Buzz Byte; March.

Posted on 27/02/2018 by Tango Alpha

Have you ever heard of a software programme called Adblocker (sometimes referred to as Adblock or Poper blocker)? What is Adblocker? It’s exactly what it sounds like, ‘a piece of software designed to prevent advertisements from appearing on a web page.’

According to research Adblock Plus is the world’s most popular ad blocker, being used on over 100 million devices. As individual requirements and preferences differ you need to look at the pros and cons of each package to determine which one best suits your needs. Most of these programmes are general adblockers, but you can get specific software designed for use with YouTube or Facebook. Again, according to personal preference if you like seeing on-line ads then don’t install it, but if you like to use the internet without being swamped with offers and enticements to buy products or services then install one of the many software solutions on the market. Packages should allow you to disable the functions on websites of your choice. However some sites use pop-up technology on their websites and you won’t be able to view them unless you disable it on that page. Companies are getting wise and you will encounter some sites that identify that you have an adblocker installed and ask for it to be turned off; you have to decide if you want to by reading the accompanying message from the

business/charity/individual. Having an adblocker installed should help your browsing speed as the software will prevent unwanted plug-ins or advertising tags.

In the past we have experienced compatibility issues with some internet browsers such as Internet Explorer or Edge but find that Mozilla Firefox or Chrome don’t provide too many problems. If you are having trouble accessing some or all of the features on a website, try changing the browser you are opening it in. If that still doesn’t work give your local independent computer company a call. If you use your phone to stream data and browse the internet some packages have dedicated mobile ad blocking, which would be different from the PC version.

Nickie Baglow.

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Bideford’s Iron Bridge(s).

Posted on 26/02/2018 by Tango Alpha

(“Bideford Gazette”, 17th June 1825).

 

Mention the ‘Iron Bridge’ and every Bidefordian will know where you mean – but there were once two such bridges. The first and earliest was at Landcross on the Bideford-Torrington road and was a prefabricated structure probably made in South Wales. It was brought to North Devon by boat in 1825 when the present riverside road to Torrington was being constructed. (See above.) It was rebuilt using steel in 1926.

The second ‘Iron Bridge’ is the more familiar one over the Torridge that used to carry the railway to Meeth and is now part of the Tarka Trail (below). This was built when the railway was extended to Torrington in the early 1870s – but its construction was not without controversy.’

In September 1869 the Mayor of Bideford, C.Pedler, wrote to the Board of Trade opposing the ‘construction of a railway bridge by the London and South Western Railway Company across the Torridge‘ on the basis it would impede the river for boats. The Board passed this letter on to Mr.Galbraith engineer-in -charge of the new line who replied ‘Bideford town council could not be serious in opposing the construction of the proposed bridge across the Torridge as it will improve rather than injure the navigation of the river.‘

In November of that year the council held a ‘Special Meeting’ to discuss the proposed bridge which saw tempers fraying – and when the vote was taken to oppose its construction the vote was split equally between those for and against. A journalist who attended the meeting noted ‘the proceedings were unfit for reproduction in any respectable newspaper.‘

The railway company merely pushed on with the scheme though in October 1870 councillors reckoned there had been ‘a deviation on the original plans and an encroachment on the river‘ – an allegation repeated in November 1871. Indeed so incensed were they over this presumed illegality they sent the Borough Surveyor up to London to trace the original plans to bolster their argument. Unfortunately the surveyor had to report that ‘from a careful examination he was satisfied that the work was being done according to the plans.‘ By now the bridge was virtually complete and so the councillors withdrew their objections – and the bridge went on to become an iconic part of the scenery on this part of the river.

Peter Christie.

Today. The iron (railway) bridge is now the property of Devon County Council and was recently repainted. The Tarka Trail comes under the management of Martin Caddy of DCC, who is Public Rights of Way Officer for all this end of Devon.

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One hundred years ago: February 1918.

Posted on 30/01/2018 by Tango Alpha

During an air raid on London a Gotha bomber was brought down by Captain Hackwell of the Royal Flying Corps. He is the second son of Mr W H Hackwell of Sudden Farm Langtree Torrington and he worked in a Bideford bank before the war. He enlisted in the Royal North Devon Hussars before transferring to the RFC. He was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry.

