A scene reminiscent of an air raid

was left after a fully-loaded, driverless articulated lorry crashed into two bungalows at Brenacott Road, Bideford , after leaving a trail of damage for 300 yards.

Amazingly, no one was hurt, although for both families it could have been a very different story had they been in the front of their homes instead of the rear. In both cases young babies would have been in bed in the front rooms had the crash occurred a little later. It is anticipated that both bungalows will have to be demolished and rebuilt. In addition, six cars

Late on Tuesday afternoon, with the sun setting gloriously in the west,

came the comman from the Navy, “Commence loading!” Lundy’s steers and ponies were shepherded up the ramp of the tank landing craft from the pebbly beach, and they will be the ‘stars’ at Barnstaple Cattle Market.

A simple story – but there’s real romance about the whole transaction.

In past years the owner of Lundy, Mr M C Harman, has used the former drifter, m.v. Lerina, now lying alongside Bideford Quay for shipping his cattle ashore but prohibitive expense forced him to lay her up. Mr F W Gade,

Clovelly Road 'Hold-Up'

Passengers leaving Bideford by bus on Saturday morning for Clovelly, Hartland and Bude little dreamt the Army had an assault course all prepared for them en route!

On Fairy Cross hill a Matador 10-ton Army truck completely blocked the road and passengers had to alight from one bus, climb through the truck, and board a second bus waiting on the Hartland side.

It appears the truck, towing a 3.7 A.A gun, had left Cleave Camp, Morwenstowe, with a party of six men of the 37th Regt. R.A. returning from a practice camp to their unit at Tonfanau,

A typical group of cyclists

Left to right – C Jewell, Mr J D Grant (vice-president, Bideford Wheelers), G Short, Miss E Viersee, H Tithecott, Mr H C Lay (president, Bideford Wheelers), Miss E Johns, Miss D Slee, J Heywood, Miss E Beer, A Sherborne, Mrs A Sherborne, M Jenkins, W Cox, T Thompson, G Vanstone, C C Prust, A Lay, R Halbert, G Hill (hon. secretary, Bideford Wheelers), Miss D Sluman, G Popham, G Bray, P Squire, J Bray, A Lillicrap (Minehead), L Page, S Moor, W T Lloyd (hon. secretary, NCU, Devon and Cornwall).

Gazette article dated 28 June

Among 75 employees of the Western National Bus Co honoured

for more than 40 years with the firm, at a dinner at Exeter, were a number from Bideford district.

The dinner was the first of its kind organised by the company, and the long-serving staff members were presented with inscribed watches by a director and general manager, Mr Henry Ellis.

Award winners included: R A Parker, A M Beer, A E Cole, G E Kelly, S Lamey, W H Braund, E Daniel, R M England, W H Parkhouse.

Mr Ellis said the award earned by Mr S Lugg, who died

Bideford’s First Car

Interesting reminiscences by the late Dr E.J. Toye

Only a few weeks before his most lamented death Dr E.J. Toye was good enough to grant an interview to a Representative of the “Bideford Gazette,” and for the benefit of our readers recall some of his interesting experiences during his pioneer motoring days in North Devon.

In these days of learners’ licences, Belisha beacons, automatic traffic signals and a hundred and one other precautions to control traffic it hardly seems possible that only thirty-six years ago the people of our district were vastly impressed with “one of those

French aviators and inventors

continue to devote time and thought to the construction of a machine which will permit man to fly entirely by their own exertion. No motor or other outside power enters into the making of these small machines, called ‘aviettes’, the fundamental idea being to propel them by human force alone.

Results so far have not been strikingly successful, but high hopes are entertained of several new ‘aviettes’ now under course of construction. The formula followed by these inventors was obtained by M Magnan, director of a French technical school, who, after years of study, declares he

Devon County Council are spending thousands of pounds

to reduce the width of the Raleigh Hill junction on the main road between Bideford and Northam.

This is one of the widest junctions in the Torridgeside area - but its very width has contributed to accidents, say traffic experts.

Future traffic conditions are also being helped by the provision of a bus lay-by on the Glen Gardens side of Kingsley Road. Cost of the improvements now being carried out is about £17,000.

Mr Garman said a roundabout at the junction would not be justified at the moment.

The full Gazette article is dated

The route of the motorway link road to North Devon has not yet been decided

Northam Chamber of Commerce have been told by the Department of the Environment that a number of lines for the link road are being examined but that ‘considerable investigation and survey work remains to be carried out’ before draft orders can be published.

It was impossible to give a time schedule for the proposed link road, apart from saying that the draft orders were unlikely to be published until the middle or late 1970s.

But copies of the order would in due course be sent

Competition in the Bideford and District Road Safety schools’ quiz was so keen

that victory in the junior section was decided by only one point and in the senior section there had to be a tie-breaker.

Eighteen teams took part, 13 of them in the junior sections which resulted: 1 St Mary’s A; 2 St Mary’s B; 3 Stella Maris.

The winning team comprised Robert Trewin, Cassandra Clyde, Caroline Parsonson and John Richards. The senior section resulted: 1 Stella Maris A; 2 Stella Maris B; 3 Bideford School. The Stella Maris winning team consisted of Anne Wheatley, Gillian Shaw, Dawn Lidstone, Rachel

Inspires public confidence says Mayor

It was good to know that the borough possessed such a band of careful drivers and that was something that must fill every user of the ‘buses in the area with a sense of real confidence, said the Mayor of Bideford, Mr J H Sharley, when he presented safe driving awards to the drivers of the Bideford depot of the Southern National Omnibus Company on Friday.

