Bideford

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.

Ronald Short is a Great Uncle at 17 - 1955

Few of us are uncles from the day we are born, but Ronald Short of 30 Bowden Green, Bideford, not only acquired such distinction but now, at the age of 17, has the added status of a great uncle. Ronald, who is a farm worker, and lives with his mother, Mrs Stanbury, is the 'baby' of her family of ten boys and three girls, all of whom survive. His mother, who at 59 became a greatgrandmother, married twice. Her first husband, Mr Tom Short, was accidentally killed and she subsequently married Mr Tom Stanbury, of Bideford. All the family except three boys - Ronald, Harold and Cyril - are married and most of them live with their families in the immediate district. Ronald now has 17 nephews and nieces and it was the birth of a daughter to his 20 years old niece, Betty, of Jersey, now Mrs Le Rondu, that made him a great uncle. Betty's father, Mr Tom Short, eldest of the family of 13, has lived in Jersey for many years. As may well be imagined, the Christmas family reunions in the Council house home are apt to be crowded affairs, but their numbers only add to the strong family spirit.

Town's Second Woman Mayor in 392 Years

Town's Second Woman Mayor in 392 Years - 1965

Bideford's new Mayor will be a woman, only the second in the town's long history - its charter was granted in 1573. She is 61 year old Mrs Ethelwynne Brown, a widow, who has been a member of the Town Council for nearly four years. Former Alderman Mrs Muriel Cox, who resigned from the Council last December, served as Mayor in 1954. News of the invitation to Cllr Mrs Brown to become Mayor-designate was announced at a meeting of the Town Council on Monday. Mrs Brown said: 'I hope that in so honouring me you are also paying tribute to all the women of the town who, by their love and labour, are contributing so much to the happiness of the community here.' Mrs Brown, of Trelee Park Lane, has lived in Bideford for 45 years. She was born in Truro, Cornwall, attending the High School, where she later became a student teacher. Her social work in the district is widespread. It ranges from road safety to furthering cancer research; from school governor to Civil Defence. Mrs Brown is chairman of the Council's Library Committee, and of the Torridge Townswomen's Guild; joint secretary of the local Cancer Research organisation; area organiser of the 'Tufty' children's road safety club; a governor of several schools; and a member of the local Road Safety Committee, the Women's Voluntary Service, the Handicapped Association, Barnstaple Port Health Authority, area Civil Defence, the Committee for the Hard of Hearing, and Toc H. Mrs Brown is a devout churchgoer, and is a member of Northam Parochial Church Council and the Mothers' Union. She is also a Sunday school superintendent and organist at the tiny Orchard Hill Church. Leisure occupations are toy making and floral arrangement. Mrs Brown has been a widow for four years. Her husband, Mr George Brown, was also a local councillor, in the early 1950s. The Mayor-designate does not yet know whether whe will be assisted by a Mayoress; she may even consider doing both jobs herself. Mrs Brown's dilemma; 'I haven't any immediate relatives and there are so many women I would like to see as Mayoress. I shall probably seek the advice of the Town Clerk about what to do', she said. The formal resolution at the Council meeting was proposed by Ald. W H Copp, who described her as a woman of outstanding merit. 'A good, conscientious and hardworking councillor' was the description of Cllr R D D Birdwood, who seconded.

What is secret of Bideford tunnel?

What is secret of Bideford tunnel - 1975

A mystery that has intrigued generations of Bidefordians may be solved early in the New Year when an opening is made in the bricked-up wall of a cellar at Ford House, the oldest house in the town and possibly in North Devon and once owned by Sir Richard Grenville's family. Tradition has it that a smugglers' tunnel runs from the cellar several miles westward to Abbotsham cliffs. Even if no tunnel is found the existence of a big man-made cave as a secret hiding place is a near certainty. The house stands at a strategic position on the west side of the ford from which Bideford is reputed to get its name and could well have been used by smugglers at periods during its long history. Mr and Mrs Frederick Eccles, who have lived at Ford House for the past two and a half years and are continuing its careful restoration, plan early in 1976 to find out what lies beyond the bricked-up wall on the westward side of the cellar, which is underneath their sitting room next to the Torrington road. "In our time here we have heard so much about this tunnel and different stories about it, that to satisfy ourselves and many others interested we have decided to open it up," Mrs Phyllis Eccles told the Gazette. From their researched it seems that the tunnel was blocked up in the first 20 years of this century. The late Mr E J Ashplant, who lived in the house when it was attached to a farm, is reported to have explored the tunnel to a pont where lack of oxygen put out a candle. Whether the existence of a long tunnel towards the coast is folk-lore or fact, Mrs Eccles things that disused old farm implements and machinery may well have been stored in the tunnel, "These would prove interesting, but the possibility of something even more exciting is tantalising," she said. Mrs Eccles said she has not seen or heard any ghost or such like, but both she and others have sensed that in one bedroom there can be a strange atmosphere or 'presence'. She herself finds it "friendly, not nasty" but has not been able to pin it down to anything specific. When, around 700 years ago, attempts were being made to build the first Bideford bridge legend has it that angels rolled the foundation stones nightly away from the ford to the site where the bridge now stands. The early bridge builders took the hint and changed the site. During this episode, so it was said, the 'strong armed angels' were reported to have been seen on the roof of Ford House. Probably a dwelling has existed on the spot for 1,000 years but is is believed the first part of the existing house was built in 1338 or thereabouts. An engraving in one of the enormously thick walls shows that the original building was added to in 1756, and there must havae been other alterations prior to that and since. Nikolaus Pevsner in his 'Buildings of England' series, described the house as a 'much altered medieval' farmhouse of stone with a Great Hall and screen and the remains of the original roof, and also having an oridinal barn.