British Summertime, introduced in 1915, was discussed in the House of Commons and it was agreed that it should continue again this year so that local farmers could make use of the extra daylight hours. However no decision was made regarding its continued use thereafter or its duration this year.

Bideford Borough Food Control Committee desire to purchase on behalf of the Ministry of Food sound potatoes in lots of not less than ½ ton. Bags will be supplied from Bideford Railway station. Also in a Notice to the Public. There is a grave shortage of meat especially in the great centres of population. The Government is considering commandeering cattle and sheep. Farmers are urged to send suitable animals to market.

Property for Sale. A W Cock Auctioneers of Grenville Street has to offer the following :-   The Hoops Inn. Fully licensed for 6 days per week, comprising of a parlour, bar, breakfast room, kitchen and large cellar, wash house with copper furnace, 3 bedrooms and WC. All recently rebuilt. Also included is Stabling and outhouses, gardens, an orchard, in all about ¼ acre. Also for sale the adjacent property known as Coombe Cottage.

At Bideford Borough Sessions on Monday last George Arthur, a youth, was fined 6 shillings for riding a bicycle on the footpath in Mignonette Walk. PC Tuplin stated the facts.

Buyers from a large area attended the Sale of antique furniture at ‘Hazelhurst’, Belvoir Road, Bideford. The following were some of the prices achieved –   An antique oak drawer chest £40, oak wardrobe £30. Jacobean chest £13. Antique oak dresser £15. William & Mary settee £11, Grandfather clock £13, oak corner cabinet £6.7.6d

These and many more items of local interest are available to read at the Bideford Community Archive at the Council Offices, Windmill Lane, Northam. Tel: 01237 471714.

Open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings or visit our website www.bidefordarchive.org.uk

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Felicity’s traditional fish cookery; February.

Posted on 29/01/2018 by Tango Alpha

Salmon Netting in North Devon, 1988. (Photo courtesy of North Devon Museum Trust).

Tradition and heritage of our local rivers, Bideford Bay, and beyond will be the subjects of my articles in 2018. I will include a traditional, local recipe each month.

We have a thousand years of salmon fishing on the River Torridge and over five hundred years of courageous fishermen leaving Bideford East wharves for the cod-rich Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Henry Williamson made North Devon fish and fishing famous in his stories of Tarka the Otter and Salar the Salmon, and his accounts of those living and fishing in North Devon. Many local authors have carried on this tradition. If you have any interesting tales of fish and fishing, please contact me at [email protected].

One of the first fish dishes I demonstrated in the 1980s was this recipe for A Celebration Salmon Pie, which I later called Admiral Sir Donald Gibson’s Salmon Pie. Now it uses farmed salmon, which is fine as it has many rich favours added, and the salmon with more fat is good for cooking encroute (in a pastry crust). Enjoy and celebrate.

Admiral Sir Donald Gibson’s Fish Pie.

Ingredients.

One whole (or tail piece of) salmon, or 2 tail fillets. 1lb-3lbs/500gms +

Stuffing.

2/3oz -200gms butter.

2/3oz-200gms of fresh ginger (grated).

1 lemon, zest and juice.

2/3oz -200gms sultanas.?1lb puff pastry – ready rolled pastry.

Beaten egg for glaze.

Mushroom and Champagne Sauce –

4 oz/250g button mushrooms.

1 oz/50g butter.

Cream or creme fraiche.

Champagne or sparkling wine – 2 large glasses.

Method

Melt butter, mix all stuffing ingredients.

Roll out pastry in rectangle oval shape

Put 1 fillet in centre of pastry.

Spread 3/4 of stuffing on top and cover with second fillet.

Cut pastry into 1″ (25mm) strips, starting from marking out the tail on thin end of fillets and working up to thick end.

Fold over and secure with beaten egg, from tail end in sequence.

Cook at 220 C for 20 minutes in centre of oven, then 200 C for 10-20 minutes depending on salmon weight.

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Thomas Burton; 1875- 1959.

