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What is the correct balance between conserving our heritage and encouraging investments which improve the town? When Brend Hotels put forward their application to convert the building on Bideford Station platform into holiday accommodation, there were howls of protest from residents, but the council decided that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages. Of course we need…
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Regeneration of our town centres is high on everyone’s wish list, so it was interesting to see a new report just published that sets out twelve principles for reviving our town centres. It is of particular interest to the River Torridge Heritage Group as it strongly advocates celebrating local history and culture. The report is entitled…
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Not so long ago, Bideford had a reputation for being one of the best places in the country to celebrate New Year’s Eve. When 1997 became 1998, a couple of thousand people gathered on the quay in fancy dress, and a letter in the local paper said that, after Trafalgar Square and Edinburgh, it was…
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Bideford celebrated its Frost Fair last Saturday. No frost was to be seen, except the spray-on variety, but the event certainly brought plenty of people into town. It was great to see the Pannier Market full of stalls, the town band playing, and a stilt walker mingling with the crowd. Down in Mill Street there…
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Sometimes it feels like we are fighting a losing battle to improve our area. Just this last week we have seen Bideford’s brand-new play park defaced by vandals and our Post Office slated for closure. Tourist attractions are struggling; we are nowhere near our net zero target, and smoking is actually going up in Torridge,…
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Members of the River Torridge Heritage Group took part in the March for Torridge last Saturday, drawing attention to pollution from various sources in the river Torridge and what we can do about it. The river is, of course, fundamental to our maritime heritage and a vital part of what we want to protect and…
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Shipbuilding Harland and Wolff Whilst we all want shipbuilding at Appledore to continue, the news that Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is in line to buy Harland and Wolff has had a mixed reception. Some say it should be the UK Government that should step in to safeguard a national industry. In Belfast, there is a particularly…
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Upstream of Bideford Long Bridge, the river has seen a lot of activity in the last few weeks. Each year Skern Lodge takes around six thousand young people to canoe and raft from the steps at Little America and travel downstream through the Long Bridge and Bideford Harbour – they are the largest annual number…
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Apparently the 2024 tourist season has not been a good one locally. National press reports have quoted a Bideford business as ‘hanging on by a thread’. The Director of Visit Devon says there have been ‘serious declines’ in tourist numbers throughout the county. Inflation has put pressure on family budgets while poor UK weather and…
Bideford and River Torridge Heritage Harbour 