Bideford Buzz

Welcome to the  on-line edition of the Community Newsletter for Bideford   and adjoining towns, villages, and rural area.

‘Bideford Buzz’ is produced and distributed by a team of volunteers, with financial and practical assistance from  Bideford Bridge Trust, Devon Community Foundation, Bideford Town Council, Torridge Volunteer Resource Centre, Devon Library Services, and many others.   If you are interested in helping produce, develop, or distribute this newsletter we’ll be glad to hear from you.

Please note that for commercial notices there is a charge from £15 per month – cheques payable to ‘Bideford Buzz’.

You can submit your article on disc or by e-mail.    However, ‘snail mail’ is equally acceptable. Material for publication should reach us by the 15th of the month preceding the month of publication.

Editor – Rose Arno (Bideford Buzz),    c/o Torridge Volunteer Resource Centre (‘TVS’),  14, Bridgeland Street, Bideford, EX39 2QE.  (TVS opening hours Mon.-Thurs. 9.30am to 3.oopm).      Telephone 07929-976120, or E-mail: editor@bidefordbuzz.org.uk

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Super-slimmers weight loss success is in the bag !

Slimmers in Bideford are dropping pounds (lbs) and bagging up all the clothes they’ve slimmed out of to raise money for a good cause in The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw.


Members of the Bideford Slimming World group have spring-cleaned their closets and are donating the clothes that no longer fit their new slimline figures to their local Cancer Research UK shop in Town.


Kate, who runs the group which meets at The Angling club in the morning, or East the Water School in the evening every Tuesday, says members were delighted to get behind the cause and jumped at the chance to recycle their old tops, dresses, trousers, skirts and more.

The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw is a nationwide fundraising drive that sees Slimming World members across the UK donating clothes to Cancer Research UK, Slimming World’s charity partner for 2013. Each bag of clothes collected could raise up to £25.


Kate says: “Members in the Bideford group have lost nearly 270 stone since January this year and they’re feeling fantastic! Lots of people have dropped down clothes sizes and their wardrobes are full of clothes that are too big and baggy now. And they’re happy to give them away because they know that they’re never going to need them again! Our Food Optimising plan isn’t a diet that members follow for a little while and then ‘come off’ when they’ve reached their target weight. At group each week we support members to make healthy changes to the way they shop, cook and eat that they can keep up for life so they really do slim for good.”


Katherine Prouse, who has lost 5 st since Sept 2011and dropped from a dress size 20 to 12, says: “I found it really liberating to get rid of all my old clothes and I’m not worried about ever needing them again because this is me now – there’s no going back! It’s not just a more healthy diet that I love since I joined Slimming World, I’m much more active now too. I walk the dog every day and it’s all just part of my new life, so much so that I sometimes forget I wasn’t always like this. And it’s wonderful to think that I’ve supported the other members of the group to achieve their own weight loss dreams at the same time.”


Linda Martin, the Manager in the Cancer Research UK shop in Bideford , says: “We welcome clothes in all shapes, sizes and styles and were thrilled to receive such a huge donation of clothing from the Bideford Slimming World group. It’s amazing to think that they’ve lost so much weight that they’ve all got so many clothes to clear out from their wardrobes. And we’re delighted that they’ve chosen to use their success to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The money their old clothes raise will make a huge difference to people fighting cancer.”


Anyone who’d like to slim down like these generous Slimming World members is welcome at the Bideford group, which meets every Tuesday at 9.30 or 11.30 at The Angling club, or 3.45, 5.30 or 7.30 at East The water School. To find out more visit www.slimmingworld.com or call Kate on 07974041548.


For more information contact Kate on 07974041548 or elstonk25@gmail.com

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The Co-Op’s “Plan Bee” campaign.

Here is a fantastic opportunity for community groups, as part of The Co-operative’s ‘Plan Bee’ campaign.

Have you got a patch of unloved and overgrown land in your local area?

Would you like us to transform it into a haven for bees, butterflies and your local community?

We’re running a competition to transform patches of community land into a haven for pollinators and local communities, courtesy of our Plan Bee campaign in partnership with Plantlife, the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers.

