Tanton's Hotel re-opens
Major development in High Street
Ring O' Bells pub
8 June 1956
Special occasions28 August 1964
Staff number may double23 June 1950
Will be travelling miles13 April 1973
Big sales of the Hoover brand12 August 1960
Elizabethan12 July 1968
Day care to be provided10 July 1964
13 February 1970 Revolutionary13 January 1956
70 High Street4 August 1967
A long standing Bideford company3 February 1950
Torrington firm1 July 1960
Dresses made by their mothers16 May 1958
1 December 1967 Every 12 months comes Christmas1910
Eleven coaches needed7 July 1950
Was Company Secretary11 May 1973
Tanton's Hotel re-opens
New proprietors of Tanton's Hotel
Ladies will be especially welcome to enjoy a popular American Christmas drink - an old fashioned egg nogg.
Gazette article dated 16 December 1960
Major development in High Street
New Co-op stored opened
High Street was the focal point in Bideford: the occasion the opening of the Co-operative Retail Services' new store. When Ald. Ralph Cock, chairman of Bideford Bridge Trust (owners of the site) officially opened the store by cutting a ribbon across the entrance, a large crowd had gathered, eager to see the transformation that had been wrought in a couple of weeks.
Describing the store as the first major development in High Street for many years, Ald. Cock said that it marked the great progress made by the Bideford Co-operative Society since it was founded in 1872, which was about 18 years before the erection of the old Post Office building, the site of which the new premises occupied.
As a souvenir of the occasion Ald. Ralph Cock, was presented with a travelling clock on behalf of the movement by Mr L B Beer, who in turn was the recipient of the gift of an electric blanket from Mr J Gwyther on behalf of the architect's department, Bristol. Other speakers
...
Ring O' Bells pub8 June 1956
Winkleigh Old-World ‘Pub’ As Prize?
It is understood that a leading London newspaper company with interests in commercial television are interested in the purchase of the old-world thatched public house, the Ring O’ Bells, Winkleigh, as a competition prize.
The present owner, Mr Bill Penney, told the Bideford Gazette he could not confirm or deny the rumours at the moment, although he mentioned that newspaper and television men had been there.
In recent weeks, a Derby race-horse, ‘Affiliation Order’ was given away as a prize in a newspaper sponsored competition.
The Ring o’ Bells, described by a resident as a ‘very comfortable little place to have a drink’ is one of those ‘pubs’ that novelists always feel bound to describe in Devonshire settings – with white-washed walls, thatched roof and oak-beamed bar, decorated with brasses, where the local brew of cider is still sold. In addition the Ring o’ Bells has around the bar walls aboriginal boomerangs and shields that give a clue to mine host, Mr Bill...
Special occasions28 August 1964
The Atlanta Hotel (late Dormy House) offers first class facilities for...
Wedding Receptions
Cocktail Parties
Private Celebrations
21st Birthdays
Masonic Functions
and catering for all those special occasions
The Ballroom - Lounge - bar and Dining Room are newly decorated and furnished
Resident Band
Full details on request
Atlanta Hotel, Westward Ho!
or Telephone Northam 288
Advert dated 28 August 1964
Staff number may double23 June 1950
High precision engineering instrument made at East-the-Water
Determination and perseverance on the part of Messrs Snow, Deakin and Co of Bideford, through the experimental stages of the manufacture of a high-precision engineering instrument has led to the firm, whose factory is at East-the-water, landing a contract to the value of over 100,000 dollars.
The instrument which is making such a valuable contribution to the country’s dollar drive, is the Ernst portable direct reading, Hardness tester. A Swiss patent, the tester is now being produced from British materials by Messrs Snow, Deakin and Co who hold the sole manufacturing and selling rights for the world with the exception of Europe and South America.
Over 1,500 instruments have been sold in this country already and orders to the value of £6,000 each have been received from India, Australia and South Africa.
In addition the firm is busy machining, processing and testing new casting Solex motor car carburettors at the rate of 1,500 per...
Will be travelling miles13 April 1973
Northam Butcher Chosen
Congratulations to Northam butcher Mr Richard Bradford, who has just been made president-elect of the South Western Area of the Meat Traders’ Council. Extending from Evesham to Lands End, it is a formidably large area to cover and Mr Bradford will next year find himself travelling many hundreds of miles in his official capacity.
Now 46, he followed his father, the late Mr Charles Bradford, in the family business at Northam and also has a shop at Westward Ho! He has already been president of the North Devon Master Butchers’ Association. The last time North Devon provided the area president was some 20 years ago when Barnstaple butcher Mr R S E Cawsey, now of Braunton, and retired, held the office.
While serving with the RASC in Palestine during the troubles there in 1947 Mr Bradford was mentioned in despatches. He has been a member of Northam Burrows Committee for a number of years, recently he received the Special Constabulary long service medal, and he is a...
