Floods – policy versus practicality.

Posted on 26/01/2014 by Tango Alpha

With flooding very much in the news last month this may be a good time to review the policy of the authorities on flood protection and the effect it is having on the vulnerable Northam Burrows. There are two major factors contributing to flood damage from the sea ; these are wave action caused by Atlantic storms and high tides augmented by low pressure weather systems.


Last year until December was a quiet one for tide and wave erosion as there were no exceptionally high tides and generally the storms we had did not happen to coincide with the highest of them, so damage to the pebble ridge and sand dunes was comparatively minor. Even so, there were press reports of erosion of the dunes fronting Northam Burrows and some exposure of buried waste materials in the vicinity of the closed municipal rubbish dump. Temporary repairs carried out on the tip the previous winter had consisted of spreading a geotextile membrane over the eroded edge and covering it with sand and stones to stabilise it. The first photograph was taken in February 2013 showing a strip of the repaired bank, and this survived through the year until the December storm, when parts of the covering material were washed away. The second photo was taken on January 4th 2014 just after the biggest storm, which combined with a 6.8 metre tide to carry breakers over the rock armour and wash away most of the temporary works, leaving swathes of black geotextile membrane blowing in the wind.


National policy is to leave the fate of most of the Burrows to natural forces, allowing sand dunes to wash away and reform in altered locations as they have for many centuries. Unfortunately that does not make allowance for the man-made developments we have allowed to take place on this basically unstable strip of sand, and so policy has had to be adjusted to provide artificial protection for our vulnerable assets; the degree of protection depending on current estimates of the importance, or financial value, of those assets. The three chief areas of concern are the activity and entertainment centres at the south end of the pebble ridge, the hazardous waste tip at the northern end of the Burrows, and the Golf Course in between – and at once we find problems in determining who bears the responsibility for protecting these assets from the sea, let alone how to achieve that protection.


A study was carried out last year on how to protect the waste tip, at least for a few years, and a proposal is to bring in a lot of rock armour, similar to that already deployed for many years part way around, and back it up with scientifically graded pebbles like the pebble ridge itself. That just needs the approval of the appropriate authorities for the expenditure. There is always the possibility that the sea may break through permanently across the far end of the golf course and leave the tip as an island, but that is further into the future and will have to be tackled if or when it becomes imminent. The dunes that once separated the 8th Tee from the sea have already gone, (third photograph) but a considerable expanse of large pebbles has accumulated there, suggesting a (faint?) possibility that it may naturally develop into a further extension of the true pebble ridge, although that may be just for optimists !


There is a lot of work to be done on Northam Burrows in the coming year, and a lot of decision making for whoever is prepared to take responsibility. Meanwhile, there are a couple of spring tides forecast for the first week of March that will equal the highest of this winter, so let’s hope they don’t coincide with Atlantic storms this time. After that there’s a break until 10th September when, at 7:40pm., 6.9 metres is forecast which is higher than any since 2010 – could be a nice evening for a walk on the Burrows.


Chris Hassall.

(For an article on “Floods & Saltmarshes” from last year’s Buzz, link here).

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More about the Bridge Trust.

Posted on 26/01/2014 by Tango Alpha

Having talked about how the Trust came to be set up and its involvement with property in the town I will now discuss the very wide range of things the Trust has funded.

 

Trustees have always been interested in education, having set up a Commercial School in 1762 and paying the teacher’s salary of £12.50 per year. This taught useful subjects to ready young Bidefordians for a merchant’s life – it continuing until well into the nineteenth century. In 1823 the Church of England set up a ‘National’ School in Old Town on the site now occupied by the Fire Station – with the Trust paying the teacher’s salary of £35 per year.

 

Some 15 years later local nonconformists established the ‘British’ School in Higher Gunstone (the building is still there) and the Trust, in a wonderful example of non-sectarianism, paid the £35 per annum salary of the school’s teacher. In 1844 an infant school was built at the top of Honestone Street (today’s Angling Club) and the Trust became a generous benefactor to this – as it did when the School of Art on the Quay was built in 1896.