Anyone can nominate a patch of community land for a makeover – nominations close 30th May 2013.
Nominate at:

www.co-operative.coop/pollinatorpatches

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Devon Wildlife Trust – “Get Devon Buzzing” campaign.

The beloved bumblebee is in trouble. This widespread, familiar and much loved insect is becoming a scarcer sight. Three of our 25 British bumblebee species have already disappeared. This is why Devon Wildlife Trust has set up its ‘Get Devon Buzzing’ campaign this summer to help the bumblebee, and now you can help by making your garden more bee-friendly.

Bumblebees are important

Insects pollinate around three-quarters of our crops, without them it would cost billions of pounds to for us to do their job. Did you know that every tomato, strawberry and blueberry you have ever eaten was pollinated by a bumblebee? And yet bumblebees are in trouble. Just like us, bumblebees need a varied diet to stay healthy. They like to drink nectar and eat pollen from a mix of different flowers. However, this mix of flowers is disappearing from our landscapes.


Help the bumblebee in your garden

Whether you have a window box, a balcony, a small garden, an allotment, or a corner of the school playing field, there’s plenty you can do to help bumblebees! Complete the garden ‘to do’ list below to make your garden a haven for bumblebees.


Garden to do list

  • Grow a variety of flowers throughout the year – great bumblebee plants include: willow, apple, bluebell, cowslip, ivy, red clover, thyme, lavender, forget- me-not, strawberry, chive and daisy. Find more plants on our website here

  • Build a bee nest – make a log pile, use an upturned flowerpot, or build an earth bank.

  • Put away the pesticides - these are harmful to bees. Try to avoid spraying hedgerows and wildflower areas.

  • Create a pond – for bees and other wildlife to drink, but make sure bees can climb out if they get stuck.

  • Help a sick bee – if you find a weary bumblebee, place it in a quiet spot with a few drops of sugar water to help revive it.


Attend a Get Devon Buzzing event

  1. 4 June – Garden wildlife (Braunton, North Devon)

  2. 9 June – Bumblebee walk (RHS Garden Rosemoor, nr Torrington).

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Price drop for Northam Burrows.

Visitors arriving at the entrance to Northam Burrows Country Park in their car this summer will have a very pleasant surprise – fees have been significantly reduced.


Members of Torridge District Council have voted in favour of reducing all vehicular fees into the popular Country Park for this season.

Car drivers can purchase a ticket for the whole summer period for only £35 (down from £50) or you can buy a daily ticket for only £3 now, instead of £4.50 last year.

Other fees have been reduced too: a weekly car ticket can be bought for just £12, and motorbikes can come in for £1.50.


Lead Member for the Natural and Built Environment Councillor Gaye Tabor said, ‘We’re trialling these prices for this year and we hope that as many people as possible make the most of this opportunity to visit the Burrows. Spring is beautiful there, with the wheaters arriving and the blooming of the spotted orchids, and of course the Burrows Centre is open for more information on wildlife and fauna.’


Council leader Barry Parsons added, ‘The results of the public consultation we held last year were clear – cheaper entry prices – so we’ve listened to our public and responded. I’d like to think that those people, and many more besides, will now come down and enjoy what the Burrows has to offer throughout the season.’


New entry prices (from May 21st):

Season ticket (car):  £35      Weekly ticket (car): £12       Daily ticket (car):         £3                      Daily ticket (coach):£8          Daily ticket (motorbike): £1.50     Evening ticket (after 4pm): £1.50

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Torridge DGTI Trials under way.

There are still spaces in the sports trials to represent the Torridge team in the Devon Games to Inspire!


The first set of trials – in BMX tricks – have already started, but there’s still time to register for that and more sports besides.


Torridge is still on the lookout for talented youngsters in:

Cricket

Netball

Triathlon

High 5 Netball

Hockey

Street Sports

Table tennis

Tennis

Volleyball


and the lucky ones will get to represent Torridge district in the DGTI event in Torbay on July 14th.


All trials are free, sports kits are provided for the event and transport to and from Torbay will be laid on free on a team bus.