Big sales of the Hoover brand12 August 1960
Trips To Rome For Three
Three people from Bideford district will soon be enjoying a trip to Rome during the Olympics – all expenses paid – as a result of a competition organised by Hoover Ltd. They will fly out and back and spend three days in Rome.
Mr N C Taylor, 39 Newton Road, Bideford, Hoover area manager for North Devon and North East Cornwall, whose area was the most successful in Hoover sales generally over a specified period, has won the trip to Rome for his wife and himself. With them goes Mr M Hudson of ‘Winscombe’, Westward Ho! who earned the trip by becoming Hoover’s ‘top representative’ in the same competition.
Narrowly missing a trip to Rome in a Hoover dealer competition – this time for the sale of Hoovermatic washing machines and spin driers – was Mr D N Preston, manager of Braddicks Electrical Ltd. In a period of seven weeks, Braddicks Ltd sold 42 Hoovermatics – one for every working day. Another three sales would have earned a trip to Rome. As it was, Braddicks were the...
Elizabethan12 July 1968
Elizabethan Club, Westward Ho!
4-course luncheon for Sunday, July 14th
Cream of Tomato Soup or Pate Maison
Roast Devon Chicken, bread sauce, chipolata sausages, sage and onion stuffing, croquette potatoes, new potatoes, brussels sprouts, peas, carrots glace
Fresh strawberries and cream or cheese and biscuits
Coffee
12/6 per person
Private & Club parties, weddings, etc. catered for at reasonable prices
For bookings phone Bideford 3263
Advert dated 12 July 1968
It's now The Pier House
Day care to be provided10 July 1964
H E Fletcher Limited
Manufacturers of Dri-Troo Baby Pants and Children’s Wear will be moving to their NEW FACTORY at Clovelly Road, Bideford in DECEMBER
We shall have Vacancies for suitable School Leavers, Young Girls, Part-Time & Full-Time Women & invite those interested to apply NOW at our Torridge Hill Factory for further details
Gazette advert dated 10 July 1964
New Factory May Have Day Nursery
First purpose built factory to be erected in Bideford by a firm already established here will be in production in the New Year.
It is to be built on an acre site off the Clovelly Road by H E Fletcher Ltd, baby wear manufacturers and makers of the well known
Dri-troo products. The firm has outgrown the premises it now occupies at Torridge Hill.
The principal of the firm, Mr Peter Fletcher, to whose far-sightedness, enterprise and resource it owes its success, says it is hoped to increase the labour force to at least 70 within two years and ultimately to more than 100. This must, of course,...
13 February 1970
After over 100 years in the drapery trade between them,
the last 12 being at Messrs Yeo’s of Manchester House, Chingswell Street, Bideford, which they took over from the late Mr Robert Yeo, Mr and Mrs A H Skinner have retired.
At a dinner at the Royal Hotel, Bideford, Mr and Mrs Skinner were presented with a ‘Teasmade’ by Mr and Mrs Stuart Skinner, a fruit bowl by Mr E W Skinner and Mrs Skinner, and a table from staff.
Mr and Mrs Stuart Skinner have taken over the business, Mr Skinner jnr. having entered the drapery trade from school 12 years ago.
For three years he and his wife did nursing training at Bideford Hospital and qualified as State Enrolled Nurses.
The full Gazette article is dated February 13 1970
Revolutionary13 January 1956
Orders worth £15,000 already received
Those seen in the picture are: Messrs W Gifford, H W Ellison, J Floyd, A Teasdale, J Jelly, R F Essery, E Pudney and W Butler
Manufacture of a paint that is claimed to be the answer to the home decorator’s prayer – the tin can be knocked over and the paint will not spill, nor will it run down the handle of the brush when a ceiling is being painted – has been begun by a Bideford firm, Devon Paint Ltd., at its factory at the Pill, Bideford. The firm will be building up a production of a thousand gallons a week at the first stage and nine men are employed at the factory at present. Orders worth some £15,000 have already been received and a start has been made on meeting this demand. A new store is in the process of erection in the vicinity to cope with the demand for the new paint and as a dispatch department to supplement the firm’s other premises at Barnstaple.
To prove the non-spill properties claimed the firm staged a demonstration. Mr E Pudney, the
...
70 High Street4 August 1967
Steak House And Bars Opened At Bideford
Bideford’s newest rendezvous, the Gannet Steak House and Bars, at 70 High Street, were officially opened on Monday by Mr F E Flood, joint managing director of Ushers Brewery Ltd, who invited the Mayor of Bideford, Mr Harold Blackmore, to carry out the traditional ‘drawing the first pint’.
The Mayor discharged the duty with smooth precision, and is seen between Mr and Mrs Frank Bemmer, who have come as managers of the new Steak House from the Mitre Steak House, Reading.
They had called their Bideford enterprise the Gannet, bearing in mind years of nautical associations and that the vessel plying between Bideford and the island of Lundy was The Lundy Gannet.
