Memories of Bideford Shipyard.

Many thanks to Mr. Freddie Palmer, who provided these photos. We’re sure that they’ll be of interest to many people.

Buzz” is dating the photos of the trawler “Galatea” as 1975, since records show that as date of launch.  Names supplied by Freddie Palmer & Kenny Davis. 

Any further photos for publication would be welcomed, as would memories of the Shipyard’s history.

 

122a

Above,  L-R : Phil Pester, Harold Braund, Bill ‘Bimbo’ Hocking, Fred Palmer, Matty Blackmore.

 

3

Above,    L-R on deck : Alan Tuplin, ?, Phil Pester.

on slipway : ?, Colin Pennington, ?.

 

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Above,   Alan Walker.

66a

L-R : Des Roberts, Raymond Garrard, Matty Blackmore.

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Buzz” shipping correspondent Norman Hardaker has supplied a schedule of vessels launched at Bideford Shipbuilders between 1966 & 1975 (listed as Name, category, & displacement).

1966.

Isle of Gigha / Sound of Gigha – ferry, 60.35 tons.

1967.

Fregata – fishing, 44.8 tons.

Sagitario – fishing, 44.8 tons.

Ibis – fishing, 44.8 tons.

1968.

Nocella – fishing, 22.17 tons.

Hasa Hasa – fishing, 40 tons.

Joanna C – fishing, 25 tons.

1969.

Don Bosco – fishing, 24.9 tons.

Polo – barge, 41.22 tons.

1970.

Our Tracey – fishing, 25.11 tons.

Barbarella – fishing, 25.11 tons.

WB.01 – WB.05 (5 vessels) – work boats, 25 tons.

1971.

Gull – pilot, 22 tons.

Miss Anna – tug, 83.21 tons.

1972.

Miss Debbie – tug, 83.21 tons.

Guardwell – customs, 30 tons.

Tri Star – passenger, 42.8 tons.

Polo II – hopper barge, 58.29 tons.

1973.

Peter David – passenger, 17.11 tons.

Golden Mariana – passenger, 40 tons.

1974.

Grima – ferry, 147.76 tons.

RNLB City of Bristol – lifeboat, 90 tons.

Langdale – trawler, 102.5 tons.

Majestic – trawler, 102.5 tons.

Solent Scene – passenger, 50 tons.

1975.

Vision – trawler, 102.5 tons.

Galatea – trawler, 102.5 tons.

 

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For photos and information on some of the vessels on the above list that are still in use, link here. (By kind permission of ShipPhotos).

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Happy Hours at the Bideford Ship Yard.

If I ever had the joy of ‘happy hour’ in my long working life, it has to be the two and a half years at Bideford Ship Yard, between coming home from the Dark Continent in 1972 until August 1974 when again returning to the African Veld.

At the Bideford Yard in those far off days we didn’t get as much on the hour compared to the big yard a mile down river, but we had plenty of daily laughs and a pleasure to go to work.

Looking at the front cover of the February edition showing photos of the former yard sent in by Fred Palmer (well done that man) – and yes, I do recognise most in the photo – Harold Braund, Bimbo Hocking, Fred Palmer, Mattie Blackmoor, can be seen standing on the nearby platform; in the second photo I can recognise Alan Tuplin, and further in the middle of three Bogey Clover, Colin Elliot and Steve Wicks.

There was one old hand in the ‘afternoon’ of his working life (Fred will remember him), a shipwright in his younger days serving King and country, who saw action at the River Plate aboard HMS Exeter . He had a number of repetitive catch phrases – ‘it can’t go on like this’, ‘the money’s run out,’ ‘where is it all going to end.? ‘ Then there was another shipwright of the same age who would more often than not break into song and sing his praises to the Lord for all the yard to hear :- ‘ it is not night while they are near.’

There was one piece of satire written on the toilet house wall – ‘ thank goodness for the raft, just to say we have launched something.’

One shipwright went by the name of ‘give us a fag’ ; as for me I was known at times as the ‘snorter king.’

Happy days,happy memories.

Kenny Davis – Blacksmith. Retired.

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Christmas in Nineteenth-Century Bideford.

by Liz Shakespeare.

Today, our local newspapers are full of advertisements for Christmas presents, Christmas events and Christmas meals, but when we look at the newspapers of the nineteenth century, it is apparent that the festival was a less commercial affair.

Few shops advertised Christmas goods in the newspapers, but there were some exceptions:

screenshot_07(These advertisements are from the Bideford Gazette in 1869 and 1863).

We often hear complaints today that Christmas goods start appearing in the shops in September or October, but in 1886, it was only on the 23rd December that the following observation appeared in the North Devon Journal

Bideford Christmas at the shops. The shop windows are now in full festive attire – especially, of course, those of the grocers, drapers and stationers – and are receiving their full share of attention.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, many people had only one day’s holiday at Christmas. Boxing Day did not become a Bank Holiday until 1871 but it would appear that a holiday, for some people, was kept before that date by mutual consent.

