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Further Items from Peter Christie's 'Looking Back' Column

In the North Devon Journal (2018)

Provided by Peter Christie

Extracts from past issues (1868, 1918, 1968, 1993) of the Journal

2.1.1868
William Britton junior opens his 'High Class Photographic Gallery' at 23 High Street, Barnstaple.
All the farm stock of David Bidder of Huntshaw Barton is auctioned off.

3.1.1918
A 'Farm Tractor and Plough combined' is demonstrated at Bishops Tawton.
Albert Lake of Braunton, a lunatic, strangles his wife Olive to death.

4.1.1968
Barnstaple's Beadle Fred Ackland goes to London in full regalia for a Westcountry tourist exhibition.
Jean Pugsley of Clark's Barnstaple factory is voted 'the firm's most glamorous employee in Britain.'

7.1.1993
Nine cars are burnt out by arsonists in Barnstaple.
A battle to save Shebbear College from closure is close to success.

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9.1.1868
Special precautions are taken in Ilfracombe, Appledore, Clovelly and Hartland to prevent American 'Fenians' landing.
Large numbers of people skate on ice at Northam Burrows.

10.1.1918
Seven local servicemen are reported killed this week.
There are 500 allotments in Barnstaple being used to stretch food supplies.

11.1.1968
The 2 westernmost arches of Bideford Bridge collapse and local traffic is thrown into chaos.
The Barnstaple Brick & Tile Co. close their Appledore factory with the loss of 34 jobs.

14.1.1993
'Jungle' Jones who delivered papers in Northam for 57 years dies aged 73.
Torridge district council plans to build 50 council houses at Torrington Lane, Bideford.

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16.1.1868
James Hoare of Bideford is gaoled for two months for deserting his wife and children.
The South Molton Burial Board purchase two palls.

17.1.1918
Sixteen North Devon servicemen are reported killed this week.
A Swimbridge farmer is fined £5 for feeding game birds with grain meant for human consumption.

18.1.1968
A pedestrian walkway links the two sides of Bideford following the collapse of the 2 westernmost arches of the Bridge.
Jim Venus director of Appledore Shipbuilders buys an amphibious car to avoid the broken Bideford Bridge.

21.1.1993
Rumours are rife that RAF Chivenor is to close.
Plans are announced to develop a new shopping precinct between Queen and Mill Streets in Bideford.

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23.1.1868
A subscription list is opened in Ilfracombe to fund a brass band.
Anonymous obscene letters are sent to the Police Superintendent and Postmaster of Barnstaple.

24.1.1918
Annie Barnes of Ilfracombe is awarded a Red Cross medal for her nursing work in France.
Complaints are aired that farmer's sons around Bideford are escaping conscription.

25.1.1968
The 600 year old Ring of Bells pub in Winkleigh is badly damaged by fire.
South Molton born Justice Widgery becomes Lord Justice of Appeal.

28.1.1993
The United Reformed Church in Castle Street, Torrington is closed due to danger from 'crumbling masonry'.
Ilfracombe Sea Cadets beat 77 other units to be the 'most improved unit' in the South West.

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30.1.1868
Chulmleigh's thatched rectory is destroyed by fire.
Seven people are found living in a 2 room house in Tower Street, Bideford.

31.1.1918
33 Portuguese timber workers are employed at Chulmleigh, 17 at South Molton and 50 at Filleigh.
Six local servicemen are awarded the Military Medal this week.

1.2.1968
Fire destroys the Elliott family's butcher's shop and flat above in Barnstaple's Vicarage Street.
Vandalism at Sheepwash church is blamed on practitioners of Black Magic.

4.2.1993
Inch's Cider of Winkleigh are given planning permission for 27 new fermentation vats.
Hartland, Woolsery, Parkham and Buckland Brewer receive 'recycling lodges'.

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6.2.1868
George Dunn 'a half witted mortal' of South Molton is arrested for destroying blackcurrant bushes.
A soup kitchen is opened at Merton to relieve poverty and hunger.

7.2.1918
170 men of the Canadian Forestry Corps employed in North Devon parade through Torrington.
Rickards Down at Braunton is ploughed up to grow food.

8.2.1968
Torrington Cinema closes – and re-opens as a Bingo Hall.
Ilfracombe residents complain at the number of empty shops in the High Street.

11.2.1993
Barnstaple's Roundswell estate is said to be 'a community without a heart'.
Jimmy Garriock a postman in Braunton for 52 years dies aged 93.