Posted on 29/01/2018 by Tango Alpha

Everyone in Bideford knows where the Burton Art Gallery is, nicely situated in Victoria Park, adjacent to parking and Hockings’ Ice Cream van. But how many people know why it’s called the Burton Gallery? Was there someone called Burton? Well, there certainly was, and that man was a grocer. Thomas Burton was born in Surrey in 1875, and came to the West Country as an apprentice to Tanner’s grocers, of South Molton. We don’t know the bit in between, but the rest is recorded. Before long he appears as Manager of the International Tea Company in Yeovil, aged 23. He heard there were jobs in Bideford, and arrived in 1898 – ‘with a good stock of clothes, a good character and nothing more.’ He soon became Manager of Tattersill’s, the Bideford grocer. He fell in love, and in 1903 married a Bideford girl, Bertha Bishop, daughter of an Antique Dealer in Market Place. Their daughter, Mary, was born in 1906, but by that time, Thomas had his own grocery shops, one at the bottom of Grenville Street, and another in Mill Street. He was very successful and decided to go to London and seek his fortune. He was both grocer and fishmonger there, and again, made a success. In 1919, at the age of 44, he returned to Bideford, having sold his shops – the London enterprises to Lord Leverhulme, and the West Country shops to Macfisheries.

He was now a wealthy man, and could have sat back and enjoyed early retirement. But Thomas was not like that. He virtually threw himself into Bideford life. Already a Methodist lay-preacher, he became Circuit Steward and Sunday School Superintendent, and was Treasurer to the Bideford Trust, and Secretary to the Methodist Union. He became a Bideford Councillor in 1923, and served on the Finance Committee. He was much respected, and his Directorships were many, such as those of the Area Guardians (the Workhouse), Fire Brigade, Joint Hospital Committee, Gas Company and North Devon Permanent & Terminal Building Society. He was President and Chairman of the Liberal & Radical Club. He enjoyed music and sport, especially rowing, and was Vice-Chairman of the Regatta Committee. Bideford Council elected him Mayor in 1931, and his year of office was filled with engagements. That winter, he sponsored a Soup Kitchen in the Market for over 1000 children, the unemployed, the hungry. He co-founded Sudbury’s Glove Factory, giving employment to hundreds of women. He encouraged young people to take part in activities, both political and communal, and took 100 children from Bideford schools to Devonport, when he was invited, as Mayor, to see H.M.S. Bideford leave for the Persian Gulf.

His daughter Mary attended Westbank School (later Grenville College) while her parents lived in London. At 16, she graduated to Bideford Art School, and became proficient in drawing. Later, she married Jack Meredith, who managed the Hardware Shop in High Street, which Thomas bought in 1938. Mary carried on her love of art, collecting antiques and china. Elected to the Westward Ho! Art Society committee in 1932, she took an active part in its function. But this all ended in the 1940s, when Mary developed cancer, and sadly died on 4th May, 1949, aged 43. Thomas and Bertha were devastated at losing their only child, and wished her artistic talents to be remembered. Thomas anonymously offered £5,000 to Bideford Council for an art gallery, but then admitted that it was his gift to the town. On October 31st, 1951, the Mary Englefield Meredith Art Gallery was opened, and Thomas and Bertha signed the visitors’ book. Thomas died in 1959, and in his memory the name was changed to the Burton Art Gallery. It soon became Bideford’s best asset, filled with paintings and antiques donated from many quarters. Many important exhibitions from galleries all over the U.K. have been shown there.

The Museum was added later when the Gallery was extended in 1994. In 2016 a Trust took over management from Torridge District Council, and the Gallery is now known as ‘The Burton at Bideford’. There have been many changes over the years, but its founder will never be forgotten.

Diana Warmington.

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Freezing.

Posted on 02/12/2017 by Tango Alpha

In this age of man-made global warming it is unlikely that we will see a repetition of what occurred in Bideford in 1894-5 and 1963. Simply put, this was the freezing over of the River Torridge around the Bridge. Both of these happened during a prolonged period of extremely cold weather, but the impacts were very different.

The first, shown here in two contemporary photographs, saw headlines in the Bideford Gazette which read ‘Distress in Bideford – A relief committee formed.’ Many men worked in outdoor occupations and the long period of frost and snow saw many thrown out of work and in ‘distress’.

In response the Mayor and rector hosted a meeting to seek subscriptions to provide soup to families said to be ‘on the verge of starvation’. The Gazette reports the sums donated by the councillors present, which ranged from 52p to £5. Further money came in over the next few days – enough to open a daily Soup Kitchen at the Music Hall in Bridgeland Street, with a second kitchen opening at East-the-Water every other day and another at Old Town also operating on alternate days. In addition Messrs How & Co. announced the distribution of several tons of coal to the poor.

