Bideford
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How useful is Tarka as a local brand? We have the Tarka Trail, the Tarka railway line, and goodness knows how many businesses using the name from cafés to self-storage, van hire, and plumbing. A statue of the hero of Henry Williamson’s 1920s novel (full title: ‘Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-life and Death in…
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What would you do to improve Bideford? And what would you get rid of? Those are the questions a group of us asked the public at the recent EAT festival on Bideford Quay. Bideford Regeneration Board has recently launched a Masterplan and Strategy Report, so this was a good opportunity to get feedback from residents.…
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Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour get more things done by partnering with others. At national level that’s by being part of the Maritime Heritage Trust. Locally, other heritage organisations are obvious collaborators, and the River Torridge Heritage Group brings together twelve local organisations from along the estuary with a common interest in heritage. For…
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‘I switched them on’, said the little boy in the blue anorak proudly to his class mates from the Muddy Paws preschool group. Standing against the harbour wall, just tall enough to see over, they were all watching the newly recommissioned fountains on Bideford Quay sending jets of water high into the blue sky on…
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In August 1925 the Bideford and North Devon Gazette reported that the Red House, ‘noted for Its catering’ had removed from Bridgeland Street to the Quay. What, and where, was the Red House? Researchers at Bideford and District Community Archive have found some answers. Today, numbers 25 and 26 Bridgeland Street, Grade II listed buildings,…
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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…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 