 

When the new Bideford College first became a solid project I, as chairman of the Trust, was approached by the College head Veronica Matthews wondering whether we would like to ‘buy some computers’ for the new school. Veronica is an ex-tutee of mine (so is Katie Hopkins but the less I say about her the better I think!) and I was glad that the Trust gave £1/2 million (its largest ever grant) to the scheme.

 

Today any student living within the parish of Bideford is automatically eligible for £400 worth of book grants if they enter higher education. We also offer bursaries of £500 per annum and even ‘hardship grants’ to all students in the area. We also fund youngsters going on school trips where teachers wish us to help students from poorer backgrounds.

 

The Trust also gives backing to a lot of the local sports clubs including rowing, football and rugby – and in the 1720s we even set up a ‘Bowling Green’ somewhere near the top of High Street – which for me always conjures up a picture of errant bowls rolling down the hill to the river!

 

One group has always been high up on our list of those we help – the poor. In the eighteenth century we gave £12 annually to help the poor of Bideford, as well as one-off payments such as giving £20 in 1766 to buy food and sell it at subsidised prices to the poor ‘at this time of dearness of Corn’. In 1831 there was very high unemployment in the town and the Trust put aside two acres of land in Northdown Lane (as it then was) for use as allotments – the first established in Bideford. Again in 1797 William Richards ‘a poor Aged Man’ was given 3 guineas (£3.15) ‘to buy him a Horse to carry Coals in lieu of his Horse which lately broke his Thigh.’ Today we still deal with cases passed on to us by Social Services and various other charities.

 

The Trust regularly helps with medical issues having put funds towards hospital minibuses, the ‘Chestnut Appeal’, electric wheelchairs and specialist medical equipment for our local hospital. Back in 1787 (and on two other occasions) we even paid for the town’s poor to be inoculated against smallpox – and paid for one poor individual to be treated for his mental illness at ‘Bedlam’ hospital on London.

 

Other funding has been directed to fire fighting – in the 1770s we bought the town’s first fire engine – really a large pump, and also its second in 1803 when the town council refused to spend the money. More recently we paid for the new toilets in Victoria Park, the Queen’s Jubilee fountains on the Quay and helped fund the Jubilee Square scheme.

 

Finally we have had a long tradition of paying for apprenticeship indentures and the tools needed by these young people. Today such traditional apprenticeships have gone and so we now fund ‘Business Start-Ups’ where people on low incomes or who are unemployed and who wish to start in business are given a two part grant of £5000 to help them on their way. This scheme has been running for 16 years now and although not every one has been successful many people are now running their own business and employing others.

 

You may have been surprised at what the Trust does – certainly, without its benign presence in the town, Bideford and its surrounding area would be by far the poorer. If you wish to know more about the Trust and its history there is a small booklet entitled ‘The Long Bridge of Bideford through the centuries’ available from Walter Henry’s in High Street or the Burton Art Gallery and museum.

Peter Christie

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About the Bridge Trust.

Posted on 29/11/2013 by Tango Alpha

As promised, and following on from my introduction to the Bridge Trust, I will discuss some of the history of the body. No-one knows when the Trust was set up but it must have been soon after the Bridge was built – so possibly at the end of the thirteenth century. Over the years rich Bidefordians have left property ‘to the Bridge’ (the last occasion was only two years ago!) to honour their native town and the Trust itself has been an active purchaser of property making it the largest local landlord (apart from Tarka Housing).

We have the Trust’s accounts from the end of the seventeenth century and the minutes from 1764. At this date there were some fifteen trustees, most of them being merchants or gentry, though some clergymen also served. I have transcribed, typed and indexed the minutes and copies are available in the North Devon Record Office. They detail the two main aspects of the Trust’s work – management of property and charitable spending.

The former was, of course, centred on the Bridge itself and the minutes reveal many occasions when quite large sums of money were laid out in repairs, whilst on other occasions warnings about possible damage were issued. In 1791, for example, the trustees wrote to a local merchant complaining about his cart that was so highly laden ‘as they think will injure the said Bridge’. Weight limits are nothing new.