Torridge District Council’s Lead Member for Health and Community Safety, Councillor Andy Boyd, said: ‘The DGTI is a great opportunity for young people to experience the buzz of competing in a major sporting event. The atmosphere at previous events has been electric and representing the districts offers a fun and exciting chance to show off those sports skills. Budding young athletes should come along to the trials and have a go.’


To book onto a trial please call 01237 428743 or email: leisure@torridge.gov.uk

Don’t forget you can follow us on twitter @torridgeleisure or find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/torridgeleisure

Full details of all the trials, including eligibility rules and how to register, are available at www.torridge.gov.uk/sport

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Youth page – May.

Yazzy is 13, lives in Westward Ho! and is a singer/songwriter. At the end of last year she was lucky enough to win a category in the prestigious UK and International Songwriting competition, which is worldwide, and a massive achievement. She also won 4 semi final places and 2 commendeds. She plays the guitar, piano, violin and most of all loves to sing. She is part of the Children’s Choir of Great Britain, and has just come back from a week’s residential where they performed several wonderful pieces in the church at Shrewsbury and also at the Alington Hall.


She goes to Kingsley School and is part of all things musical there, including a soul band, chamber choir (which have just completed a small tour at the end of last term), the orchestra, and school choir. She loves all things musical, but her main passion is singing her own songs. She can be found on You Tube under Yazzy Chamberlain (http://www.youtube.com/user/MissYazzyChamberlain). She has just got through the Regional Finals of Teenstar in Cardiff and is singing at Reading in May at the Area Finals to try and secure a place in the finals at the 02. She needs your support, she is local, living here in Devon, and would love to be able to make a name for herself in the music industry. Please look her up ; you can see her live performance at the Cardiff Regional Finals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVf9XKLBAzA

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Burton Art Gallery & Museum – May.

May sees a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition of prints by four of the 20th century’s greatest artists:


Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. You will be treated to more than 50 works from the V. & A. Museum collection, which show how these modern masters engaged with print. Not all exhibits will be familiar, as the collection includes works created over 75 years, but those years brought out a most creative period in the history of western art. There are examples of Matisse’s lithographs, and Picasso’s illustration to Buffon’s ‘Histoire Naturelle. Also on show are Dali’s posters for the French National Railways, and, of course, you can ponder over Warhol’s famous Pop Art, ‘Marilyn’. Dates for the exhibition are 4th May to 15th July.


There will be a ‘Talk and Tour’ of the exhibition on 4th May, at 2pm. (Free)


Eleanor Bartleman’s Ceramics are delightful; she has taken ideas from myths and legends, putting animals with humans in an unusual, but charming. Exhibition ends on 11th May.


Sarah Young’s Prints from wood and lino cuts are also exhibited in the Craft Gallery from 25th May to 27th July. Sarah is also a painter, designer and illustrator, and is the founder of Brighton Art Fair.


The Friends have invited Jim Jackson to talk to us about the Maritime Museum, and, in particular, ‘The Gunship, Melik’. Doors open at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 15th May. £5 admission.


A preview of what’s on in June – on the 1st, there is an Open Day at the Cabin at Bucks Mills, from 11am to 3pm. The National Trust manage the Cabin, and are happy to open it up again for us to enjoy the memorabilia left behind by two artists, Judith Ackland and Mary Stella Edwards, whose watercolours found fame all over the UK. The Cabin is a time-warp, with everything as it was when the two artists lived there. This is a special treat, not to be missed. Parking is good, on the right before you get to the village itself; not far to walk, and downhill most of the way.


The Gallery is open from 10-4 every day except Sunday, when it’s 11-4. Admission Free.

The Cafe du Parc welcomes you with wonderful coffee, pastries, gateaux and a gourmet lunch.

Bideford Museum is upstairs, and includes the North Devon Slipware and Ceramics Collection.

The Tourist Information Centre is in-house, and the Shop sells craft, as well as children’s toys.


Diana Warmington,

Friends of the Burton Gallery.

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Bideford Film Society – May.