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13.2.1868
The Journal denounces 'girls in the indecent costume of the pantomime' at Barnstaple's Music Hall.
A letter writer complains about young men congregating near Ilfracombe Market on Sundays.

14.2.1918
Numbers of Belgian refugees in Bideford fall from 107 to 64.
Sapper Albert Vodden of Barnstaple describes the war in German East Africa.

15.2.1968
Six North Devon engineering firms are to set up training centres at Bideford and Barnstaple.
Esme Preston stages her 'Mother Goose' pantomime at Barnstaple and Ilfracombe.

18.2.1993
Barnstaple Pannier Market is to be closed at night due to the level of crime there.
Beaford School is so decayed it is 'the worst in North Devon' according to county officials.

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20.2.1868
A Barnstaple policeman is denounced as being 'ill through idleness'.
Gregory, a miner of North Molton, is gaoled for 2 months for deserting his wife and children.

21.2.1918
A sermon is preached in Ilfracombe's Wesleyan chapel on 'Why God does not end the War'.
German PoWs are to be employed on farms around Torrington.

22.2.1968
Eight magistrates view the film 'Ulysses' and pass it for showing in Barnstaple.
23 teenagers form the Braunton Orchestral Society to play classical music.

25.2.1993
Hannah Rivens is chosen to be Torrington's May Queen.
'New Age Travellers' occupy the old Bideford Zoo site.

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27.2.1868
George and John Cox shipbuilders of Bideford are declared bankrupt.
At Chulmleigh three cottages and a barn are destroyed by fire.

28.2.1918
Ration cards are distributed in North Devon.
Captain J.Vidal RN of Bideford who served in the Merrimac during the American Civil War and became commander of the Royal Yacht dies.

29.2.1968
A petition against the Vietnam War is started in North Devon.
Men take the top 3 places in the annual Goodleigh pancake race.

4.3.1993
Police break up a 'rave' at Fremington Quay.
A plan is announced to build a 'Lo-Cost' supermarket in Torrington's South Street car park.

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5.3.1868
The Board of Trade hold an inquiry into the behaviour of Hartland's coastguards at recent shipwrecks.
A new Bible Christian chapel is opened at Bishops Tawton.

7.3.1918
Fourteen motor tractors working in North Devon plough 172 acres in a week.
The Ilfracombe Food Control Committee meet.

7.3.1968
Plans for an 'Arts Centre' at the disused railway Goods Yard at Bideford are announced.
Lynton council agree to let the Town Hall for 'beat' dances as long as there is 'no excessive instrumental noise.'

11.3.1993
A North Devon charity aims to build a £4 million sailing vessel to help retrain juvenile offenders.
250 trees are planted at the entrance to Ilfracombe to make the town more attractive.

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12.3.1868
William Caius is gaoled for 7 years for an arson attack at Bideford.
The Eclipse Minstrels appear at South Molton but leave without paying their hotel bills.

14.3.1918
A German PoW camp is under construction at South Molton.
The North Devon Conservative Association allows women to join.

14.3.1968
The Archbishop of York opens a new extension to Lee Abbey.
South Molton Museum is given a 'facelift' by experts from Plymouth City Museum.

18.3.1993
Seven sheep are killed at the Torrs, Ilfracombe – the Exmoor Beast is blamed – and then exonerated.
South Molton's main car park is to be made free – except on Market days.

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19.3.1868
An Appledore court case hears claims about a right to repair ships on the beach.
Thomas Prout of Chittlehampton is ordered to pay 1/- (5p) a week to Mary Burnett to support their illegitimate child.

21.3.1918
A 14 year old Ilfracombe boy is sent to Reformatory School for 3 years for burglary.
James Snow of Beaples Barton, Knowstone is fined £30 for not cultivating his farm.

21.3.1968
Ratepayers in Holsworthy are paying the lowest rates in Britain.
A Barnstaple v. Andover football match is described as a 'dreary goalless draw'.

25.3.1993
Chulmleigh's 'Fun Gang' stage their annual 'Follies' show raising money for charity.
Plans to redevelop Brunswick Wharf at Bideford with 70 houses are opposed by neighbours.

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26.3.1868
The Old Town cemetery at Bideford is being rapidly surrounded by houses.
The Barnstaple Baths and Wash Houses Company based in the Queen Anne's building go bankrupt.

28.3.1918
Three houses in Milton Place, Bideford sell for an average of £140 each.
Volunteers to join the new 'Women Patrols and Police' will be paid £2 per week.