The Mayor had a special word of congratulation for Driver R A J Parker, of Lessines, Alexandra Terrace, to whom he presented the Exeter Accident Prevention Council’s highly commended

Retired at the Hoops Inn

Famed years ago for its 40 mile a day route from Lynmouth, the ‘Lorna Doone’ stagecoach is now gracefully retired in the grounds of Hoops Inn, Horns Cross.

Mr Hugo Irwin, of Hoops, recently agreed to loan his coach to Westward Television and the coach, at least 60 years old, made the 62 mile journey on the back of a lorry.

Mr Irwin travelled with it and was interviewed on the ‘Look in for lunch’ recording screened on Bank Holiday Monday. The photograph shows the programme team: Pat Michael, Bruce Gordon, Neville Whiting and Jane

‘Esmerelda’ did not jib at highest mountain passes

A skilled mechanic might well boggle at the idea of taking a 1937 car for thousands of miles across Europe, but Miss D Knowles, of Orleigh Court, Buckland Brewer, whose mechanical knowledge is slight, has done just that.

And it was virtually a trouble-free journey although the car climbed considerable heights in the Alps and travelled along roads that, by comparison, made North Devon cart tracks resemble the A1.

Miss Knowles attributes her good fortune to local garage proprietor Mr L C Warmington. He and his staff scoured the county for an

Fears that the village will be cut in half,

with the linking up of the new Barnstaple by-pass road at Venn Cross along Anstey Way, are being expressed by residents of Instow.

They say that they are already having trouble in negotiating the road since the introduction of the 40mph speed limit, and the increasing number of heavy industrial vehicles using the road.

Instow Parish Council is to protest to the Ministry of the Environment, and ask that an alternative route, on the line of the old Barnstaple-Bideford road, should be considered.

Gazette article dated 26 January 1973

Ten weeks’ spare time work went into the making of this primrose coloured hill climb and trials special, pictured here a few days after coming off its solo assembly line.

Builder and owner of the care is 23 years old Mr Peter Newcombe, 9 Coldharbour, Bideford, who is employed at Raleigh Garage, Bideford. 

Using equipment borrowed from the garage, Mr Newcombe has been working on it in the evenings and other spare time. Most of the components of the car are new, but a few have come from a variety of other cars, so that it is a hybrid. Motive

Regret that complaints should have been made so soon after the much-needed extension for the bus service to High Park Estate had been arranged on an experimental basis was expressed by Cllr. Clifford Coates, chairman of Bideford Town Council’s Highways Committee.

If people would use their garages or hard standing to park their cars there would be no problem, he said.

The Council were told that the Western National Omnibus Co. Had written pointing out that in the interest of road safety they had on this new service avoided the reversing of one-man operated buses. If the bus stop in

Special arrangements had to be made over the weekend to transport a 72-ton engine through Devon roads on its way to Appledore Shipyard.

Because of its weight and size it was not possible to bring it by direct route and the journey from Manchester was via Exeter and Holsworthy. 

Extra power was called for in tackling Woodford Hill, part of which is a 1 in 6 gradient, and a ‘tug’ went out from Bideford to assist, as seen above.
On the last stage of the journey the value of the new eastern by-pass at Northam for such traffic was well

Among employees of the Western National and Devon General Bus Companies who won safe driving awards in 1970 were three drivers from Bideford.

They are G E Kelly, R A J Parker and E K B Jackman. To qualify for awards drivers must have been free from blameworthy accident for at least 20 years.
Gazette article dated December 1971

No Hartland schoolgirls come by bus to Bideford

First round in the battle between parents of children attending Hartland School and Devon Education authority over the authority’s plan to send senior girls by bus into Bideford, 14 miles away, one day a week for domestic science lessons, went last Friday morning to the parents.

In a biting wind supporters of the protest gathered around the school entrance with eight School Managers who were headed by their chairman, Mr H Mitchell. When the bus due to make the trip to Bideford drew up, the cars of two managers, Mr H Harris

Although motorists are bound to need time to get used to the experimental roundabout system introduced at the west end of Bideford bridge, Devon County Council officials are pleased with their experiment so far.

Divisional surveyor Mr Richard Shuttleworth told the Gazette that there had been a definite speed-up in traffic and the flow was smoother than before.
Fears that there would not be enough room for articulated lorries and buses to manoeuvre have proved unfounded. There is 'just enough' room, he said.

Gazette article dated 5 April 1974

But Only A Scratch Bideford Driver’s Escape In Autocross Race

When his little Austin A35 turned completely over and ended up back on its wheels at the North Devon Motor Club’s Autocross meeting at Fremington on Easter Monday, W J Blight escaped with only a scratched hand.

Mr Blight was lying fourth when his car hit an oil drum marking the course. As the car rolled over Mr Blight put a hand against the roof to brace himself and as the car came to rest back on its wheels ambulance men raced up only to find Mr Blight uninjured. “I

Sir –

When are small communities like Littleham going to realise they are of little consequence in this present welfare state? Of course, the roads of the parish are not capable of carrying buses for the convenience of country dweller – why, there is hardly room for the pleasure coaches in the summer to pass along our narrow lanes. Besides, it is only the matter of a mile or two to Bideford where one can ride up and down the Broad Quay to one’s heart’s content. From the Quay one is able to board a double-decked bus to travel along the narrow

Visitors to the Willbore Engineering Company at East-the-Water, Bideford, could be forgiven for thinking that the clock has been turned back over 40 years.

First thing to catch the eye is the massive gleaming bonnet of a 1931 Delage, one time aristocrat of French motoring, parked outside the main entrance.

Proud owner of the vehicle is Mr John Boyd, of North Saltern, Old Barnstaple Road, Bideford, who is the owner of the Willbore company.

Inside the workshop there is another sight to gladden the heart of any motoring enthusiast.

Mr Cyril Davis, of Morwenna Park, Northam, has come out of