A report in the Bideford Weekly Gazette on 22nd December 1857 stated:

Christmas Holiday The public are respectfully informed that the principal Merchants and Tradesmen of this Town, having kindly consented to suspend business on Saturday, 26th instant, being the day after Christmas-day, A general holiday will be kept on that day. The public are requested to facilitate the object by making their purchases on Thursday 24th December.

By 1885, some traders were taking a third day – this is from 1885, when Christmas Day fell on a Thursday. CHRISTMAS DAY passed very quietly at Bideford, as did also Boxing Day. Saturday was also exceedingly quiet. Most of the ironmongers, nearly all the shoemakers, and several other shopkeepers, kept up the holiday by closing their establishments on that day also.

It was expected that the poor should be remembered at Christmas and it was common practice for Christmas parties to be provided for those who might otherwise go without.

North Devon Journal 1st January 1863 –

The aged poor. Not the least interesting gathering of the poor at this festive season took place through the kindness of T.L. Pridham Esq. at his residence on Christmas day, when 65 of the oldest inhabitants of the town sat down to a sumptuous repast of old English fare of roast beef and plum pudding. The dinner was held in the hall which was tastefully decorated for the occasion. On the centre of the dining table was an elegant silver flower basket under a glass shade which was the gift of 500 of the poor inhabitants of Bideford.

This was Thomas Lawrence Pridham, a GP who lived in the house then known as Hyefield, in Pitt Lane. It seems rather strange that the ‘poor inhabitants’ should give him an apparently expensive present!

Those unfortunate enough to spend Christmas in the Workhouse were not forgotten and most years got a mention in the newspaper. In December 1864 it was reported:

The Bideford Guardians ordered roast beef and plum pudding for the poor in the Union Workhouse on Christmas Day, with other luxuries and a libation of good ale.

The market was the centre of activity for Christmas shopping and every year both the North Devon Journal and the Bideford Gazette carried an account of the Christmas market. This example is from the Bideford Gazette in 1859 –

The exhibition of Christmas fare displayed in our market on Tuesday last was very fine, and seldom have we seen a larger attendance of purchasers and sight-seers than was gathered there during a portion of the day. The average rates maintained throughout were: beef, 7d to 8d; mutton, 6d to 7½d; pork, 6½dto 7½d; turkeys 9d; geese 9d per lb; ducks, 3s each. Some of the stalls in the meat market were tastefully fitted up, conspicuous amongst which we observed were those of Mr R. Holman and Mr T. Holman (Bideford), Mr Fulford (Northam) and Mr Withecombe (Buckland Brewer)

The reporting of Christmas activities in Bideford was, of course, dependent on the interests and observations of the journalist. In 1851 Edward Capern, later known as the Bideford postman-poet, became the Bideford correspondent for the North Devon Journal, and his contributions were more detailed and descriptive than others – and sometimes included lines from his own poems. The following is from 27th December 1855, just after the opening of the railway from Barnstaple to Bideford.

The Season The time-honoured festival of Christmas is again present with us, a fact that appears to have so thoroughly occupied the public of this ancient town during the past week, that there is nothing but what relates to it left to record. The railway has given additional activity to the duties of the season; perhaps at no former period has there been so many Christmas visitors, persons who have found their way home by that cheap and rapid path. It is pleasing to see that the same liberality that has prevailed in former years is still the order of the day; the charity of the rich is introducing a gleam of sunshine into the dwellings of the poor. The great Birth-day was introduced by the merry music of the church bells, while the ‘waits’ made the night air vocal with their ‘carols’ in the streets. The grocers’ windows are decorated as befits the generous time – the new fruits never looked more tempting, nor found more customers. One object famous in Christmas decoration, which has reached us this year, and never was until now seen in the market, is the mistletoe – a visitor we owe to the rail.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the sending of Christmas presents and cards became more popular, as the following report illustrates. I have heard that it was not unusual for pheasants and chickens to be posted unwrapped with a label tied around their necks!

North Devon Journal 31st December 1896

The Christmas season produced a greater strain upon the officials of the Bideford Post Office than has ever been experienced before. The parcel post has been used to an unequalled extent, large quantities of poultry, Devonshire cream, and game, besides miscellaneous goods of all kinds having been despatched and delivered. The delivered parcels numbered 3,084 and weighed eight tons. There were despatched 2880 parcels weighing 7 tons 4 cwt. Christmas cards have been posted and delivered in much greater numbers than previously. The sale of postage stamps has exceeded the record of the 1894 season by nearly 100 per cent. The approximate number of letters passing through the office during the Christmas period was 143,000.

I wonder how these statistics compare with today?

Liz Shakespeare is the author of four books set in the Bideford area.

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Hungarians, not Bidefordians.