A week later the Gazette could report ‘From all quarters little children were converging upon the Music Hall; some carried jugs, and others swung empty cans, some were warmly clad, many, alas, were thinly clad, but all looked hungry, and there was an anxiety in the eyes of some of the little mothers as they hurried along Bridgeland Street, lest the soup should hold out until their turn came.’

Eventually some £120 was collected and spent on soup, this being enough to tide the poor over the worst effects of the cold snap.

Compare this to the freezing up of the Torridge in 1963 – shown in the photograph below. No-one was starving and no soup kitchen was required – but the Bridge Trust did employ a large group of unemployed men to break up the larger ice floes piled up against the Bridge piers in order to protect the arches from damage. Unfortunately the damage that was caused was later blamed for the collapse of the two westernmost arches five years later. This could never be proved, of course, but suffice to say it seems unlikely that the Bridge and Bidefordians will experience another cold period so extreme that the river freezes over – but we will see.

Peter Christie.

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Felicity’s sustainable fish cookery – December.

Posted on 02/12/2017 by Tango Alpha

 

Many people have asked me about the different smoked versions of Clovelly Herring that are so plentiful in December. Traditionally the herring would be smoked to eat through the winter months, so I have added a very simple recipe for ‘Kippercakes’ that can be made in a batch and use for quick delicious breakfast or supper.

Here are all the types of smoked herring we sell on our stall; more info on Appledore Sustainable Fish facebook.

Kippers – Split and cold smoked Clovelly herrings, either whole on the bone or boned.

Bloaters – Cold smoked whole fish: requires short cooking time.

Bucklings – Hot smoked Clovelly herring: whole fish smoked, ready to eat.

Cold smoked cured kipper fillets; Ready to slice thinly and ready to eat.

Red Herrings: smoked whole, and in the kiln for at least a week!  Combine into a fish dish.

The simplest way to cook our Clovelly kippers is to jug them in a modern way-

Remove the kippers from the packaging and place the kippers – boned or whole in the bottom of cooking pot with a close-fitting lid.

Pour boiling water over the fish until they are totally submerged and replace the lid, thus trapping the steam.

Leave to steep for 5-15 mins, depending on size, turning over if the kippers are large – most Clovelly kippers will only require 10 mins.

Remove from hot water and pour away this water in the drain outside – to stop the fish smell in the kitchen/house.

Dress the kippers with a knob of butter, a squeeze of lemon and freshly ground pepper.

Eat with brown bread-fresh or toasted and a squeeze of more lemon – Delicious!

Mackerel or Kipper Cakes.

Serves 4

Ingredients.

455g kipper or smoked mackerel fillets, fresh or defrosted, skinned

Beaten egg. Worcestershire sauce. 170g fresh breadcrumbs, lemon.

Method.

Preheat grill.

Place fillets into a food processor or blender. Process or blend until finely flaked.

Stir in egg, dash Worcestershire sauce and breadcrumbs.

Divide mixture into 8 pieces and shaped into 5cm rounds. Chill for 10-15 minutes.

Cook under low grill for 8-10 minutes, turning once.

Garnish with lemon and serve with salad and tomato and onion relish.

Excellent breakfast dish ; recipe from ‘Seafood Kitchen’.

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Bideford’s ‘prefabs’.

Posted on 03/11/2017 by Tango Alpha

During the Second World War huge numbers of houses were destroyed by enemy action, and as early as 1944 Winston Churchill announced an EFM (Emergency Factory Made) housing programme. In 1945 the new prime minister Clement Atlee began implementing the scheme and within six years some one million new ‘prefabs’, as they came to be known, had been built – and I lived in one as a child.

In Bideford some fifty were built at Bowden Green and named the Grenville estate. The rapidly assembled, prefabricated houses were simple but perfectly acceptable constructions and, unusually for the time, were ‘all electric’ with luxurious touches like fridges being available. The first was opened in April 1946 by the Mayor W.H.Chubb, who was accompanied by councillors and some of the first tenants. All this was reported in the Gazette along with some photographs as shown here.