In 1802 there is a note that ‘Some malicious persons have repeatedly thrown down the Coping Stones of the Bridge’ and so the trustees hired two men to act as ‘watchmen’. They even spent some money on a ‘Centry Box’ to house them. In 1808 the Trust carried out work on nine arches at a cost of £50 per arch, whilst a year later they discussed installing a drawbridge at the East end of the Bridge. This never occurred : in 1826 they erected oil lamps on the Bridge, but these were soon vandalised and in 1835 were replaced with gas lamps after the trustees allowed the new Bideford Gas Company to install gas pipes across the Bridge. The largest spending came when the old medieval structure was widened in 1864 and again in 1925 – to such an extent that it is difficult to picture what the old Bridge looked like.

In addition to this spending on the Bridge the trustees developed Bridgeland Street from the 1690s and extended the Quay up to their new development. They also built the original Bridge Buildings in 1758 which housed the town hall and the Grammar School. In 1761 they even purchased the Fox & Goose pub on the Quay (where Grenville House now stands) and gave it to the town as the Mayor’s ‘Mansion House’ – even if they later took it back!

In the 1880s they provided the town’s first custom-built post office in the High Street (now Ladbroke’s) and in 1882 spent £4,500 on building the new Bridge Buildings. Over the years 1890-1920 the Trust constructed the houses in Victoria Gardens, Marland Terrace and the top of Honestone Street.

In the twentieth century the two world wars interrupted this work, but in the 1990s the Trust refurbished the old Post Office, the Bakehouse in Queen Street, Friendship House opposite the Market as well as shops in High Street, Mill Street and Bridgeland Street. A proud record and one which shows how much the built environment in the town has depended on the Trust and its deep pockets.

In the next article I will look at what the Trust has funded in Bideford.

Peter Christie.

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Coronation Day, 1953.

Posted on 30/10/2013 by Tango Alpha

Photos from Owen Vaggers.

In the paper edition of November’s “Buzz”, we published this –

Two photographs of the Coronation Day, 1953, which took place at the bottom of Pitt Hill, Appledore . I cannot remember all the the names of the persons in the photographs, but I am sure some of your readers can.

Picture 1: The two lads at the bottom of the picture are Left to Right :- Michael Eastwood and Billy Edwards. On the other side of the table L. to R. Alan Popham, ? , Phillip Scilly, Owen Vaggers, John Scilly, ?, ? Hargreaves (Visiting ) and ?

Picture 2: The two girls at the bottom of the picture are L. to R. Geraldine Prouse and Alice Vaggers. On the other side of the table L. to R. ?, ?, Gillian Eastwood, Alan Popham, ?, Phillip Scilly, Owen Vaggers, ?, ? Hargreaves (Visiting).

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An 1844 view of Bideford.

Posted on 29/10/2013 by Tango Alpha

“BIDEFORD (ST. MARY), a sea-port, incorporated market-town, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of SHEBBEAR, Great Torrington and N. divisions of DEVON, 39 miles (N. W. by W.) from Exeter, and 201 (W. by S.) from London; containing 5,211 inhabitants, of whom 4,830 are in the town. This place, called also Bytheford, of which its modern appellation is a variation, derives its name from being situated near an ancient ford on the river Torridge . . . after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, many French Protestants settled in the town, and established the manufacture of silk and cotton; a great quantity of wool was imported from Spain, and, in 1699, its trade with Newfoundland was inferior only to that of London and Exeter . . . Ship-building is extensively carried on: during the late war, several frigates were launched at this port, and there are eight or ten dockyards, in which smaller vessels are built. The principal articles of manufacture are cordage, sails, and common earthenware; there are also several tan-yards, and a small lace manufactory. . . The free grammar school, of remote foundation, was rebuilt in 1657 . . . A charity school is supported by the trustees of the Bridge Estate, and by subscription; a building has likewise been erected for a national school.”