I was rather surprised to see the photograph (see above) on the first page of the July ‘Buzz’ labelled ‘An early Bideford Town Band’. The gentlemen shown went by the name of the ‘Hungarian Band’. They were a group of itinerant musicians who regularly turned up in Bideford during the Summer tourist season and played for anyone who would pay for them. The earliest reference I have is from May 1892 when the North Devon Journal carried a small mention –


Two months later they were playing at a fete held by St.Peter’s church at Chudleigh Fort and a month after this they provided the music at an outing to Westward Ho! for 70 inmates of the Bideford Workhouse. In September members of the Westleigh Sunday Schools marched through the village headed by the Band.

The next year they played for the Bideford Foresters’ and Oddfellows’ Friendly Societies at their fete held in the grounds of Porthill. Also in 1893 they appeared at the Regatta and also at the Bideford Horse Show though here they ‘augmented’ the Town Band –

This wasn’t one of their happiest events as during their return the carriage they were riding in crashed and both they and the Town Band members were thrown out, though luckily no-one was badly injured.

One notable occasion was when they appear to have been hired to play at the opening of the Bideford-Westward Ho! railway in May 1901 with at least three of their members, attired in military style uniforms being pictured in a photograph of the event –


The band re-appear year after year in the local newspapers though I haven’t seen any mention of them after 1910, which would seem to have been the date at which they either disbanded or removed to a new site.

Peter Christie.

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‘The Book of Hartland’.

While Bideford Library has marched boldly into the 21st Century with its Wi-Fi and e-book service, we shouldn’t forget the wealth of historical material also kept here. We have a wonderful set of old photographs and also an impressive collection of dusty old books relating to the history of Bideford and Devon more widely. It’s a shame that these aren’t used more, so this is the first in a series of occasional articles drawing your attention to some of the books that we feel deserve greater appreciation.

The bulk of our collection was bequeathed to us by Richard Pearse Chope (1862-1938), a native of Hartland parish. He was a keen local historian and member of the Devonshire Association and regularly wrote articles for them and also the Hartland Chronicle. We have a run of the Chronicle from 1896-1931 and while they are fascinating to read, they are in poor condition so we have to be very careful when producing them. On his death, Chope left a nearly-completed book based on these articles so with some editing and minor additions, The Book of Hartland was published in 1940. The editor, Isobel Thornley from University College London, sadly also died shortly afterwards in an air raid so it was quite a troubled publication. Pictured is the title page and frontispiece showing the author looking very dapper with his neatly trimmed beard.

Despite being a wartime production, the quality of the book is really quite nice. The paper is strong and retains its crispness and it is bound in a dark blue cloth. I haven’t been able to find out how many were printed but it must have been very few, probably numbering in hundreds. An acknowledgment at the front of the book thanks the Devonshire Association and 172 subscribers who financially supported the printing. Despite all this, the book is not really valuable. At the time of writing, there is currently a nice copy listed on ebay for £26!

As the title suggests the book is concerned with the story of Hartland. It’s not a conventional history but a series of chapters, some of them only a few pages long, on a variety of topics from Saxon times until the 1800s. I’ll leave it to you to come and browse through the book, but my favourite chapter is a reproduction of the Borough Accounts from 1612-1807. This is a long list of payments made to travellers, soldiers, the poor and others. So for example in 1613 payments were made to watch Elloner Prust, presumably because there was no jail in Hartland. Also to provide ‘candells’ and bread while she was being detained and then to carry her to Exeter where the Assize Court would have been held. We wonder what Elloner did! There are still Prusts living in the area so maybe her descendants are among us. Elsewhere we read about ‘howses’ being burnt by ‘piratts’ and torn down by papists. In the seventeenth century most of the payments seem to have been made to Irish people. This was a time of famine in Ireland and also population being displaced by English Settlements. It seems that many of the poor Irish turned up in Devon where they received charity from the good people of Hartland.

Please come and look through the book for yourself. It can’t be taken out from the library, but we also have a facsimile edition published in 1995 which can be borrowed.

Matt Chamings, Bideford Library.

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Time capsules and the Port Memorial.

Saturday April 11th saw an interesting event on the Quay when the restored Port Memorial and Ornamental Gardens were re- opened by the Mayor following refurbishment.

Councillor David Howell had also organised a ceremony with the Sea Scouts to bury a time capsule containing items from local groups and organisations within the town, (including 4 years worth of Bideford Buzz on a memory stick.) The plan is that the capsule will be excavated in 30 years time and will give a snapshot of life in Bideford in 2015.

Councillor Peter Christie described the history of the Port Memorial, which commemorates how Bideford regained its port status in 1925 after losing it in 1882. This was echoed in an historical description by the Town Crier.