28.3.1968
The Queen's Hotel in Barnstaple’s Boutport Street is bought by a supermarket.
The Clovelly lifeboat the William Cantrell Ashley is taken out of service.

25.3.1993
Chulmleigh's 'Fun Gang' stage their 4th annual 'Springtime Follies' to raise money for charity.
Plans to redevelop Brunswick Wharf at Bideford with 70 houses are opposed by neighbours.

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2.4.1868
A new Wesleyan chapel replaces an old one in Landkey.
An old man is gaoled for 6 weeks for breaking a pawnbroker's window in Green Lane, Barnstaple.

4.4.1918
Edwin Symons of Tawstock is fined for selling butter above the fixed price.
Bideford Food Control Committee hold a public meeting to explain rationing.

4.4.1968
28 jets fly in formation over North Devon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the RAF.
The vicar of Bradowrthy sits in his church porch for 17 hours to receive money for repairing the tower.

1,4,1993
Public drinking in the centre of Barnstaple is to be outlawed.
Torridge councillors oppose the selling off of council houses.
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9.4.1868
The Bratton Fleming Sick Club is reformed as the Western Provident Association.
The draining of 'boggy' Northam Burrows is called for.

11.4.1918
Parliament raises the age of conscription to 55.
At Littleham 93 year old John Bale is appointed churchwarden for the 56th successive year.

11.4.1968
An Exmoor stag takes refuge from the hunt in a Barnstaple factory – it is shot and massive protests follow.
Janet Bastick returns after 18 years as head teacher of Chawleigh School.

8.4.1993
RAF Chivenor is 'teetering on the brink of closure'.
Plans for the Children's Hospice at Fremington are made public.

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16.4.1868
The vicar of South Molton stops his church bells being rung at the wedding of a nonconformist.
William & Fanny Ellis of the King's Arms in Bideford are 'both addicted to drinking'.

18.4.1918
Camps for 'Schoolboy' agricultural workers are set up at Barnstaple, Bideford, South Molton and Hartland.
Sydney House, Torrington is to be a Red Cross Hospital.

18.4.1968
Combe Martin Carnival is cancelled through lack of support.
Work starts on Barnstaple's new £103,000 multi-storey car park.

15.4.1993
Abbotsham pub The Thatched Inn is said to have a resident ghost.
Newly privatised school cleaners in North Devon are said not to have the proper tools to do the job.

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23.4.1868
The Barnstaple Freemasons purchase Queen Anne's buildings for a new Lodge.
John Bickley and his wife are elected the new Master and Matron of Holsworthy Workhouse.

25.4.1918
Girls at the Newport Glove Works in Barnstaple strike after one is disciplined.
Plans are submitted to Barnstaple town council for a new shipyard.

25.4.1968
A peacock escapes from Bideford Zoo and is recaptured at Torrington.
Enoch Powell MP opens the new AMP factory at Bideford.

22.4.1993
A new Boots store is opened at Roundswell.
Harold & Olive Hutchings of Petersmarland celebrate their 70th (platinum) wedding anniversary.

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30.4.1868
Henry Knight an itinerant bookseller is charged with vagrancy at Ilfracombe.
William Palmer a grocer-cum-photographer of Lynton is declared bankrupt.

2.5.1918
The deaths of 22 North Devon servicemen are reported this week.
Three girls are fined 15/- (75p) each for throwing stones at an engine of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

2.5.1968
A 13 year old boy falls 150' down a cliff at Mortehoe and survives.
China is destroying North Devon's rabbit farmers by undercutting prices.

29.4.1993
Ricky Butler wins the North Devon 10K Race for the second time.
A £½ million extension to the Burton Art Gallery at Bideford begins.

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7.5.1868
Barnstaple shopkeepers complain that 'gentlemen' do not settle their bills promptly.
A new schoolmaster's house is to be built in Lynton.

9.5.1918
A recruiting rally for the Women's Land Army is to be staged in Barnstaple.
The Heavitree Brewery apply for a cinema licence for a new hall in Mill Street, Bideford.

9.5.1968
Torrington town council open the first civic launderette in Britain.
Pickwell Manor at Georgeham is opened as a hotel.

6.5.1993
95 workers at Torrington's Fresh Meat Co are made redundant.
Ilfracombe Museum wins the 'National Heritage Children's Museum of the Year Award'.

