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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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Last year we reported on the planned demolition of Bideford’s first collar factory on the site of the old Littlejohns Coal Yard. Sadly, that historic building has been demolished, but a recent donation of 14 different styles of collars to Bideford and Community Archive provides another opportunity to reflect on an industry that contributed so…
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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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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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The horrific detonation of nuclear bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 killed between 150 and 246 thousand people, mainly civilians. Soon after, Japan announced its surrender and 15 August was made the official V-J Day in the UK, commemorating the end of the Second World War. Bideford…
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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…
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The announcement that WW2 has ended in Europe was broadcast to the British people over the radio late on 7 May 1945. The BBC interrupted its scheduled programming with a news flash announcing that Victory in Europe Day would be a national holiday, taking place on 8 May. Bideford & District Community Archive has…
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A photograph that turned up in the Bideford and District Community Archive shows a man and a fish. The man has a late 1960s hairstyle, with a fringe and his hair growing over his ears. It’s reminiscent of the early Beatles and he’s wearing an arran pattern sweater – very fashionable at the time. The…
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With disputes about funding for North Devon District Hospital in the news, and a proposal to create a community health and wellbeing hub at Bideford Hospital, it is interesting to remember that hospital provision in the past was not free of controversy. Volunteers from Bideford Community Archive write that Bideford Isolation Hospital was first established…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 