Accidents

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.

Bideford Bridge Collapse - 2nd February 1968

Bridge Section Demolished At Bideford

Work has started on the demolition of the damaged section of Bideford Bridge, which had yesterday been out of action a month following a partial collapse of arches near the western bank.
A spokeman for the civil engineering contractors, Thomas Fletcher and Co., said yesterday that work was well up to schedule.
Provided there are no snags in the construction of the steel girder platform that will be used to bridge the space where the damaged section once stood light traffic could be flowing across the bridge again next month. In readiness for demolition the damaged portion was separated from the remaining part of the bridge and also from the west bank. A heavy weight suspended by crane quickly broke the road surface. The first archway, the one most seriously damaged, was next to go. Tons of masonry crashed into the River Torridge. Because of the limited space available, larger pieces have now to
be drilled into smaller sections before the debris can be lifted by crane and dumped into waiting lorries. The breaking up process is expected to take some days to complete.

Yatch And Owner Rescued At Appledore

Yatch And Owner Rescued At Appledore - 18th August 1972

18 August 1972 Yacht rescued at Appledore

Mr Andy Bowden, of Appledore, carried out what he thought was a smart piece of salvage when he towed an apparently abandoned cabin cruiser from the South Tail on Bideford Bar and moored it safely 100 yards off the slipway at West Appledore.
But while he was having a drink in the local pub, the owner of the yacht, Mr R J Parsley, of Barnstaple, recovered it.
Mr Bowden was far from pleased. 'The boat would have been smashed up if I hadn't brought it in,' he said. 'It already had plenty of water in it.' Earlier he had tried unsuccessfully to locate the owner.
Mr Parsley was airlifted to safety by an RAF Chivenor rescue helicopter after his craft, the Crackerjack, had gone aground on the bar.
Winchman Sgt Bog Tountney was lowered to the deck and he helped Mr Parsley lower the sails and anchor the boat before they were lifted into the helicopter and flown ashore.

Family Rescued By Helicopter

Family Rescued By Helicopter - 11th August 1972

Rumours, which later turned out to be incorrect, that another yacht was also involved led to Appledore lifeboat searching the Fairway Buoy areas of the Taw and Torridge estuary on Friday after the 22-foot sailing cabin cruiser, Tilikum, was turned head over tail by a stern wave.
The search was abandoned and the lifeboat towed in the capsized cruiser, in which South Molton doctor, Dr R A Nash, his wife and son had been sailing. Damage was restricted to a broken mast and damaged cabin top where the mast had been stripped out.
All three occupants of the cruiser were thrown into the sea but they had life jackets on and were quickly picked up by a rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor which had been alerted by shore watchers. They were taken to the North Devon Infirmary but later allowed home after treatment, mainly for shock.
Two small children who were swept off Westward Ho! slipway and sea wall edge by the force of the waves on Saturday were rescued by 16 year old Penny Curtis of Pathways, Pitt Hill, Appledore.
Penny, one of six members of Westward Ho! Surf Life-saving Club on duty at high tide, first saw a small girl visitor swept off the foot of the slipway. The girl, a non-swimmer, was swept into about 3 foot of water, with a heavy swell running onshore. Penny brought her to safety.
When the tide had begun to recede a small boy, aged about four, was swept off the ledge below the sea wall. Penny brought him ashore. The rescues happended within just over an hour.