Hyde Park on Hudson

This is a biographical drama screened recently by Bideford Film Society. Its title is taken from the name of the country retreat in upstate New York of President Frankin D Roosevelt. There in 1939 he entertained Britain’s young king Bertie  (Samuel West) and  Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). They were hoping to achieve American support for Britain against the threat of war with Germany.
In  this they succeeded and established the ‘special relationship’ between the two nations. Most of the biographical information was gathered in 1991 when upon the death of Roosevelt’s distant cousin Daisy (Laura Linney) a cache of journals  and letters from FDT were found under her bed.
These revealed her intimate relationship with the President  over many years.

There are two main stories in the film. One about the shy young Daisy, once  rich,  but now caring for an eccentric aunt (Eleanor Bron),  and the president,  who needed company and sexual favours.
The other, of the weekend  visit  by the unsophisticated young Royals to stay with the fawning Americans. The innocence of the couple seemed too exaggerated in such scenes where the Queen appeared to be horrified at the idea of eating a hot dog! However Bertie enjoyed the new experience thus winning over his critical hosts with his sense of fun. Much poetic license was taken with the truth in these scenes I suspect. As to the second story of the innocent girl who falls possessively in love with the sophisticated older man, the veracity of his letters must be accepted, I presume. But outpourings in a journal by a young girl are often highly exaggerated in my experience. I feel sad that in this film the character of Eleanor Roosevelt was reduced to that of a weak wife. In all my readings I understood her to have been an outstanding and intelligent first lady who carried out much good social work during the years of the US depression. Bill Murray who plays President Roosevelt,  gives a brilliant performance . In fact the whole cast of mainly British actors is excellent. Our audiences thoroughly enjoyed this light entertainment.

Bideford Film Society is planning to show more good films in its next programme. Look out for details on our website & local papers.
Often we get the opportunity to show recent releases at short notice often on Sunday afternoons – so always check.

Mavis Blow.

Bideford Film Society has a new programme of good films.
Please check with newspapers for dates and venues.

Doors open at 7.00pm, film starts at 7.30pm.
Tickets: General £5.50 Concessions £5.00  Members £4.00  Family  (up to 3 children & 2 adults) £12.00.   To avoid disappointment please check local press for confirmation of above programme, or  visit our web site    www.bidefordfilmsociety.co.uk

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B10 prize draw !

The message of North Devon’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is ‘Living and Working in Harmony with Nature’. This message encompasses our daily lives, learning, earning and enjoying our unique natural environment. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Biosphere designation we are running a fabulous free prize draw with prizes highlighting all these aspects of life in the Biosphere.


There is a bountiful prize pot full of fabulous prizes donated by Biosphere businesses and individual supporters.


For getting out and about in the Biosphere and spotting some of our wonderful wildlife we have a trip to Lundy on the MS Oldenburg, a Wildlife Cruise on the Ilfracombe Princess and even a thrilling Coasteering experience with the Ultimate Adventure Centre in Abbotsham.

For arts lovers we have a Quay Drawing outdoor art class, Panto tickets to Sleeping Beauty at The Queen’s Theatre, a family ticket to a Beaford Arts event.

Local artisan leather belt maker Louise Middleton of Golden Bear Belts has contributed a bespoke leather belt – as seen in a recent Miss Vogue magazine.

And there’s more … here’s the full list of prizes

    1. Canvas print by photographer Stephen Ring who produces beautiful photos of landscapes within the Biosphere

    2. En plein air (outdoor) drawing class with Quay Drawing

    3. Wildlife cruise on Ilfracombe Princess

    4. Coasteering with Ultimate Adventure Centre

    5. Marshford Organic Veg Box

    6. North Devon Theatres family ticket

    7. Beaford Arts Event family ticket

    8. Biosphere Foundation T Shirts

    9. Home Energy Survey by 361 Energy

    10. Lundy Island tickets X 2

    11. Meeth Quarry Guided Tour

    12. Wildlife walk around West Week Farm, Chulmleigh – County Wildlife Site

    13. Louise Middleton Golden Bear Belt

    14. NDT Friends Classical CDs

    15. U3A cook book

    16. Tarka Pottery – Potter’s Wheel Experience


It is free to enter the draw and there are plenty of ways to enter:

  1. Online at www.northdevonb10.org.uk

  2. by completing an entry form at one of our B10 events – details on the website and in local ‘what’s on’ guides.