The buildings were only designed for a 10 year life span but residents grew to love them so much they didn’t want to leave and it wasn’t until July 1964 that the town council decided to demolish them. This move immediately led to protests from the prefab dwellers – as shown in the attached cutting from the Gazette.

The tenants lost the battle, however, and their houses were removed and replaced by 3-storey blocks of flats – which in their time have now been demolished and replaced by new accommodation! Nothing ever stands still, but one has to wonder if the concept of ‘prefabs’ should be revisited to help tackle the nation’s current housing shortage?

Peter Christie.

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Felicity’s sustainable fish cookery – November.

Posted on 24/10/2017 by Tango Alpha

Here is a Devon version of ‘Stargazey pasties’ made with Clovelly herrings.

Devonshire Stargazey Pasty.

Ingredients.

450g puff pastry.

225g potato (cubed).

4/6 Herrings – filleted and sliced.

rashers of bacon.

1 onion.

50g butter .

1 tbsp. chives – chopped.

1 tbsp. parsley, chopped.

275g clotted cream.

Milk or egg for glazing.

Method.

Boil the potatoes for about 15mins.

Grill the bacon until the edges start browning, also slice and fry the onions in light oil until they are softened.

Chop up the cooked bacon and add to a bowl with the cooked diced potato, sliced herring fillets, chopped herbs and the softened onions and mix together.

On a floured surface roll out the puff pastry thinly and then cut rounds out to fit size 7inch/18cm side plates.

Fill the centre of each round with mixture on one half (be careful not to overfill). Add a spoonful of clotted cream on top.

Dampen the edges of the pasty with milk, fold and crimp the edges together carefully so that everything is sealed in.

Glaze with beaten egg and milk mixed, or just milk, and place on a non- stick baking tray.

Bake in the oven at 180C /gas mark 4 for 30 mins. until pastry is a golden brown.

Serve with seasonal vegetables or salad or take out with you on a walk or picnic.

Delicious with tomato chutney!

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Rope Walk – “The Battle of the Posts”.

Posted on 22/10/2017 by Tango Alpha

Rope Walk today is a narrow but well used roadway running parallel to the Pill. Its name obviously records the presence of the ropemaking industry which was once so important to the ship-owning merchants of Bideford – but how many know the odd story behind the disappearance of the industry?

Around 1876 H.M.Restarick, a ship-builder of East-the-Water, took over the Rope Walk and, aware of the need for ever longer ropes, extended his ropemaking yard including some new posts – right across Chingswell Street and into the Strand. This obviously upset the local residents who immediately complained to the town council, who responded by ordering Restarick to take down the new posts as soon as possible.

Unfortunately Restarick was also a town councillor himself and he told his fellow councillors bluntly ‘Horses, carts, carriages, pedestrians etc could only pass subject to the convenience of the rope manufacturers’ and he really couldn’t understand why everyone was getting so agitated!

The council then ordered their Surveyor and his men to physically remove the contentious posts. They arrived at 7 a.m. one morning – only to find Restarick and some 50 of his employees guarding the posts. The shipbuilder then ‘dared the Surveyor to touch the posts’ – at which point the council men retreated.

Local papers satirically termed this ‘The Battle of the Posts’ as they reported a second attempt to uproot the posts at midnight where ‘a big strong fellow by the name of Passmore’ led the council men but as soon as he began work he was seized by Restarick’s men and escorted away. He was lucky as the ropemakers ‘had a bucket of tar and a bag of feathers near at hand and were very anxious to use them.’ To celebrate their victory they erected some ‘triumphal arches’ made of evergreens and topped with triumphant mottoes.

A month or so after this a council election was held where ‘pro-post’ candidates were elected in the heaviest poll ever recorded in town. The new council half-heartedly attempted to reach some agreement but Restarick refused and the posts remained at least until 1906 when, some 8 years after Restarick had died, the owner of the Strand Collar Works, which had replaced the Rope Walk ‘generously decided to forego his rights in respect of the posts on the Strand’ and they were removed. Exciting times in Bideford!

Peter Christie.

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Felicity’s sustainable fish cookery – October.

