heritage harbour
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With so much heritage surrounding us, it was disappointing that last year there were only two local organisations taking part in the annual celebration of England’s history and culture known as Heritage Open Days (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own). This year, Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour has stepped in to ensure that more events…
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We have had some hot weather recently which has given great pleasure to locals and holidaymakers. But it’s not only the weather that has been steaming. One of the visitors who came from Kent was returning to Bideford for the first time in some 80 years. In the 1930s, when the builders merchant Devon Trading…
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On 4 May Appledore hosted the 200-year celebration of the RNLI. The day was fine and in the morning sunshine everyone could visit the Mollie Hunt, Appledore’s Tamar class all-weather lifeboat, brought along the quay while the tides were high. As people stood looking at the modern boat, all technology gleaming, leaflets were handed out to…
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The recent planning application by the owners of Richmond Dock, Appledore has understandably generated a lot of discussion locally. The Wheatcroft Collection, claiming to be the largest collection of Second World War vehicles and artefacts in private hands, purchased Richmond Dock in 2020 in order to house their collection of boats and maritime artefacts, including…
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When the Bideford Manor Court met in the Town Hall in March 2024 there were a number of ‘presentments’ considered by the jury. These included cleaning the Kingsley statue by Victoria Park (completed within a couple of months) and celebrating the recognition, by the Maritime Heritage Trust in January of that year, of Bideford and…
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So, we have a new government. We await with interest what it will mean for the future of the projects lined up in Torridge for consideration under the Conservatives’ Levelling Up Partnership funding to tackle regional inequality. Labour have said that the Levelling Up policy has failed and were reportedly intending to axe the phrase,…
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A light powdering of snow on 18 January brought chaos to Bideford and the cancellation of an important Planning Committee meeting. Apparently two cars ran into each other, and into the scaffolding at the bottom of Bridge Street. Both Bridge Street and High Street were closed for a time and the former turned into a…
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What great news that Bideford and the River Torridge has been formally recognised as a Heritage Harbour! The achievement might seem to throw the spotlight on the past but in fact its importance will be for the future. We need to look forward as much as looking back. The centuries-old history of shipbuilding on the…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 