  3. by post to B10 Prize Draw, North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve, Room 508, Civic Centre, Barnstaple, EX31 1EA

  4. by email to amanda.mccormack@devon.gov.uk.

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Clovelly, Saturday 25th – Monday 27th May.

Clovelly Celebration of Local Ales and Cider (and Devon wines!),

supported by Country Life Brewery.


Saturday, 25 May to Monday 27 May.


Red Lion and New Inn, Clovelly.


Contact:  Visitor Centre. Tel.  01237 431781. www.clovelly.co.uk

Normal admission charges apply


Last year a crowd of enthusiastic ale and cider drinkers relished the opportunity to taste the wide range of rich, flavoursome tipples on offer.  These unique local ales and ciders, are created with passion by small North Devon brewers.  This year there will also be a selection of Devon wines to sample and some live musical entertainment too.


So tell your friends and come along to raise a glass to support our local brewers, cider and wine makers.

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One Hundred years ago – May 1913.

(From Bideford Gazette. Compiled by Mike Davy)

Steamer lost near Hartland.

The Uruquay steamer Oliyamria brought the crew of the Spanish steamer Paz to Swansea, the steamer having sunk between Lundy island and Hartland Point during fog.


Empire Day

The schools in the area all celebrated Empire Day in a very patriotic fashion , involving the flying of suitable flags and the National Anthem was sung together with Rule Britannia. The Mayor and members of the Corporation paid a special visit to many of the schools to mark the occasion.


Mr Manley Tucker will be pleased to give free information re emigration to all parts of the world. Sea Going Summer holidays of 15 days from London to Gibraltar – First saloon £13.10s Second Saloon £9 To Toulon for the Riviera – First Saloon £15 Second Saloon £10 Assisted passages to Canada and Australia.

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Bideford Library – May.

Meditation and Relaxation Group

Wednesday 15th May 2:15- 3:00 pm

Guided meditation and relaxation group for adults with Nicola MacDonald.


Bideford Wellbeing Centre

Thursday 23rd May 10:00-12:00 am

Katrina Joseph from Bideford Wellbeing Centre will be in the library to answer questions about the work that they do at the centre and specifically the benefits of massage and reflexology, therapies that she herself practises.


Gardening Club

Wednesday 29th May 7:30 pm

Running ‘ A Pick Your Own Fruit and Vegetable Business”

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Devon Dementia Support Service.

A fantastic new support service for people with dementia in Devon has been launched.     This Devon County Council-funded service is run by Alzheimer’s Society and is accessible to all Devon residents who have dementia, and their carers.

There is a new office in Queens House, Queen Street, Barnstaple, where the North Devon team are based. They can be contacted by telephone, email or post – telephone 0300 123 2029 for general enquiries and referrals; or email devon@alzheimers.org.uk


The new service has fully trained staff who can provide information, support and advice on any aspect of living with dementia, by telephone, email or home visit. Staff will link with local GP surgeries to make sure that everyone who needs support is aware of the new scheme, and can deliver awareness-raising talks to small groups on request.


Alzheimer’s Society also provide volunteer befrienders to support people with dementia to continue to take part in their local community.     If you would like to volunteer as a Befriender, please contact us on 0300 123 2029.     We will pay your expenses, and provide full training and ongoing support.

Wendy Toms

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Buzz Word – May 2013.

Please send us your Buzzes !!    Write to editor@bidefordbuzz.org.uk , or to the address on the front page.


Crash at East the water

(re letter in April’s edition from Peter Lamprey (Australia) I have some information from the Public Record Office at Kew, that I requested as “something to do” after I took early retirement due to ill health. I have always being interested in local history and having heard about the crash from older residents of ETW decided to try and find out more.)

