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This year in August Bideford celebrated 50 years of twinning with Landivisiau in Brittany, Northern France. A reception was held in the Pannier Market to mark the occasion. It was a delight to see friends greeting each other. The speeches were valiantly given in both languages by the mayors and twinning officials of the towns.…
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Dissatisfaction with water authorities is nothing new. In September 1976 the Bideford Gazette reported calls for the resignation of the holders of top jobs in the South West Water Authority. A letter said ‘Let them have their supplies cut off, have no outside help and learn the misery of what they have brought on others’.…
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Have you noticed the old stone building on the corner of Nelson Road and Nelson Drive in Westward Ho!? The folk at Bideford and District Archive provide a bit of background. In 1887 the Appledore Baptist Church started a mission at Westward Ho! in a cottage given free of rent by a late Mr James…
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There are many fine houses in the Bideford and Northam districts, Victorian and older – although they have been much modified. Knapp House is one of the foremost. The placename Knapp is fairly common in Devon and refers to a hill or ridge. Bideford Archive has several documents relating to various sales or lettings of the…
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As Britain started to recover from the austerity of the Second World War, a national festival took place to boost morale and showcase Britain’s achievements. In Bideford, the Bideford District Trades Exhibition ran from 11-16 June 1951. Housed in one of the largest marquees ever seen in Bideford, the festival got off to a successful…
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This week’s column is provided by Bideford and District Archive. The area covered by the community archive is geographically large and some of the outer edges still hold shimmering echoes of their Celtic past. For those of us who like our history ancient, this is the place for us. On 21st June at 4pm there will be a…
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Researchers at Bideford Archive have been investigating the story of Northam’s Bone Hill monument as reported in the local press in 1897. The initiative came from William Blakeney, who had retired to Westward Ho! after a career as a Navy hydrographer drawing up maps of the coast, mainly in the Far East. He belonged to…
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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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Number 5, The Square, is the imposing building in the centre of Northam, next to St Margaret’s Church, and has a long and distinguished history dedicated to the care and welfare of the ordinary people of Northam. As far back as 1741 it was the workhouse and, thirty years later, it could accommodate 80 inmates.…
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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…