[From Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of England (1844)]

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History of “The Westward Ho! Hotel”.

Posted on 27/10/2013 by Tango Alpha

In February 1864, Captain George Mill Frederick Molesworth’s company began building the hotel which was originally to be called ‘The Royal Hotel.’   As well as building hotels, houses and villas, George Molesworth set up two colleges – the United Services College in 1874 and Kingsley Memorial College in 1882.   The owners of the hotel asked Charles Kingsley to perform the opening ceremony but at first he declined, believing that the development of the area would ruin its rugged beauty.   A quick change of name was undertaken and the hotel became ‘The Westward Ho! Hotel’.    Kingsley attended, took his cheque and it is said he never came near the place again.


Later the hotel reverted to ‘The Royal Hotel’, following the patronage of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII).    It was described as Victorian Domestic Gothic Style and contained 33 luxury bedrooms and 75 acres of land.    By 1866 a matching villa has been built to the east of the hotel catering for the servants staying in the main hotel along with other minor customers.    This building survives and is named Golden Bay Court.

Access to the village was via the steep Stanwell Hill and at the bottom near the hotel were stables and a public bar for the coachmen and ostlers.    The stables were converted to dwellings in the 1990s and named ‘The Rocks’.    In 1900 an extension was added to the hotel called the ‘Golden Bay Tea Rooms’, which became the well-known and loved ‘Anchor Inn’ many years later.    In 1963 the hotel, now named ‘Golden Bay Hotel’ closed down.   It was converted to 14 flats and the land was sold off.    In 1976 the tennis courts opposite the hotel entrance were sold off and the 12 houses built there, which stand today.    Demolition of the old hotel along with The Anchor pub took place in 2000 and ‘Ocean Park’ apartments were built on the site.   Next time you pass, take a look at the lower section, which is built from reclaimed stone taken from the original Westward Ho! Hotel.

More information at www.westwardhohistory.co.uk
and “Westward Ho! History Group” on Facebook.

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More memories of Bideford Hospital.

Posted on 01/10/2013 by Tango Alpha

There were three wards: male, female and children’s. Off the corridor leading to the female ward were three rooms for private patients.

The staff, as far as I can remember, included the Matron, Miss Daymond. There was one Welsh SRN and two Irish SENs. The rest of us were students and we students were often left in charge of the ward. As a student nurse left in charge one night I forgot to hand in the key to the drugs cupboard. Luckily they found me downstairs in a lecture so I hadn’t left the building!

On nights there would be one night nurse to each ward. The Night Sister did her rounds night and morning but was always on hand to give us help. She used to bring us our dinner – I don’t know if she cooked it herself or just warmed it up. She also used to make fudge using condensed milk. She later moved to Grenville Nursing Home in Meddon Street, as a midwife, and delivered our second son, Stephen.

There was also an almoner, a kind of social worker who dealt with non-medical problems.

There were no resident surgeons. Operations were performed by two GPs – Dr Hutchinson (?) and Dr Wake. The former had been an army doctor during the war.

At first accommodation for staff was limited and I was ‘billeted’ at home, for which my mum was paid 7/6d. Later accommodation became available but I stayed at home – but of course the payments stopped. Rationing was still on and we were allocated our butter and margarine. The butter didn’t last long but I’d rather have eaten dry bread than the margarine so that was passed to my mother.

People stayed in hospital much longer after operations in those days and there was a regular routine to prevent bedsores. This entailed washing and rubbing the vulnerable area with soap and water and then making sure it was completely dry with talc.

Lectures were taken in a building below the main building and were taken during off duty periods.

One of our chores was cleaning out the patients’ lockers. This wasn’t really a chore as it was a good time to chat to the patient.

Training in those days meant two years in Bideford followed by two years in Bristol or Reading. In bigger hospitals the normal training time was three years.

My pay was £4 a month, which I suppose was pocket money as our food and uniform were supplied.

Then of course there was the sluice. All the bedpans etc were cleaned there (no throwaways). This task was usually allocated to the most junior of staff.