Posted on 26/09/2017 by Tango Alpha

Here is a wonderfully flexible and tasty recipe for a pasta cod dish. The original is a recipe from a restaurant in Rome -so an authentic Italian / Mediterranean dish. The best fish to use is salt cod. I used some fish from Newfoundland given to me by a cod fisherman from Petty Harbour near St Johns, when I visited in July. I also use fresh spinach for the vegetarian dish -both versions are delicious. You can use fresh cod or even local caught pollack as well.

Tagliatelle with Cod and pecorino cheese. (vegetarian version with fresh spinach leaves).

Ingredients

For the Stock-2 sticks of celery and chopped onion, fennel trimmings or seeds, parsley stalks and block pepper or peppercorns. 350g cod fillet (or salt cod fillet, if available).

50-100g of fresh washed spinach leaves – for a vegetarian dish.

1 small onion (could be red onion, for added colour).

6 tbsp. olive oil.

450g tagliatelle or spaghetti.

100g pecorino cheese, or ready grated Italian cheese.

Method

Simmer the stock ingredients together for about 15 min Poach the fresh cod in the stock for under 5mins, or soaked salt cod for 10 mins. Lift out with a slotted spoon, blot with kitchen towel and pull away from skin, and using a fork flake the fish and set aside in a bowl. If using spinach leaves wash the leaves and set to dry in a colander.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. Chop the onion into chunky pieces. In a large frying pan fry the onion in the olive oil until soft and lift the pasta with any residual water clinging to it.

Pull the pan from the heat, add the cheese and mix vigorously until creamy – adding extra pasta cooking water, if necessary. Add the torn basil and fish flakes (or spinach leaves) toss again, and serve.Add more grated cheese and garnish with basil sprigs.

This tastes absolutely delicious whether with fish or spinach leaves.

September was a busy Fish Festival month with Festivals in Newquay and Brixham. Wouldn’t it be good if we could have a fish festival in Appledore Fish Dock next year to celebrate both River and Sea fishing? Let me know if you would like to contribute to this idea? [email protected]. Next month is Herring Month with recipes for fresh and smoked Herring.

The Bideford Bridge Trust has awarded a grant to two Primary schools in Bideford for the Brilliant Fish Education group to run “History of Fishing in Newfoundland and Salt cod recipe demonstration/tasting sessions this Autumn.

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All the fun of the Fair!

Posted on 02/09/2017 by Tango Alpha

Fairs have been visiting Bideford for one hundred and fifty years at least and even though today they face huge competition from computer games and local attractions the travelling show people still come. The history of the fair in Bideford has rarely been recorded but we know that for much of the nineteenth century the stalls and sideshows were erected on the Strand. Shown in photograph 1 is one of the boxing booths on the Strand where aspiring local boxers could take on professionals – and, more often than not, realise they weren’t quite as good as they thought.

When the gulley and stream flowing down the Pill was finally filled in around 1900 to accommodate the Bideford and Westward Ho! railway (the Appledore section came later) the showmen soon realised this large area of flat land would be ideal for their stalls and rides and they moved here – as shown in photograph 2. Notice the amount of litter scattered around – clearly this isn’t just a modern problem. The presence of the Kingsley statue (erected 1906) and the fashions indicate this picture dates from around 1910.

The third photograph shows the 1968 fair, with some very traditional-looking sideshows.

For many decades visiting fairs set up on the Pill and even spilled on to the Quay and along Bridgeland Street.

Over time, however, demands for car parking and complaints over road blockages saw the council move the fair site to the river bank in 1970 as shown in the unusual fourth photograph below taken from the top of the Post Office sometime around 1975.

This site was rather small and when the new Riverbank car park was opened in 1991 it allowed the larger rides and stalls we see today to spread out. Whatever their age many Bidefordians will have happy memories of when ‘the fair’ came to town, so let us hope the show people continue to visit bringing a touch of the exotic to Bideford during the few days they are here.

Peter Christie.

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Another ‘lost shop’ – Taylor Brothers.

Posted on 17/08/2017 by Tango Alpha

Shops come and go all the time in all towns, with a few lasting for some time – but even these eventually close. One that fits this latter category is Taylor Brothers’ shoe shop in Mill Street. I first started buying shoes there 40 years ago, but John and Angela Taylor, the present owners, can trace the beginnings of the business back to around 1938 when John’s father Reg served his apprenticeship with a shoe repair shop situated in one of the Art Deco buildings in front of the Baptist church in Mill Street.