A rather wonderful terracotta mural has been designed and built by ceramicist Maggie Curtis, and this now forms part of the memorial. Maggie writes ;-

‘Being asked to make commemorative plaques for a public memorial is an honour, but daunting, especially when my knowledge of the history of Bideford Port was sketchy at best. However the research was fascinating; I found out why Harry Juniper called Peter’s Marland clay “pipe clay”, why, when on holiday in Portugal in 1967 at the Cascois’ Fiesta, the prize for the Greasy pole was a salt cod, and why there are so many Americans visiting the North Devon Maritime Museum in Appledore.

I decided to show Bideford’s mercantile shipping history by depicting two illustrated trade maps. Bideford’s shipbuilding industry played a crucial part in enabling Bideford’s merchants to trade, so I researched and found named Bideford-built ships throughout the history of both Tobacco and Salt Cod  and used them to represent the development of each trade and their subsidiary cargos.’

Interestingly Bideford has two other time capsules in place. Just at the entrance to Victoria Park is the Millennium Time Capsule, buried there in 2000. Another little book, ‘Secrets of Bideford’ (available at Bideford Library) describes the burying of art works in the fabric of the Quay when the flood defence scheme was completed.

Future generations of Bidefordians will have plenty of archive material to peruse!

RA.

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From Hungarian refugee to Glorious Devon bistro owner.

It’s funny how Facebook opens up all sorts of windows and lets us see inside other people’s lives. The latest “7 facts that you may not know about me” has resulted in this article.

My mother, Julianna Ibolya Homolya, left Hungary with just me and one suitcase after the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Mum was 24 years old and I was two. Neither of us spoke a word of English. After catching a train and walking for miles to a “safe” opening in the barbed wire fencing that was all around the border of Hungary and Austria, then spending a few nights in an Austrian farmer’s barn along with several others, we ended up initially in a refugee camp in Austria. Then we were allocated a space in England.

After reading this on Facebook, Rose Arno, Bideford Buzz’s Editor, responded by telling me that she clearly remembers, as a schoolchild, knitting woollen squares for blankets for Hungarian refugees. I can happily say that not only were we, as a family, grateful for one of those blankets and indeed had it for many years, but so were all the tenants of the house that we lived in when we finally arrived in the Midlands in 1958.

So how did I get to be living in glorious Devon? It has been my dream to live in Devon for almost thirty years, along with my other dream of owning a Bistro. It has been a long and eventful journey and I have made so many friends and hopefully introduced a tiny corner of Hungary to the Devon coastline. Imagine it started with the clothes on my back, a few changes of undies and a tenacious and brave young woman. Thanks, Mum.

Here is a classic Hungarian dish for you to try, which many of you will think is Goulash, but it is in fact Pörköltt. ‘Guylas leves’, translated to ‘Goulash’, is in fact a soup – Hungarians generally have a soup before every meal and Gulyas leves used to be eaten on the Plains by herdsman, made in huge tureens, much like the cowboys in America.

Take a look at my Facebook page – Nanna’s Kitchen, Combe Martin. You will see menus and opening hours and will be able to buy sachets of the herbs and spices needed to make this dish and others, in the right quantity and using Hungarian Paprika and Hungarian Marjoram. ENJOY!

Ildi McIndoe.

‘Pörköltt’ – Paprika Casserole.

(Serves four).

Ingredients

500 grams diced pork, from loin of pork.

1 tablespoon oil – sunflower, rapeseed, or vegetable.

1 large onion.

1 clove garlic.

1 tin chopped tomatoes.

1 large tablespoon of sweet Hungarian Paprika.

1 heaped teaspoon of Marjoram.

Salt and pepper.

Garnishes.

Small pot of sour cream

Finely chopped fresh parsley

A few thinly chopped sweet and sour gherkins.

Serve with chosen pasta shapes.

Method.

Finely dice onion and clove of garlic (or,for a better sauce, use a food processor or mini chopper to finely chop).

Heat the oil in a large frying pan ; add the onion and garlic and fry very gently, taking care not to overcook. It should stay translucent.

Keep it at a low heat for about ten minutes. When the onion and garlic have soaked up all the oil and are soft and golden, add the pork pieces and brown on all sides.

Add the Hungarian Paprika and Marjoram and just coat all the pork quickly. Add the tinned tomatoes and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Bring to the boil, add salt and pepper to taste.

Leave to simmer gently with a lid on for about thirty minutes. Take off the lid and test a piece of pork to see if the meat is cooked. If not, put the lid on and leave for another 10 minutes. Be patient, do not rush this point. You need the pork to fall apart when gently pressed.

If the sauce is too watery then remove the lid and cook gently until the sauce thickens to a coating sauce, as this will be served with pasta.

Serve with pasta that has a little bite, so that it still wants to soak up the sauce. Add the Pörköltt on top of the pasta and for a final authentic flourish add a tablespoon of sour cream on top and a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley.

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Training the Army Horse.