Elizabeth Evans.

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More memories of St. Peter’s Church, East the Water.

Posted on 30/09/2013 by Tango Alpha

Following on from Mike Davy’s article (July Buzz), here are some memories. My first is of 1974 when I brought my elder daughter Caroline to the Sunday school run by Rosemary Butler. Living in Torridge Mount, it was only a short walk down the road. I was struck by the friendly atmosphere of the church and its congregation. There were many young families and the Sunday school was full -as was the choir.

The Sunday school had many outings including the summer picnic (usually at Westward Ho! ) The annual Sports Day in Victoria park with all the other churches in the area was well attended and St Peter’s usually did very well. Also the yearly Eisteddford held at the Methodist Church and again St Peter’s did very well winning many cups and trophies.

I remember the St Peter’s Day teas, held outside the church in June,the Christmas bazaars and of course the famous musicals run by Julian Wheeler and Joy Baron; the very first one,David in 1979being held in the community hall now replaced by houses behind the old Boards garage . and the final one in 1990 in St Peter’s Church.

These were really hard work for the cast but certainly paid off as every year the Church was full for the three or four nights of the production. I remember cramming in almost 300 each night for ‘Greater than Gold in 1984. Health and safety would have had a fit. When Fr. Robert Gordon became curate in 1993 we started a St Peter’s social club and enjoyed many outings. Lots of other social events drew the congregation closer together.

Jean Jones.


Christine Cook started attending St Peter’s in 1956. At the time of writing she is 102! She used to sit in the front of the church with Ida Bow who lived in Mines Rd and taught the infants at East the Water primary school, and Hilda Braddick who lived in Grenville Terrace and also taught Sunday school. She remembers them being very strict but kind. There were about 40 children. Bell Pope also taught the babies in the Old Community Centre and was famous for her homemade marmalade.

I have some fond memories of the church, as my late husband Eddy was head choir boy in 1935/6. Eddy’s brother Steve and his wife looked after the church when they lived in Furzebeam terrace. Our son and daughter were christened there.

L Bedler.


I was born in 1936 at my granny’s house in Brookfield Street,East-the -Water and I lived with my parents at Sentry Corner until I left for college in 1954.I attended St Peter’s church Sunday School and services throughout this time.
I remember many people during this time. Mrs Trigger played the organ,her husband was the station master and there is still a lovely black marble grave stone commemorating them at East-the -Water cemetery. Mr Jones,a Welshman,sang in choir with a deep bass voice. Miss Braddick and Miss Bow were teachers at East-the -Water primary school,and helped a lot with the church
St Peter’s was what the Anglican church described as a ‘high church’ meaning it had a lot of ceremony and Miss Bow laid out all the priest’s vestments in a special way which I was always fascinated by as a small girl..Mr Gordon Prince who had a gents outfitters in Mill St along with his wife did a lot of work for the church, and a lady called Mrs Arnold who lived in Fort Terrace washed and starched the choir boys’ surplices each week so that they looked pristine on Sunday.
St Peter’s was a daughter church of St Mary’s, the priests were curates,and I assume the Rector was ultimately in charge. The two I remember most vividly were Hubert Annear who lived with his mother on Springfield Terrace. Mrs Annear wore a lovely bright red coat which as a small girl I greatly admired.
The Reverend Beddows lived in Park Lane with his parents;he was a very kind man.His mother had a very tiny dog which she used to say closed his eyes when prayers were said,which meant of course we children all peeped to see if it was so.
I thought the inside of the building was lovely as a small girl.I especially remember festivals and at Easter there was a shallow metal trough which fitted on top of the font,which was filled with primroses picked in the local lanes on Good Friday. It took a great many primroses which I am sure conservationists would frown on today,but the perfume as you entered the church on Easter day was marvellous. There was a rather odd flat- roofed building at the side of the church,which could have been an air-raid shelter originally,which was used as a church hall for many years.
In 1990 there was a celebratory dinner to celebrate 100 years since the church was founded at the Royal Hotel. Unfortunately I was unable to attend but my mother went and enjoyed it very much;she continued to attend services until she died in 1996 and her funeral service was held at St Peters,which had meant a great deal to her.
It’s sad in some respects that the church is going, but a new life for the site is better than a derelict building,and many Victorian churches have suffered the same fate.
I have many happy memories which I will always have with me.

