery off Newfoundland in the 1600s there was no permanent European…
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It is a shame that last year’s highly successful Frost Fair in Bideford is not going to be repeated this year. However, the good folks at Bideford Archive had a search through their collection of the Bideford Gazette newspapers and found some interesting snippets from Christmas past. It is interesting to note that some successful…
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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…
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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…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 