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A tribute to Peter Christie.
Peter Christie. We were very sorry to hear the news of the death of Peter Christie, Torridge councillor, author and historian, and loyal contributor to “Buzz”. He wrote a host of articles over the years, all of which have been … Continue reading
Bideford’s Iron Bridge(s).
(“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 … Continue reading
Freezing.
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 … Continue reading
Bideford’s ‘prefabs’.
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 … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford, Bowden Green, EFM housing, Grenville estate, Peter Christie, Prefabs
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Rope Walk – “The Battle of the Posts”.
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 … Continue reading
All the fun of the Fair!
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 … Continue reading
A brief history of the Custom House.
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 … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford Bridge Trust, Custom House Bideford, Peter Christie
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
More about the Bridge Trust.
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 … Continue reading
About the Bridge Trust.
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 … Continue reading
Bideford Bridge goes to war – part 4.
Peter Christie concludes his history of Bideford Bridge in World War 2 More notes from Frank Whiting’s reports. That the Allies were winning the war is shown from an entry in April 1944 which reads, ‘Now that the Government have … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford, Bideford Bridge, Bideford Bridge Trust, Peter Christie, World War 2
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Bideford Bridge goes to war – part 3.
Peter Christie continues his history of Bideford Bridge in World War 2 More notes from Frank Whiting’s reports. No more war items are recorded for seven months when, in March 1943, the minutes contain the following, ‘A matter I have … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford, Bideford Bridge, Bideford Bridge Trust, Peter Christie, World War 2
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Bideford Bridge goes to war – Part 2.
Peter Christie continues his history of Bideford in wartime. June 1941 onwards- More notes from Frank Whiting’s reports. The next few months are taken up with surveying and costing the damage to the Bideford Laundry buildings (which had earlier been … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford, Bideford Bridge, Bideford Bridge Trust, Peter Christie, World War 2
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Bideford Bridge goes to war – Part 1.
Little has been written on Bideford life during the Second World War. Admittedly we weren’t bombed, but we did provide facilities for training both British and U.S. Servicemen and the area played host to the top-secret Combined Operations. One source … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Bideford, Bideford Bridge, Bideford Bridge Trust, Peter Christie, World War 2
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