Margaret Lillington (formerly Copp).

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My role as Bideford’s Beadle & Macebearer.

Posted on 30/09/2013 by Tango Alpha

In 2009 I had the great honour of becoming Bideford’s first lady Beadle, and later in 2010 of being appointed as the first lady Macebearer. Ever since I was a child I have been interested in the ceremonial and regalia of the town, having been taken to Remembrance Day services and Mayoral Parades by my grandmother.

My duties as a Beadle include accompanying the Mayor and Mayoress on civic and social occasions and being responsible for their full chains of office. As the Macebearer, which was formerly known as ‘Sergeant at Mace’, I summon jurors from all four wards of the town for our ancient Manor Court, which dates back to Saxon times and for which I am sworn in as the Tithingman, an early officer of the court responsible for bringing miscreants before the Lord of the Manor or his Steward. This court is now an opportunity for townsfolk to put forward presentments to be considered for the betterment of the town.

I particularly enjoy giving talks on, and tours of the Town Hall, Council Chamber and Mayor’s Parlour, showing the town’s artefacts and treasures to interested groups and organisations. We have three Royal Charters, wonderful portraits and pictures, silverware, rolls of honour, twinning documents and gifts etc.

For civic occasions I have the privilege of wearing the traditional robe and tricorn hat and carrying two of the four historic silver maces, the lesser ones dating back to Elizabeth I and the greater ones to Charles I. These are a symbol of the authority and dignity of the Mayor and are carried in front of him or her. I belong to the Guild of Macebearers, an organisation which gives advice to its members as to civic protocol and whose patrons include The Lord Mayor of London and Speaker of the House of Commons.

Being a native of Bideford, I am delighted to be one of its civic officers as I am familiar with its history and have known many past mayors and dignitaries so it is my great pleasure to pass on my knowledge and to continue the traditions of the town I love.

Val Morrish.

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The font in St. Mary’s parish church, Bideford.

Posted on 30/09/2013 by Tango Alpha

There is little doubt that the Font in St Mary’s Church is the oldest artefact in Bideford.

It has been expertly confirmed that it dates from about the year 1080, and it has been described as an exceptionally fine and unique example of any font in this country.

It has a massive bowl of local stone, the top being divided into eight panels surrounded by twisted cables. Only the three largest panels are carved and the centre one contains a Greek cross. In those days the stonemason responsible for this treasure would never have imagined how long his piece of craftsmanship would have survived.

In common with many other churches which suffered at the hands of Cromwell’s troops during the Civil War it is said that this font was thrown out of the Church and used as an animal trough.

One only wonders just how many people have been baptised in this font down through the ages, including the North American Indian brought by Sir Richard Grenville in 1588.   The Font is still in regular use – in 2012 there were 60 baptisms, and to date 41 in 2013.

Mike Davy.

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Carnival 1992.

Posted on 29/08/2013 by Tango Alpha

One of the winning entries, 1992

Carnival on the Quay, 1992.

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Westward Ho! celebrates 150 years.

Posted on 29/07/2013 by Tango Alpha

150 years ago the “Northam Burrows Hotel & Villa Company” was formed following the success of Charles Kingsley’s novel “Westward Ho!” which he wrote whilst living in Bideford. The company planned to build a whole resort, marketed at wealthy Victorians and enticing them to stay and spend money in the newly built hotel and villas alongside the long, golden beach with its unique pebble ridge.

In 1863, at the time when the company began, there was nothing much to see in Westward Ho! apart from a couple of farms among fields and a few hedges. The company began to build and create an elegant resort centred around a 33 bedroom gothic style hotel. (This building was still standing until the year 2000 and “Ocean Park” apartments now occupy the site, the lower section constructed using stone from the original hotel). Nearby there were stables and then a house at each entrance where Victorians would show their tickets, at Upper Lodge which still stands today at the top of Fosketh Hill and Lower Lodge in Golf Links Road.