(Whilst turning out old cassette tapes recently, I came across a recording in Devonshire dialect, made by my father, Percy Reed (1907 – 2001) of Northam, in 1985.

It told the tale of a childhood incident in which he was involved when his father was training a WW1 army horse.

I have since produced a 4-minute YouTube video which includes his recording, together with the script, for anyone who is interested! I have printed the script below.)

For the YouTube Video see: http://youtu.be/FOnb1HVOvV4

I’d like to take ee back a vew years jist arter the first world war and tell ee bout Varmer Tom and the army horse. Now Tom was a master hand wi horses, what ee didn knaw bout em wadn worth the tellin. If anybody in the village had ort wrung wi their horse they’d come rinning to Tom and you may depain if ee couldn put en right twas a waste of time zending ver the Vet. Aye, ee knawed all bout horses sure nuff.

Wull twas like this yer. Arder the war the army had to zell off a lot of horses wot theyd vinished wi and zo they had these horse zales up to Exeter and anybody that knawed Tom would ax en to go up and buy one for em. This zeemed to work out purty well, they could trist Tom to git the right horse for em and nort plaized Tom better than to hav a day off to Exeter.

Now the one I want to tell ee about was one ee bought for eself an Ive yerd tell ee had a vine ole caper gitting en on the train up to St Davids til Tom thought about whipping off es best jacket and put en awver the horses haid and backed en in the truck.

Ive erd zay that zome of these horse traders when they wanted to zell a broken down ole horse theyd given a veed of Vuz chaff avore the zale to liven en up. Wull this one didn need ort like that, more likely ee needed something to quieten en down, zo Varmer Tom thought e’d try en out in the chaffcutter. Zo ee hitched en up and led en round a vew times to git en in the way au’t. Now me en me brither (jist boy-like) stood watching this gwain on, zo Tom axed us to leyd the horse round whilst ee went up to the tallet to git a vew wads of straw.

I dont knaw what thatole horse hed done in the war but whativer twas it didn include gwain roun-in-roun in little circles and no zooner hed Tom turned ees back he reared up and bevore us knawed what hed appened the horse was flat on the ground all tangled up with the tackle. Zo Varmer told us two boys to kneel on es neck while ee tried to git en free.

Wull us was only a couple of tackers and ver all the good us done us mayht jist as well ev told us to kneel on a vuz bush. The ole horse wadn gwain to let a couple of whipper snappers like us keep en down and twadn very long avore hes haid come up vollowed by the rest awn, and us two boys landed in the … wull I wont tell ee what us landed in but us didn smell very sweet, jist about as sweet as Varmer Tom when ee hollered “why didn ee keep ees haid down like I told ee”. Howiver there wadn no damage done but I can tell ee twas the last time thicky horse went in the chaffcutter.

Cynthia Snowden.

For the YouTube Video see: http://youtu.be/FOnb1HVOvV4

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Freemasonry in Bideford.

‘Buzz’ has been very fortunate to receive various donations from Bideford’s Freemasons. They are well known for their charitable work and many local organisations have benefited from their fund-raising.

I asked Peter Christie what he could tell us about the history of the Lodge.

The following information is taken from his book, ‘ More North Devon History,’ originally published in the North Devon Journal-Herald 23/5/1985.

In 1843 the fourth lodge called ‘Benevolence’ was formed. Early members included the Town Clerk and the Mayor TB Chanter and this is the one that still remains today.

Its original home was in the Commercial Reading Room, an earlier forerunner of the town library. It moved from there to the Newfoundland hotel (now Mr Chips) thence to 9, Grenville street (now the Cafe Collective). From these premises the lodge moved to a hall in Bridgeland Street and finally secured its own rooms in October 1875 in the present day Masonic Hall in the same street. This was once the home of Thomas Stucley, a noted eccentric, and opposite the Conservative Club. (Home of Dr Ackland – see article ‘A Nineteenth-Century Bideford Doctor’).

The Victorian newspapers have various reports of this lodge – generally in January when new officers were installed and the annual banquet was held. For many years this was in the New Inn where ‘Brother Ascott’ was the host.

The lodge can look back at some 200 years of masonic history in Bideford – a very long period of connection with the town.”

(For the full story, read ‘More North Devon History’ by Peter Christie).

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A Nineteenth-Century Bideford Doctor.

William Henry Ackland was born in Bideford in 1825 and was the son of a doctor. His father, also William Ackland, had been apprenticed to a surgeon and apothecary in Bideford, but William Henry trained at University College Hospital in London. He lived at 23, Bridgeland Street, in the house which is now the Conservative Club, with his wife and seven children. Between 1851 and 1893 he built up a large practice, which stretched from Bradworthy and Clovelly to Instow and out to Lundy. He generally visited between 8 and 15 patients a day. When he went by sea to Lundy to treat a labourer working there, he sent his bills to Mr Heaven who then owned the island, and if he was seeing one of the lighthouse keepers the bill went to Trinity House. He also went as far as Eggesford. In order to visit the Earl of Portsmouth at Eggesford House the doctor caught the train from Bideford, was collected from Eggesford Station by carriage, saw his patients who might be members of the family (the Earl had 6 sons and 6 daughters) or servants, stayed the night and returned by train the next day. Other visits were made on horseback or in a horse-drawn brougham.