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14.5.1868
A 'Japanese mermaid' is exhibited at a church fete in Barnstaple.
A black clergymen from the USA lectures in Torrington on the condition of newly freed slaves in his country.

16.5.1918
Barnstaple Labour Party warn of a post-war 'social cataclysm'.
Bideford has 27 acres of allotments being used to help food rationing.

16.5.1968
Salmon disease breaks out in the River Taw.
Ken Hawkins becomes the first head teacher of Braunton's new Primary School.

13.5.1993
Westward Ho! is branded as 'lawless' after a spate of robberies.
Ilfracombe's Spiritualist Church offers 'healing services' for pets.

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21.5.1868
A shipbuilder pays damages to the Bideford Bridge Trust after a ship he launches crashes into the Bridge.
New 'Public Rooms' are to be built on the site of the old Grammar School in Bridgeland Street, Bideford.

23.5.1918
A talk in Barnstaple is held to explain 'The League of Nations'.
Barnstaple councillors support forming a branch of the National Council for Combating Venereal Disease.

23.5.1968
Sussman Ltd. are to build a factory at Barnstaple to make shirts and pyjamas.
Sally Dallyn is chosen as Queen of Parracombe Revels.

20.5.1993
260 members of the Stanbury family have a get together at the Milky Way, Clovelly.
A two headed lamb is born at St.Deane Farm, Parracombe.

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28.5.1868
St.Anne's chapel in Barnstaple is to be restored.
A recently installed stained glass window in St.Mary's church, Bideford is vandalised.

30.5.1918
Susanna Herniman is fined £5 at South Molton for acting as an unlicensed midwife.
Barnstaple's Derby Lace Factory has 96 machines working 14 hours a day producing military mosquito nets.

30.5.1968
Westleigh Primary School has 4 sets of twins among its 28 pupils.
Wong's Chinese restaurant opens in Joy Street, Barnstaple.

27.5.1993
A cull of rooks in Beaford churchyard is condemned by local people.
A new SWW local sewage plant is nicknamed CATNAP – Cheapest Available Technology Narrowly Avoiding Prosecution.

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4.6.1868
Francis Spilsbury of Croyde, a bankrupt, runs away and is declared an 'Outlaw'.
Pupils at South Molton Infant School dance around a May Pole.

6.6.1918
A cross made of shells and shrapnel is presented to Horwood in memory of local men killed in the War.
Lt.Cdr.P.G.Wodehouse RN of Bratton Fleming is awarded the DSO medal.

6.6.1968
The first baby is born in the new Maternity Ward at the North Devon District Hospital.
Two puma cubs are born at Ilfracombe Zoo.

3.6.1993
The face life for Ilfracombe's Lanes is deemed 'a resounding success'.
Rebuilding of Hatherleigh church spire, toppled in a storm 3 years before, begins.

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11.6.1868
Salvaged copper stored in a secure cellar on Lundy is stolen by boat-borne burglars.
Thirty five women join a newly formed Ladies' Golf Club at Westward Ho!

13.6.1918
Mrs.Edith Curzon who runs the Watermouth Castle Officers' Hospital is made a CBE.
The British Workers' League holds a meeting in Bideford to counter the 'pacifism' of Trade Unions.

13.6.1968
Bideford Chamber of Commerce stage a Trade & Industrial Exhibition at the Sports Ground.
'Dr.Zhivago' is shown at North Devon cinemas.

10.6.1993
Six beds at NDDH Maternity Unit are cut – and replaced with offices.
The fire gutted shell of the Clarence Hotel, Ilfracombe is 'Listed' a week before its owner applies to demolish it.

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18.6.1868
The one-legged ex-vicar of Burington the Reverend Charles Edwards is charged with immorality.
Chulmleigh police are praised for restoring peace to the town.

20.6.1918
The Vicar of Shebbear takes his parish council to court over custody of the parish tithe map.
A tourist in Ilfracombe is fined 5/- (25p) for taking photos – forbidden under the Defence of the Realm Act.

20.6.1968
Two Torrington women win £1000 in a bingo game.
A fire at Winkleigh's Western Sawmills lasts 11 hours.

17.6.1993
Six inches of rain in 30 hours leads to flooding across North Devon.
Anneka Rice turns a cowshed into a boathouse at Wistlandpound for a TV programme.

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25.6.1868
Torrington Cricket Club is to be re-established.
Some fourteen large villas are to be built at Westward Ho!

