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In February, the Navantia shipyard hosted dignitaries from government and the Royal Navy to celebrate work starting on the bow sections of the new Fleet Solid Support Ship RFA Resurgent for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.At 216 metres long, these new ships will provide munitions, spares, food and other essential stores to naval vessels enabling the Royal Navy to remain…
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The seas around us have shaped our history and the harbours and ports along our coasts, rivers and canals are a key part of this story. The national Heritage Harbour scheme is organised by the Maritime Heritage Trust with input from National Historic Ships and Heritage England. Although there are now 14 Heritage Harbours in…
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Pollution of our waterways and seas has been much in the news recently and the television programme ‘Dirty Business’ has brought this to an even wider audience. The programme showed how heavy rainfall and inadequately maintained treatment systems have resulted in frequent pollution incidents. At the same time, policy changes regarding self-monitoring by water companies…
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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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Today at midnight the Government’s consultation on Local Government Reorganisation will close. The Government is seeking views on proposals that will see the end of district councils like Torridge and North Devon, as well as Devon County Council. Instead of two tiers of local government, with a different council responsible for collecting the rubbish from the one that…
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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 December last year the Navantia shipyard at Appledore held the ceremony for the commencement of ‘cutting steel’ as they started work on the construction of the bow section of the first Fleet Solid Support Ship. At 216 metres long – the length of two Premier League football pitches – these new ships will provide munitions,…
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It is usually assumed that young people in their early 20s have full and varied social lives and that it is the elderly who suffer most from the loneliness that is especially acute at Christmas time. That some older people in our community do suffer loneliness is sadly true. Reduced mobility, rural living, poor public…
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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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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…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 