Charles Kingsley was a close friend and godfather to Dr Ackland’s eldest son, who was named Charles Kingsley Ackland. Like Kingsley, Dr Ackland was concerned for the health of the poorer people. He courted wealthy patients – and the fees he charged them seemed extraordinarily high in some cases – and he treated some poorer patients for little or nothing. Occasional bartering took place, for instance when treatment for the children of Bideford saddler Walter Chope was exchanged for a new saddle for Dr Ackland’s horse.

He obtained letters of recommendation from patients such as the Earl of Portsmouth and Henry Hamlyn-Fane of Clovelly and as a result obtained the position of Justice of the Peace and the first Medical Officer of Health for Bideford. In a letter to Mr Fane of Clovelly, the Earl of Portsmouth wrote,

Mr Dear Fane, I have written to the Chancellor on behalf of Dr Ackland and I have no doubt that Dr A will be a JP for Bideford. There cannot be a more fit and proper man. He is by far the most talented man in the town and of the highest attainments. He may not be as great a consumer of gin and water and port wine. Yrs Portsmouth.’ The Earl was known to be fond of his drink, while Dr Ackland was probably a teetotaller.

He attended the wealthy Mrs Elwes of Walland Carey at Buck’s Cross and seems to have persuaded her that funding was needed for medical attention for the poor of Buck’s Mills. He then provided their medical care and when Mrs Elwes died she left a sum of money, the interest on which allowed his visits to continue.

Naturally the middle classes of Bideford would have been impressed by these illustrious connections and would want him as their doctor. He used homeopathic remedies alongside conventional medicine. Homeopathy was fashionable at the time because it was used by the Royal Family, so this would also have increased his popularity. He was instrumental in setting up the Dispensary on Bideford Quay and the first isolation hospital on Alverdiscott Road.

There seemed to be a certain amount of rivalry between the doctors in Bideford, judging by accounts of disagreements in the local papers. Dr Ackland’s 1867 diary contained a reference to a visit to a woman in labour. He said she was ‘first seen by Dr Pridham, afterwards by Mr Turner, subsequently by self. I succeeded in turning the child after ineffectual attempts by Dr Pridham and Mr Turner.’

An elderly lady who remembered Dr Ackland claimed that she saw him meet his friend Charles Kingsley in the street and Kingsley asked him where he was going. The doctor waved his hands in a characteristic way and said airily ‘Oh, westward, ho!’ meaning Northam Burrows, as the village of that name did not then exist. Supposedly this gave the author the idea for the title of his book.

William Ackland’s son, Charles Kingsley Ackland, also trained as a doctor and practised in the Strand until about 1930. Charles’s daughter Judith was an artist whose work is displayed in the Burton Art Gallery.

Liz Shakespeare.

Liz Shakespeare is the author of four books set in the Bideford area. Dr Ackland is one of the main characters in ‘The Turning of the Tide’. Photo courtesy of Wellcome Institute, London.

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The Torridge Sealock.

Torridge Sealock top gates.

Anyone who has been to the harbour at Bude will know the canal basin and sea lock where the Bude Canal meets the sea. Far fewer people are aware that just three miles up the Torridge from Bideford port is the Torridge sea lock, where the canal from Torrington opens into the tidal waters of the estuary. Strictly speaking such a lock should be called a tide lock, but in this case it was built by navvies and engineers who had just completed work on the Bude Sea Lock and so gave it the name of Sealock, which has stuck for nearly 200 years.

When the lock and the canal basin to which it gave access from the tideway were built, the whole area between Annery Kiln and the river was a hive of industrial activity including the lime kiln, pottery kilns, brick works and a major ship building yard. Despite being upstream of Bideford bridge, several sea-going ships were launched at the Sealock shipyard in the parish of Landcross, the largest being the Sedwell Jane, a brigantine of about 200 tons. Ships of this size were built up to gunwale level and then floated downstream of the Long Bridge for fitting of the superstructure.

By the end of the nineteenth century, with the canal being abandoned in favour of the railway and the old industries dying out, the sea lock fell into disrepair and virtually vanished into the landscape being filled with silt washed in by flood waters and overgrown with trees and bushes. It was rediscovered by new owners of the land in the 1970s, who started restoring the site and were instrumental in forming the Rolle Canal and Northern Devon Waterways Society in 2003, since when restoration has proceeded apace with the masonry repaired and a pair of upper lock gates now fully operational.

Chris Hassall.

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‘A Little Port’.