By 1870 there were swimming baths, schools, shops, the oldest golf club in England had been built, a church and even a 600ft pier. Rudyard Kipling attended the United Services College between 1878 and 1882 and today it is named Kipling Terrace after him. The Westward Ho! project had been a success and in 1901 a railway was built to connect it to Bideford ( later extended to Appledore.)

Coastal erosion has always been an enemy to Westward Ho! and after destroying the pier and several houses the sea wall was built between 1928 and 1931. Top Camp Holiday Centre was built along with several holiday parks and campsites and the resort continued to thrive as an attractive location for holiday-makers. During the 1990s many of the Victorian landmarks were demolished to make way for modern developments and Westward Ho! looks very different today to the scene enjoyed by the Victorians.

Stan Andrews

For more information visit www.westwardhohistory.co.uk and “Westward Ho! History Group” on Facebook. Photos from their collection.

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Crossing the Torridge – 11 bridges between Bideford & Torrington !

Posted on 08/07/2013 by Tango Alpha

It’s surprising how they add up once you set out to count the bridges.!


The oldest of course were the pack-horse bridges dating from around the 12th century of which there were three, Bideford, Rothern and Taddiport. All these show clear evidence of various widening works over the centuries to enable initially carts and carriages and eventually motor vehicles to cross, although still supported on the original stone piers except in the case of Bideford Long Bridge where it is believed that an original timber structure is embedded within the more recent, 13th century, masonry arches.


No new bridges were built until the Aqueduct was constructed to carry the Rolle canal across the valley in 1827 but this was quickly followed by Halfpenny Bridge connecting Weare Giffard with the new Turnpike road in the 1830s. (No prizes for guessing the amount of the toll charged for crossing the river).


The coming of the railway in the 1870s entailed a further four bridges to carry it in a fairly straight line up the valley and, while the first of these, at Landcross, is a basic iron girder construction, the three near to Lord Rolle’s residence at Beam Mansion are made up of handsome stone built arches illustrating the power of the aristocracy to preserve the beauty of the landscape.


Rothern Bridge at Staple Vale, having stood alone for some five centuries, was now joined by a spectacular wooden viaduct to carry the Marland Light Railway across the valley, bringing in clay from the Peters Marland clay pits for transshipment to the main line railway to Bideford. This was in turn replaced by another iron girder viaduct similar to that at Landcross when the mineral line was upgraded to standard gauge and extended to Halwill Junction.


The last new bridge was built in the mid 20th century, in between Rothern Bridge and the railway viaduct, to relieve the old turnpike bridge from all he fast and heavy traffic of the new, enlarged main road, the A386. This leaves Taddiport Bridge as the last of the original three pack horse bridges to remain of single track width and yet carrying a significant classified road linking Torrington with the country to the west.



Chris Hassall

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Memories of St. Peter’s Church, East the Water.

Posted on 08/07/2013 by Tango Alpha

This church was consecrated on Saturday June 28th 1890 by the Bishop of Exeter.    The cost of the site and building, over £2,000, was defrayed by the then Rector of Bideford, the Rev. Roger Granville.     At the conclusion of the service, a public luncheon was served at the Royal Hotel, and then the new cemetery at East the water was consecrated.

One of the greatest benefactors of the new church was Mr.C Strachan Carnegie of ‘Clevelands’, Northam (cousin of Andrew Carnegie who endowed Bideford LIbrary, and who opened the new library in 1906).     The stone from the building was obtained from a quarry at Cornborough and was built by Mr Glover of Abbotsham.     The church was built on the site of an allotment and a tollgate.


As the years passed the town of Bideford grew in size and the church was no longer able to accommodate them, and a larger meeting place was needed.