27.6.1918
A camp for Portuguese timber workers has been set up at Arlington.
A Worker's Union meeting at Marwood sees new members enrolled.

27.6.1968
British Rail present the 'Torrington' locomotive nameplate to the town – 3 years after closing the station.
Albion Harman the owner of Lundy dies aged 51/

24.6.1993
Lundy is facing a 'financial crisis' following a bad year for tourism.
A Government 'Stop Notice' is put on plans to develop 75 houses on Brunswick Wharf at Bideford

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2.7.1868
In Barnstaple Emma Blake 'a woman of ill repute' and 'an incorrigible rogue and vagabond' is gaoled.
Supt.Helliker of Torrington police is paid £30 to replace his horse which died whilst 'on special duty'.

4.7.1918
The Barnstaple Guardians of the Poor support the 'compulsory detention' of 'mentally defective women' to stop them getting pregnant.
The Bishop of Exeter visits Lundy Island.

4.7.1968
The Incredible String Band cancel a Barnstaple show as they are 'whacked' after a USA tour.
North Devon is covered in brown dust from the Sahara.

1.7.1993
The number of 'Listed' properties in Bideford is increased by 80%.
Donkey rides return to Westward Ho! after a 15 year break.

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9.7.1868
William Williams of Braunton 'a lazy scoundrel who has for several years past lived a life of profligacy and crime' is gaoled.
The Bideford Dog Show offers a 10/- (50p) prize for the 'ugliest dog of any breed.'

11.7.1918
A 'baby farmer' in Alverdiscott is taken to court after the death of a child left in her care.
Sphagnum moss is collected by children at South Molton for use in military hospitals.

11.7.1968
St.Petrock's church at Parracombe is closed as the roof is dangerous.
S&J Engineering open the first factory at Barnstaple's Pottington Industrial Estate.

8.7.1993
Dog bans are introduced to 56 sites in North Devon.
A thirty second TV advertrisement promoting Barnstaple is filmed.

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16.7.1868
The Derby Ragged School in Barnstaple has 100 pupils.
The Bratton Fleming Death Club (a Friendly Society) has 2000 members.

18.7.1918
Sarah Irwin of Combe Martin is fined 10/- (50p) for the illegal sale of rationed cream.
Creacombe has sent no men into the Forces.

18.7.1968
Rugby player Nigel Holmes of South Molton only just misses becoming the 'Rugby Belle'.
John Stonehouse the Post Master General visits Barnstaple Telephone Exchange.

15.7.1993
Plans for 200 new houses at Fremington leave councillors 'reeling with shock'.
North Devon cricket team beat Braunton dismissing 3 batsmen with the last 3 balls of the match.

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23.7.1868
A £10 reward is offered for the capture of an arsonist who attacked Thomas Huxtable's blacksmith shop in Braunton.
5000 people attend the Bideford Band of Hope Festival at Chudleigh Fort.

25.7.1918
Schoolboys help get in the harvest around Barnstaple.
The iron mines at North Molton are to be reopened.

25.7.1968
An RAF Sea Vixen jet crashes on Braunton Burrows, 2 crew die.
Five directors of Barnstaple Town football club resign citing the club's 'lack of success'.

22.7.1993
'Victorian Barnstaple' is the theme of the Pilton Festival.
South Molton town council erect bins to tackle as 'escalating problem' of dog fouling.

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30.7.1868
Gregorian chanting is introduced to church services at Northam.
The Bideford and Westward Ho! Railway Company apply for a 2 year extension to obtain the land they need.

1.8.1918
A memorial cross to local men killed in the War is dedicated at St.Giles in the Wood.
Two North Devon Conscientious Objectors are gaoled with hard labour.

1.8.1968
200 Thai students take over Shebbear College for a conference.
'No parking' lines are introduced to Torrington – a councillor says 'It is bureaucracy gone mad.'

29.7.1993
'Assisted Area Status' is reinstated for Barnstaple, Bideford and Ilfracombe.
A new tourism flag is launched to publicise North Devon.

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6.8.1868
The gravestone of the Reverend John Cruise the first master of Squier's School in South Molton is rediscovered.
James Lang of Hartland falls under a farm wagon and his head is crushed.

8.8.1918
A Remembrance Day service is held in Barnstaple's Rock Park.
'Sketching an indecent figure' on walls and shutters in Barnstaple is said to be common.

8.8.1968
22,000 people attend the RAF Chivenor Open Day.
An eighteenth century cannon from the wreck of HMS Weasel off Baggy Point is salvaged by Ilfracombe Sub Aqua Club.