As promised in last month’s Buzz here is the poem about Appledore written by George Douglas Warden (father of Audrey Jones of Bideford) , who was wounded and lost his sight in World War One.

(Contributed by Audrey’s daughter-in-law, Eleanor Jones).


‘A little port’.

In Appledore, the cobbled floor

of many a steep and narrow way

seems ready to leap across the quay

over the bar and out to sea,

dancing away with a thousand years

of Devon lore from Appledore.


Like a wandering child by love beguiled

a coaster hugs the maternal quay

her lullaby the sound afar of the lone low beat

of the harbour bar.

So old, this place that time it seems

is kept in store at Appledore.


Within a maze of weathered stays

of stocks and struts and stilted beams

a toy ship waits in a toy dry dock

for her overhaul and painted frock

they’re ‘broidering “Laura” on her breast

say the crew ashore in Appledore.


Old men tell tales of winter gales

clattering boots on cobbled ways

of daunting wave and doleful bell

when they launched the lifeboat into hell

of widows mourning measured by

the weeds they wore in Appledore.


But lazy days in summer haze

and idling on the quiet quay

put thought’s winter far behind

like migrant swallows outward bound.

So on this splendid tragedy, I’ll swell no more

in Appledore.

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Bideford Home Guard, 1943.

Rear row Ptes S Laird, P Cloke, WE Voden, CMS Gosling, Sgt. R Featherstone, Pte. TD Frayne, Cpl. GR Hill, Ptes FJ Clements, G Waldron, J Lock, Cpl. F Stacey, Pte R Raymont, Cpl. EJ Moyes.

Third row L/Cpls. FD Miles, F Clarke, Cpl.RC Halbert, Cpl. R Day, Ptes C Kelly, W Weedon, J Oliver, Cpl H Mounce, Ptes SJ Short, AC Waldon, E Symonds, L Braund, A Tuplin, Cpl.A Huxtable,Cpl.F Rockey, Mr.E Brown.

Second row Sgt. S Hawkins, Pte .R Cade, Sgt.R Northcote, Sgt.TR Harding, Major Cudmore, 2/ltd WH Pascoe, Lt. C Brough, Capt. JR Ellis, 2/Lt. H Sherbourne, Sgt. F Clarke,Sgt.JH Hillman, Sgt. L Short.

Front rowPtes. R Webb, C Tryon, R Raymont, L/Cpl. ER Youngs, Ptes H Lee, WW Horn, M Vanstone, CW King, Cpl. SC Smalldon.

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Holiday snaps !

As the holiday season approaches many will consider buying a new camera. However, with the advent of the all encompassing mobile telephone is one necessary? A similarly priced camera readily captures snow scenes, beach scenes, portraits, the family cat or dog and photographs friends only when they are smiling, all in brilliant colour. Little instruction is considered necessary. How different a hundred years ago.


A traveller wishing to take photographs of scenery must first decide on the size of glass plate he intends to employ, be they 4 ¾ x 3 ¼ or 8 ½ x 6 ½ inches, although one can more readily utilise 7 ½ x 5 inch. In those countries where porters are cheap the largest format is preferred. Glass plates weigh in the region of 3 pounds per dozen and one should take at least half a gross (seventy-six, approximately 20 pounds). One might use gelatine film but glass is much to be preferred and film is not recommended for hot and humid climates.

The camera itself should be of the bellows form constructed of the finest mahogany, particularly those made by Mr. Meagher of Southampton Row or Mr. Hare of Calthorpe Street. It should have a front capable of moving vertically and horizontally, with a swing back. For normal photographs one may dispense with a tripod, however they can be useful under certain circumstances and readily purchased for 25 shillings (£1.25p). An appropriate socket will be provided in the camera along with a spirit level to ensure correct vertical and horizontal alingement.


In the field it will be necessary to have plates previously loaded in double backed holders, i.e. two plates per holder. A black light-proof bag is a necessity in which plates may be transferred safely from their original light proof packaging into the slide holders.


For cameras using 7 ½ x 5 inch plates a 9 inch lens is recommended for most subjects, Messrs Dallmeyer, Ross or Zeiss lenses should be considered. All available from respectable dealers such as Messrs. Watson and Son of High Holborn, Mr. Morley of Upper Street or Hunter & Sands of Cranbourne Street. Gelatine sheets are made in various degrees of sensitivity but their cardboard boxes are insufficient protection against injury and damp. It is recommended to have each package of a dozen placed in fairly airtight light-proof wooden boxes; during construction screws are preferred to nails. After exposure Captain Abney recommends a cardboard frame be placed between each plate or film and placed in light wooden boxes prior to being packed in a tin box whereby the lid is soldered in place as protection against damp.