Mr Flood thanked all who had helped the successful completion of the work, particularly mentioning the local building contractor, Mr C H Cox.
The full Gazette article is dated 4 August 1967
A long standing Bideford company3 February 1950
Mr H W Fulford’s 50 Years in Business
To celebrate the occasion of the Golden Jubilee in the business of the chairman, Mr H W Fulford, about 100 senior members of the staffs of the associated companies of Fulford Trumps and Co. Ltd, assembled for a dinner at the Royal Hotel, Bideford, on Saturday.
Presentations were made on behalf of the staff by Mr G E Pascoe and on behalf of the directors by Mr A J Luxton.
Mr H W Fulford, after receiving from the staff an inscribed silver cigarette case and from the directors an inscribed silver ink stand, expressed his gratitude for the thought which had inspired the celebration and for the generosity which had prompted the gifts.
In reminiscent mood, he told the company of how he had left school before his fourteenth birthday with little to his credit apart from some ability at mental arithmetic. He had done every job in the trade ‘and I’m willing to do the same today’ he added, amid laughter.
Describing how they had first branched out from...
Torrington firm1 July 1960
Torrington Gloves For Princess
The Princess Royal will soon be wearing gloves made by the Torrington firm of William Vaughan and Son Ltd, to a design of the Managing Director, Mr M Vincent.
The gloves, three-quarter length nylon for day wear, have been selected by the Princess Royal herself, from samples sent to a London firm.
Gazette article dated 1 July 1960
Dresses made by their mothers16 May 1958
A charming picture of the Babies’ Class of Bideford School of Dancing, whose winter-time attire was quite acceptable in Maytime.
They danced a successful number in the School’s dancing display which proved popular both in Bideford and Holsworthy. Some sixty pupils took part, and their dresses (all of which were designed by Miss Joan Jordan) were all made by their mothers, to their great credit.
Those in the photo include Jane Dymond, Caroline Morris, Anita Lloyd, Janeen Littlejohns, Julia Curtis, Angela Bowyer, Margareta Fishleigh and Rosalind Beer with Anthony Eagle as ‘Santa Claus’.
An up-and-coming young cornet player, 13 year old Ronald Brennan, younger son of Bideford’s Harbour Master (Capt P Brennan) and Mrs Brennan, was a guest artist at the display, and gave two excellent cornet solos. He is a member of Bideford Town Senior and Junior Bands. Capt and Mrs Brennan’s two daughter, Diane and Valerie, were two of the dancing students taking part in the display.
Gazette article dated...
1 December 1967
We regret that this week we have to ask you to accept our apologies for a rather hastily written advertisement.
But alas.... OUR ADVERTISING MAN WAS FOUND ASLEEP IN ONE OF OUR PARKER-KNOLL CHAIRS.
On being roused he frankly admitted 'You can't buy happiness but by jove you can buy comfort'.
Please call and see our range of fabulous Parker-Knoll's
Our advertising man says 'They're a dream'
Braddicks Bideford's leading furnishers
31 Mill Street, Bideford
Gazette dated 1 December 1967
Eleven coaches needed7 July 1950
Torrington gloving factories of Messrs James Tapscott and Sons, and Messrs Sudbury’s Ltd held their annual staff outing on Saturday.
About eighty of Messrs Tapscott’s Torrington and Bideford staff and employees travelled in three coaches to Newquay, by way of Boscastle and Tintagel. Lunch was served at Atlantic Hotel, Newquay, and after the afternoon at Newquay, the coaches proceeded to Liskeard for high tea, and thence to Plymouth to hear Donald Peers singing at the Palace Theatre.
Punctually at 9pm they left for Yelverton, where a picnic supper was arranged on the moors, followed by dancing to the accordion, played by Miss C Ebsworthy, and thence home.
Eleven coaches were needed to take some three hundred staff and employees of Messrs Sudbury’s factories at Bideford, Torrington, Ilfracombe and Appledore on a tour to Looe by way of Tavistock. After lunch at Looe an enjoyable afternoon was spent at the quaint old fishing village of Polperro. After returning to Looe for tea, the...
Was Company Secretary11 May 1973
Mr Reg Backway joined the staff of Bideford motor firm Heard Bros, in November 1919 as a temporary relief clerk.
He has just retired after having served for almost the whole of the intervening period as company secretary. That ‘temporary’ job lasted 53½ years.
It was in 1921 that he was made company secretary to Heard Bros Ltd. He continued in that position after December 1938, when the company became Brindley’s Garages Ltd, through to last November when the firm merged with N B L Holdings Ltd of Taunton.
Mr Backway, who, with his wife, lives at 25 Elmdale, Bideford, will be 78 in October, and that is something difficult to believe. He attributes his looking no more than middle aged to the fact that since he joined the Amateur Athletic Club as a coxswain around the age of 10 he has mixed with young people.
Mr Backway has seen many developments in the car industry but the biggest he considers is the close attachment there now is to government departments.
What were the popular in the...