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unusual facts about Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway


Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! led to the founding of a town by the same name (the only place name in England which contains an exclamation mark) and inspired the construction of the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway.


Abbotsham

Abbotsham once had its own railway station at Abbotsham Road on the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway, which was built entirely on this peninsula with no direct connection across the River Torridge to the British railway network.

Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway

In 1866 a start was actually made on a line to run to Appledore with a branch to Westward Ho!, however soon after a full 'first sod cutting ceremony' by the Earl of Iddesleigh, the contractors went bankrupt and the project was abandoned.

Interiors were of polished oak, with teak mouldings and the ceilings of the First Class sections were covered in pale green Lincrusta, picked out with gold leaf.

Blackie and Son

Notable books from The Kennett Library, a graded series of classics retold for schools, include: Kidnapped, Little Women, Westward Ho!, The Black Arrow, Wuthering Heights and Ben-Hur.

Colin Robert Ballard

Ballard spent his early life in Scotland and then in Kent before attending the United Services College, Westward Ho!, Devon in 1885.

Curtis Barnett

On his return through the Straits on 24 November 1731, he encountered a French merchant ship, which fired at Bideford, taking her for a Sallee rover, only to be forced to apologize after a short action.

Earl of Halsbury

Halsbury is a manor in the parish of Parkham, near Bideford, Devon, long the seat of the Giffard family and sold by them in the 18th.

Fremington, Devon

Geographically, the centre of the village is approximately a mile (2 km) south of its quay, a historic wharf situated on the southern bank of the River Taw with plenty of residential property on all sides of its roads between Bideford and Barnstaple.

Harold Copping

His illustrations for non-religious books included Hammond's Hard Lines (1894), Miss Bobbie (1897), Millionaire (1898), A Queen Among Girls (1900), The Pilgrim's Progress (1903), Westward Ho! (1903), Grace Abounding (1905), Three School Chums (1907), Little Women (1912), Good Wives (1913), A Christmas Carol (1920) and Character Sketches from Boz (1924).

Harvest jug

They are traditional in the south-west of England, especially the ports of Barnstaple and Bideford in north Devon and Donyatt in Somerset.

Jonathan Downes

He was educated at Bideford Grammar School, (1971-6) and later West Buckland School (1976-7) from which he was expelled.

Manteo, North Carolina

Bideford town clerk George McLauchlan, told him locals had never heard of Manteo and the only town Bideford was twinned with was Landivisiau in France.

Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland has featured on the British Television Series James May's Toy Stories twice, with Sebastian and Gerrit helping BBC Top Gear presenter James May building a 00 scale Hornby model railway along the abandoned railway, The Tarka Trail in Barnstaple to Bideford.

Moreton House

The house and lands were long the property of the famous Grenville family, Lords of the Manor of Bideford.

Paul Compton

Between 1996 and 1997 he was the youth coach at Preston North End, but returned to the south-west, joining Bideford as player, playing in the centre of defence alongside former Torquay player Phil Lloyd.

Riverine Herald

He was born on 26 February 1819 at Bideford, North Devon, England as the son of a Royal Navy Commander R.T. Haverfield, and his wife, née Ross.

Rolle Canal

of Northam, near Bideford, who was declared bankrupt in 1879 and died at Bristol in 1888.

Sven Hansen

He also revived the shipbuilding industry in the Devon town of Bideford after a lapse of fifty years, establishing the Hansen Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing Co Ltd.

Walpole Vidal

Vidal was born at Cornborough House, Abbotsham near Bideford, Devon, England, and educated at Westminster School, being Captain of School and of the School's football and cricket XIs when he left in 1872.

He was also very active in local public affairs in Devon, as chairman of Abbotsham Parish Council, member of Bideford Rural District Council, vice-chairman of Bideford Board of Guardians, member of Devon County Education Committee and a local Commissioner for Income Tax.


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