The record class AIR 27 covers Squadron Operation’s Record Books (or ORBs). The ORB for 407 Squadron Royal Canadian Airforce at RAF Chivenor in 1945 is (PRO Ref) AIR 27/1795. This document is kept at the Public Record Office in Kew. The ORB for 7 March 1945 records “Tragedy struck the squadron early this evening when F/L Ernie Duckworth J.25370 Pilot and Captain of “P” Peter, taking off shortly after 20.00hrs on a routine SE Homing Flight under perfect conditions was unable to gain height because of engine trouble and crashed into a field near Bideford some minutes later. There were six men on board the aircraft, of whom four were casualties (three were killed and one was badly injured). The ORB states that the casualties may have occurred when the aircraft “in skidding along the ground went through one of those four to six feet thick walls of stone, dirt and shrubs which in this part of the country is known as a hedge” (written by a Canadian) the names of the airmen who died are provided (they were all Canadian) :

F/LE.V. Duckworth J 25370,  P/O C.J.ButlerJ88278,  P/O Andrews J90251.

The ORB record’s that S/L C.W. Taylor DFC, Flight Commander, wrote a short poem in the Flight Daily Diary “to commemorate the passing of the three of the best of the 407 breed”  – the words of the poem are recorded. ( I have not located this poem).

Hope it’s of some interest, and not too boring. I enjoy the Buzz very much, keep up the good work, Brian Lacey


Thanks, this is really an interesting topic from the past. My cousin from Cornwall, Brian Whitaker,is also interest in this topic so thanks to Brian (Lacey) the old Bideford is coming alive for us. By the way were there any German aircrew fished out of the Torridge near the bus depot at Bank End during WW2? Once again thanks.

Peter Lamprey (Australia)

also

Dad’s Army

Thank you for the map of the Home Guard Defences around your area. ( February 2013 Buzz)

I have quite a few books on the Home Guard, an area that interests me. One of my uncles served with the Home Guard in this area ;his name was Bill Baglow, of Westward Ho!.If you have any information on this gentleman, I would like to put it in a book I have in my library.

Peter Lamprey (Australia)


DL Barnes

Hi there, Your excellent newsletter popped up when I entered D L Barnes into the Google search. He is the great great grandson of a well known Dartmoor lady called Sally/Sarah Satterley who I am researching and I would dearly love to get in touch. He posted on your letters. If by any chance you know his address would you be prepared to share it with me or at least let him know I would like to speak with him.(Address supplied)

Jan Palmer

Ed replies Mr DL Barnes is a frequent correspondent who will no doubt read your letter and get in touch, or I will remind him when I see him!.


Save the Grenville Manor House? Any millionaires out there?

We are £200,000 short of our target and time is running out. The building (part of the old ‘Tavern in the Port’ in Bridge Street) was almost certainly where Sir Richard Grenville was born. We will be commemorating this with a plaque unveiling on June 15th. We want to buy the building for the town and use it as an Information Centre, Heritage Museum, history research centre, and provide some space for community groups to hold meetings there.

Andy Powell.


Lost Shops

Recently you have been publishing a roll call of shops that have fallen and as I was reading the list, I could almost hear the Last Post playing in my head. For many it was a nostalgic trip down memory lane but it was also a wake up call. To continue the military analogy, as well as remembering the fallen, we should encourage and support the veterans that are still with us.

The heart and soul of any town is its shopping centre. Regrettably many towns are now the victims of cloning, which is forbidden in humans but seemingly encouraged in towns. What gives a town its character is variety in its shops and Bideford still has over 70 independent retailers.

Hardly a day goes by without stories in the press and on the radio about the plight of town centres. Last year, the government commissioned Mary Portas to consider the problem and to come up with recommendations. More than one of our district councillors has conveyed their opinion that town centre retail is no longer viable and that the internet is the way of the future. One local councillor said that people now walk around with electronic devices in their hands and price compare or shop on line. He obviously hasn’t tried this in Bideford where you are lucky to get a signal, and if you do, the connection speed is painfully slow!