Sadly for numerous reasons St Peter’s Church has not been in use for some time and now the sale of the building has been completed. Many people will have very happy memories of their church at East the water.

Mike Davy.

Do you have any memories of St Peter’s Church? Please share them with us.

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Memories of Bideford Hospital.

Posted on 02/07/2013 by Tango Alpha

Bideford Hospital 1962

My father had a chemist’s shop in the High Street and I married a local girl just before my final exams. From a London teaching hospital to Bideford Hospital was a steep learning curve for me as a junior hospital doctor, just registered! to be the sole senior house officer in residence. My wife and I lived in a two roomed flat above the casualty department with our baby son and our meals were cooked and brought up to us from the hospital kitchen each day. I was expected to be ‘on call’ except for one half day a week, (which ended at midnight) and the local GPs were on hand for help and advice. Mr. Stirk and Dr Hewetson did the major surgery and I was their assistant, while Dr Shaw and Dr Hunt did most of the anaesthetics.

Consultants from Exeter came regularly – Mr Capener for orthopaedics and Dr Brimblecombe for paediatrics, visiting the tiny children’s ward next to our flat. Dr King and Dr Smart (of Marwood Garden’s fame) were the physicians.


It would be true to say I became a better doctor in the next few months as casualty officer as well as my other duties. We had a patient with an adder bite and sent for anti venom from Exeter. I didn’t know how to give it, but happily one of the staff nurses had worked in India and told me how to inject it into the abdominal wall muscles. Another patient arrived one evening asking to have his ears syringed. I said I thought he should be going to his doctor as it was hardly an emergency. ‘I’m the catcher of the the trapeze artist in the local circus’ he said. I syringed his ears.


We used the stomach pump for overdoses, always a hairy moment, but I do recall someone from the shipyard at Appledore when the casualty floor was awash with cider. He must have drunk about a gallon! We also had a smallpox scare that year when there was a big catch-up with vaccinations, rather like the recent measles epidemic.


I left to work in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, prior to finding a general practice in Sussex and have only returned to our roots in the past eleven years, but Bideford has always been where we wanted to be.


Michael M Wilks M.B. MRCS. LRCP.D.Obt; MRCGP.



Bideford Hospital 1940

I spent some time in Bideford Hospital as a child.I lived in Orpington, Kent and suffered frequent sore throats so my Doctor thought I should have my tonsils out .As the 2nd World War had started my parents did not want me to be in hospital there and arranged for me to come to Bideford where some relatives had already moved.


I was about 7 years old and remember vividly my confusion and embarrassment being carried to the operating theatre with the back of the gown being apart and my posterior being visible to the other children! I didn’t much like having my hands held down when the anaesthetic was given either. Afterwards I was given thin bread and butter slices – with the crusts cut off! It was disappointing to find subsequent ones had the crusts on!


I was longing to get out of bed and play with the rocking horse and doll’s house, although I don’t remember doing so.


The girl in the next bed – the end one- had doctors to see her without at first drawing the curtains and I was fascinated to see that she had all sorts of tubes coming out of her. When they saw me looking they pulled the curtain and I could see no more; I often wondered what she had wrong.


My aunt by marriage, Phyllis Prentice, was a ward sister at Bideford hospital for some time before she became Sister Tutor before retiring. In her retirement she spent about a year as a patient- in the new buildings and did her best to keep the nurses on their toes!


Mary Maine



Jean Summers

I noticed in the June Buzz that you are hoping to run a feature on Bideford Hospital.

In 1975 my mum Jean Summers worked as one of the cooks alongside Mandy and Edna. I also worked as a kitchen assistant with Janet Evans,Joanne Moody,Sheila Mugford, Mary Mugford and a lady from Torrington (Dorothy Stapleton) and the Scottish gardener called Jock who lived at Fairy Cross. We had a lot of fun and laughter as my mum had a brilliant sense of humour.


After a while they shut the Bideford Hospital kitchen down, and re-opened it a few years later after refurbishing it. Hope you print this as my mum, who passed away last year in March, was a well liked lady.


Janet Summers

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