A reasonable expense would be a camera for 8 guineas (£8.40p), 12 double slides at a guinea each, three lens of varying focal length approximately 15 guineas (£15. 75p), tripod 25 shillings (£1.25p). Gelatine sheets at three shillings (75p) a dozen. Chemicals 15/- (75p). A notebook in which to record each exposure, thereby to ensure correct development times later, and a sturdy box or basket to contain the whole. Due to the flexible nature of a basket a basket is preferred. Total weight approximately 60 pounds.”


From Hints to Travellers Volume II (Eighth Edition) published by The Royal Geographical Society in 1901. Edited for the Council of the Royal Geographical Society by John Coles F.R.G.S., F.R.A.S. Late Instructor in Surveying and Practical Astronomy to the Royal Geographical Society.


Happy snapping everyone! Roger Sugar.

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Bideford Races, May 1928.

This advertisement comes from the Bideford Gazette for 1928 currently housed at the Bideford Archive. The archive is run by volunteers, and you will find it is a mine of information on Torridge district; not just births, marriages and deaths, but also a record is being made of everything of interest in the world of local trades and professions, local government, agriculture, religious groups, sports clubs, streets and villages, and much more, including the Census records for family history research. There are photographs from the Bideford Gazette of sporting events, school and church celebrations, postcards of local village life and architecture. Source material comes mainly from the Bideford Gazette, from 1856 onwards, but they are sometimes able to provide information or documents of use to everyone. (Recently Buzz donated all its bound back copies from 2000 onwards).



Bideford Community Archive.


A recent addition to the Archive’s collection of local historical information, comes in the form of three accounts of the Archaeology of Westward Ho!’s prehistoric Kitchen Midden. It is appropriate to mention this just now, as the beach at Westward Ho! has been scoured of sand by the winter storms, and there is much of the original forest, peat and underlying blue clay exposed at low tide. The sand will return, of course, as it always does, but anyone interested in learning what was once down there, eight thousand years ago, might well care to peruse these documents.


One detailed document is the Inkerman Rogers’ examination of the artefacts he found there – flints, hazel nuts, antlers, etc. Another is by an Australian gentleman named Mr. D.M. Churchill, from Monash University, Melbourne, and the third, made by the Department of the Environment with Nick Balaam and 2 colleagues in 1987, is a very thorough analysis of everything that was discovered by taking away a slice of the midden. Every part of it was examined with the latest technology – radio carbon dating, dendochronology (tree rings), and includes analysis of tree and flower pollen, types of tree, and flints and tools left behind by prehistoric man all those years ago.

DW


Donations are welcome, but a small charge is made for for photocopying, and postage is charged at the going rate. You are welcome to visit, free, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9.30 to 12.00. (Closed on Bank Holidays ) Tel : 01237 471714. First floor, Council Offices, Windmill Lane, Northam, Bideford.

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Memories of a Plymouth evacuee.

With time on my hands, I have been trying to trace people who were part of my youth – over 70 years ago!


Knowing only her maiden name, and not having seen or heard of her since the end of WW2, I spent several hours on the Internet before coming up with a possible match. I then wrote to a ‘Mrs June Sims’ who, as a child, could have been evacuated to Appledore with her parents, and billeted with us, having lost their home during the Plymouth Blitz.


About a week later I received a letter from June – yes, I had found her! Below is what she had to say about her time in North Devon, which my sister Enid and I found fascinating.

Yours sincerely,

Cynthia Snowden – Northam.

..

Dear Mrs Snowden (Cynthia)

What a surprise your letter was – received the day after my 85th birthday. Yes I am the June Randle that was (now Sims). I remember Appledore well and your Mum, Dad and Enid with the blonde bob and you and your pigtails. Also remember the lovely smell of bread baking where your Dad worked, and Dulcie who lived in the big house opposite – we both caught the bus to Stella Maris Convent and often she brought me a lovely apple from her garden. Such Happy Memories and best school-days of my life (only 18 in class!!!), Greek dancing on the lawn. I was rather overwhelmed at first, having wanted to go to Edgehill College and being a Protestant – but the sisters were so kind and welcoming and, knowing we had been bombed out and lost our home in the Plymouth Blitz (being bombed every day and night – how did we stay alive?), they reduced my school fees!!! Also remember catching crabs on the quay with bacon rinds.


After 12 months my parents returned to Plymouth and I then lived with my dancing teacher and her parents Mr & Mrs Jordan who kept the New Inn at Instow.


Although worried about Mum and Dad going back to Plymouth, was well looked after and very happy, walking on the beach each day after school with Joan and the dog, gathering driftwood for the range – Mrs Jordan made the best chocolate sponge ever – I think the farmers visiting the pub helped her out with eggs etc. Also having stew with spaghetti and tomatoes to make it stretch I suppose, the things we remember. Mum also used to make pasties on a Tuesday and come and meet me and we used to go to the park and eat them. (Always hid my velour hat as we were not allowed to eat out of doors!!!)


(Followed by personal news.)


Sincerely, June.

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