I cannot dispute the convenience of the internet or the vast selection of products and services. I also agree that the net is often cheaper than the High Street. What a lot of us do not realise or choose to overlook is why? Many on line businesses contribute little to the local or indeed national economy. Many operate from home or from small premises and pay no business rates. Some of the larger ones route their sales through the Channel Islands to avoid VAT or register the head office in places like Luxemburg to avoid UK corporation tax. No wonder they are cheaper! At a time when our economy is in dire straights, this is not a very helpful business practice.

Even though many shops have closed in recent years, retailing is still one of the largest employers in the country and the defeatist attitude that traditional retailing is finished and we should now move on is putting countless jobs at risk as well as the knock on effect of what happens when our town centres are full of boarded up, graffiti covered shops.

Tourism is hugely important to this area and interesting shops with character are a very important part of the tourist experience. When on holiday, most tourists will browse the shops because they have time. I know that is what I do. I recognise that browsers are not sales but if the shop is well set out and interesting, the sales will follow. Those shops with the gormless sales assistant offering “If you can’t see it, we haven’t got it” will deservedly fail. The good ones however deserve our support as they will not survive on tourist business alone.

I can hear you say, “But the local shops have not got what I want”. Unfortunately this is often true a bit of a Catch 22 problem. The public don’t shop there because of the lack of choice and the shopkeepers don’t stock it because they think the public will probably just get it on line anyway. To break this log jam we will have to experience a little inconvenience. If the shop hasn’t got what you want, ask them to get it in for you. (this is often just as quick as ordering on line). If this happens often enough, the shops will start stocking it anyway.

We must celebrate the fact that we are not “Dolly the Town, ” because without local shops, we won’t have a town with its own identity.

Brian Ottway

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Bideford Library Readers’ Group – May.

Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell

Most readers will associate the author, Henning Mankell, with his fabulous Wallender crime series but here he excels in a well-crafted novel. All the structural elements of a Mankell tale are there: a wounded solitary main character renouncing life in atonement for a past disgrace, a cold and barren landscape reflecting the main character’s inner life, a parade of eccentric secondary characters allowing Mankell to introduce themes close to his heart such as vulnerability and the dilemmas of ageing and death, the slow revelation of the causes of reclusive behaviour, and the resolution to be open to life and to what it has to offer.


Our reading group thoroughly enjoyed ‘the voyage into the soul of a man ‘which Mankell provided although few thought the narrative personally enriching. Perhaps this expected outcome of the main character,retired orthopaedic surgeon, Frederick Welin. Holed up on an icebound island in the Stockholm archipelago in a rundown house with a crippled dog, an elderly cat and an ant hill in the lounge, Welin choses a life of austerity, devoid of any luxury and visited only by a hypochondriac postman. Desperate to remain lost from his former life and his personal sensitivities, Welin starts each day by digging a hole in the ice and jumping in! just to ensure that he is still alive.


The New Year (approximately 2004) begins with the arrival in a blizzard of the woman he had loved deeply and abandoned, Harriet Hornfeldt, Dying of cancer, Harriet exacts the fulfilment of a promise made in 1966: to visit a pool in the middle of the northern forests where as a child, Frederick had spent one idyllic day with his father. Despite distances, deaths enroute and rampaging snow storms, Welin begins to reconnect with the past and attempts to reconcile with the cause of his sudden departure. He begins to rediscover his sensual memory such as the image of his father’s polished shoes and the scent of his mother’s tears. Along the way, Welin meets his daughter for the first time, communities of musicians, activists and artisans squatting in abandoned forest dwellings, and most profoundly the woman he surgically wounded who now fosters runaway girls, traumatised refugees and asylum seekers. Welin’s attempts to abandon the human race dissolve like the snowflakes into a midsummer’s night with almost a whisper of joy attached to it. True to Mankell’s ethos with the barest echoes of Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘Red Shoes’, we agreed that it is in the nature of man and woman kind to thrive in the company of others.


For as John Donne explains: No man is an island entire of itself’

(from Meditation XVII by John Donne.)


Linda Napier-Burrows


Next month Wed May 1st 2.30pm Bideford Library discusses Night Watch by Sarah Waters

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