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bideford |
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Like Barnstaple, nine miles to the east, the estuary town of
BIDEFORD formed an important link in the north Devon trade network,
mainly due to its bridge , which still straddles the River Torridge.
First built in 1300, the bridge was reconstructed in stone in the
following century, and subsequently reinforced and widened, hence the
irregularity of its twenty-four arches, no two of which have the same
span. Bideford's greatest prosperity arose in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, when it enjoyed a flourishing trade with the New
World, and today the tree-lined quay along the west riverbank is still
the focal point for the knot of narrow shop-lined streets.
From the Norman era until the eighteenth century, the port was the
property of the Grenville family, whose most celebrated scion was
Richard Grenville , commander of the ships that carried the first
settlers to Virginia, and later a major player in the defeat of the
Spanish Armada. Grenville also featured in Westward Ho! , the historical
romance by Charles Kingsley who wrote part of the book in Bideford and
is commemorated by a statue at the quay's northern end. Behind, Victoria
Park extends up the riverbank, containing guns captured from the Spanish
in 1588.
Alongside the park, the tourist office (Easter-June & Sept Mon-Sat
10am-5pm, Sun 10am-1pm; July & Aug Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-1pm; Oct-Easter
Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri 10am-4.30pm, Wed & Sat 10am-1pm; tel
01237/477676) can provide information on coastal cruises, the Tarka
Trail and ferries to Lundy - buy tickets for the latter from here or
from the ticket-booth on the quayside. A useful B&B nearby is the
Cornerhouse , 14 The Strand, two minutes from Victoria Park (tel
01237/473722; under £40), or opt for the attractive Mount (tel
01237/473748, ; £50-60), further out on Northdown Road, but linked to
the centre by a footpath, and set in its own walled garden; both are
non-smoking. For a meal or a drink, head up Bridge Street from
Bideford's bridge to Market Place, where the porticoed Old Coach Inn
provides ales and hearty snacks and the more up-to-date Praxis II has
French sticks and vegan pasties during the day (closed Wed pm & all
Sun).
A couple of miles downstream of Bideford, near the confluence of the Taw
and Torridge rivers, the old shipbuilding port of APPLEDORE is worth a
wander and a drink in one of its cosy pubs. The village still has
several operating boatyards, but the peaceful pastel-coloured Georgian
houses give little hint of the extent of the industry in earlier times.
WESTWARD HO! , three miles northwest of Bideford, is the only English
town to be named after a book. After the publication of Kingsley's
historical romance in 1855, speculators recognized the tourist potential
of what was then an empty expanse of sand and mud pounded by Atlantic
rollers, and the first villa was built within a decade. Now densely
packed with caravan sites and holiday chalets, the resort has lost much
of it's appeal, though the beach still has a mighty impact, backed by
Northam Burrows - a flat, marshy expanse of dunes and meadows rich in
flora and attracting plenty of migratory birds.
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