Reg used his new skills to set up his own outlet in the front room of a house in Meddon Street and after the war set up a shoe repair business with his brother Mick in New Street, Torrington (opposite White’s Lane). The two did well, especially after securing the contract to repair shoes for both RAF Chivenor and St.Mawgan’s, and in 1949 moved back to Bideford acquiring 44 Mill Street and later the adjoining number 43. The two shops were completely remodelled in the 1970s to create the premises that have become familiar to generations of children and parents alike. As their available space enlarged so the brothers expanded into selling new shoes and leather goods and then added key cutting to their services. Reg died in 1981 just a year after taking on his son John, and the latter continued to run the business with his uncle Mick who passed on in 1995.

John and Angela have run it successfully with their 5-6 staff until this year when they have decided to retire. Over the years the shop hasn’t just catered for those buying new shoes or repairing old ones but has also provided some ‘special’ lines as well. These include making a pair of boots for a black Berkshire sow who had sore feet, repairing a diving suit and even making some size 20 shoes for local entertainer Jay the Clown. Oddest of all must have been the male customer who walked into the shop, took off his trousers and asked the surprised staff if they could mend his wooden leg!

All good things come to an end, it is said, and now this much loved shoe shop is closing some 68 years after it first opened – one of the longest lived businesses in the town. It will be much missed.

Peter Christie.

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A brief history of the Custom House.

Posted on 27/07/2017 by Tango Alpha

Bideford’s buildings are constantly being reinvented – and anyone walking along to the Post Office will have noticed the old Custom House has become a new coffee shop – with some of the best views over the river from its first floor windows.

The main bulk of the building itself dates from 1695, just three years after the Bideford Bridge Trustees decided to develop a new street to be called Bridgeland. The first house was constructed by Nicholas Gascoyne in 1692-93, being the handsome brown brick building known to most as ‘Dr.Candler’s’. Nicholas, whose name suggests he was a descendant of French Huguenots who fled to North Devon, was a local carpenter and his work was evidently good enough for him to be granted a 99 year lease on the Custom House site on which he built himself a house.

By 1760 Benjamin Grant was leasing the house and there is a note in the Bridge Trust minutes from 1778 asking him ‘to replace the Stone which some time since was taken down from the Wall of the House he inhabits facing Bridgeland Street which Stone sett forth the time the said Street was built.‘ I wonder what happened to that?

In 1792 a new lease was granted to Thomas Grant, who was the Bridge Trust Steward, but he does not appear to have lived in it as by 1794 he was building Northdown House (later the Convent). A decade later three spinster sisters called Morrison were leasing the house though whether they actually lived there or not is uncertain. A surviving sister was still the leaseholder in 1832 when the building was noted as being the HQ of the local customs officers.

The earliest surviving census from 1841 records various of these officers living here – as they are so recorded up until the 1891 census when 72 year old Thomas Martin, ‘a gentleman,’ was then the occupant. In the 1901 and 1911 censuses William Martin, a retired builder, was living here and it seems to have continued as a private house until becoming a shop.

People may recall the dry cleaners that were based here for some years before it became a public house (Tequila Jack’s, Quigley’s, Custom House etc). Today it has been refurbished as a coffee shop, delicatessen and cinema, and enters a new stage in its long life.

Peter Christie.

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A brief history of the Palladium Club.

Posted on 02/06/2017 by Tango Alpha

The Club began life in 1919 as the stables for the Heavitree Inn. In 1926 it was the Palladium Cinema and the ticket office was situated where Patts’ Fruit and Vegetable shop now is in Mill St. Later it became a Gentlemen’s Club, then for many years it was the home of the SWEB Social Club.The Palladium Club developed from this, with the bar made from the original skittle alley.(You can still see the brass points where the pins used to be placed before people played.)

The club has evolved from being a members’ drinking club to what it is now, a music venue with acts, both from our local area and as far away as Europe and America. The club also offers the facilities for snooker, pool and darts and has its own teams which continue to support the club.

The club is an important part of Bideford giving musicians a place to play and learn their craft – it would be very sad to see it go. The new owner is Ben Nigh ; we wish him well.

Margie Hughes (former owner).

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