Businesses

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Impressive Start to New Housing Plan

Yesterday morning, Bideford’s last link with collar-factory days, went down with a wallop!

It was the 60-foot high chimney stack, last remnant of the factory off Northam Causeway, Bideford, that was in full operation some 50 years ago. Before the last war, it had become Bideford and District Laundry until during the war years it was completely gutted by fire.
To Messrs Arthur Beer and Son, Bideford builders, yesterday was an important step in their plans to develop a new housing estate in that quarter. It will consist of an extension of North View Avenue, where four houses are already in course of construction, as far as Didham’s Lane, which connects at right angles with North Down Road. Midway another right angle connecting road, Cottingham Road, will connect up with the entrance to what was formerly Bideford Grammar School, and another cul-de-sac road will also lead up into what was formerly the School Playing Fields where Messrs Beer have already built detached houses, fronting North Down Road.
Recently, Bideford Bridge Trust sold the site of the old factory to Mr Beer for purposes of housing development.
The neat felling of the 60-foot stack was a tribute to the skill of two carpenters and a labourer who at 8am began preparations, replacing one side of the base of the chimney with wood props, which they set fire to (in the manner of Welsh craftsmen). As the wood burnt through the huge column of red bricks fell over dead-on line, with an impressive thump.
Gazette article dated 19 November 1954

Picture in Gazette dated 26 November 1954

10,000 Customers

Exactly 10,294 customers passed through the new Ford and Lock Bideford store checkouts in the first three days of business.

Mr George Weeks, the manager, reports ‘enormous’ sales in the fresh fruit and vegetables department, including 1,470 cauliflowers. More than 1,000 customers made purchases at the fresh meat counters, on the wines and spirits bar and from the bread shelves, and over twice as much bacon was sold in the three days than was the case in a whole week at Ford and Lock’s old premises in Mill Street.

Two Ton Curves From Bideford

A British Road Services lorry driver was last weekend preparing for an anxious journey to Cheshire in August holiday traffic for it was his job to deliver these gigantic wooden arches made by the Bideford firm of Laminated Wood Ltd.

Measuring 16ft 6in across, the load was one of the widest ever transported from Bideford.
A police escort accompanied the 36ft lorry for the whole of its journey. At their destination in Cheshire they will be bolted together as a huge arch to form the main structure of a new Roman Catholic church.
The local firm was started in 1957 and occupies premises in New Road.