5.8.1993
North Devon Council sell the Albert Tower in Barnstaple to the town council for £50.
Ilfracombe Harbour users get up a petition expressing 'no confidence' in the new Harbour Master.

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13.8.1868
A pauper woman with 3 children reckons it is better to be in prison than in Torrington Workhouse.
The Princess Royal steamer offers day trips to Lundy from Bideford.

15.8.1918
Every eligible man in Tawstock has enlisted.
The equipment of the Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore Railway is auctioned off.

15.8.1968
Five apes escape at Bideford Zoo but are recaptured after several hours.
Burglars attempting to blow open a safe at Woolworths in Ilfracombe fail and leave empty handed.

12.8.1993
Nudists at Braunton Burrows are frightening children.
Berrynarbor is said to be 'too pretty' to win the 'Best Kept Village' competition.

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20.8.1868
Samuel Darch of Barnstaple dies aged 87 – he fought with Wellington in Spain and at Waterloo.
The vicar of Lynton is charged with 'Semi Romish Practices'.

22.8.1918
Lord Fortescue appeals to local people to offer hospitality to American soldiers.
Lt.S.Widgery of South Molton is awarded the Military Cross.

22.8.1968
David and John Lott of Bideford build a jet powered motor boat capable of 50 mph.
Nicola Richards is crowned Queen of Goodleigh Carnival.

19.8.1993
The Radio One Roadshow visits Woolacombe and East 17 play for the crowd.
100 vintage Lambrettas are auctioned from a museum at Northlew.

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27.8.1868
A new drinking fountain is erected at Bone Hill, Northam.
A chapel of ease is to be erected at Lynmouth.

29.8.1918
Twelve North Devon servicemen are reported killed this week.
The New Inn at Abbotsham is sold for £700.

29.8.1968
A replica of the 17th century ketch Nonsuch is launched from Hinks' Shipyard in Appledore.
A plan to turn the Walland Cary estate at Bucks Cross into 'a holidaymakers' paradise' is agreed.

26.8.1993
17 trees are sawn down by vandals at the Barnstaple Leisure Centre.
An arson attack destroys the roof of the Pebbleridge Hotel at Westward Ho!

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3.9.1868
A 'Tasmanian Devil' escapes from a travelling zoo at Bideford and is recaptured at Fremington.
The foundation stone of Ilfracombe Cottage Hospital is laid after 5 years of operating in a house.

5.9.1918
The new Voter's List for North Devon has 33,000 names including 8000 'Service' voters.
500 men are working on the new concrete ships being built at Barnstaple.

5.9.1968
Barnstaple town council buy 11 houses for key workers in new factories moving to the area.
Hartland and Frithelstock blacksmiths work on a huge American export order for ornamental railings.

2.9.1993
North Devon Drugs & Alcohol Committee say there are 11,000 'heavy drinkers' in the area.
Appledore Shipbuilders win new orders worth £1.4 million.

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10.9.1868
Prizes amounting to £12.10.0 (£12.50) are offered at the Barnstaple Annual Wrestling Match.
Great Dodscott farmhouse at Torrington burns down.

12.9.1918
Blackberries are collected across North Devon to pad out food rations.
The vicar of Chittlehampton preaches a sermon attacking Conscientious Objectors.

12.9.1968
Rebuilding the collapse arches of Bideford Bridge will take a year it is announced.
Albert Somerville who has spent 45 years maintaining the Ilfracombe town clock retires.

9.9.1993
Plans are unveiled for a wind farm at Fullabrook.
The Foundation for Sports & Arts grants £100,000 to a new swimming pool at South Molton.

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17.9.1868
A political meeting at Bideford sees 1500 people gather outside the New Inn.
Elizabeth Manning of Kingsnympton is sentenced to 6 hours in the stocks at South Molton for drunkenness.

19.9.1918
A 1000 ton concrete ship built at Barnstaple is launched – and sticks in the mud of the R.Taw.
Sam Walford is granted a cinema licence for the Lynton Forester's Hall.

19.9.1968
Meeth Methodist Church closes after 98 years.
A plan to build a swimming pool next to the Victoria Pavilion in Ilfracombe is under threat.

16.9.1993
Three 'night spots' in Bideford close – Rackets, the Twilight Zone and Cleopatras.
Shops in Barnstaple join a 'national protest day' in favour of Sunday opening.

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24.9.1868
The foundation stone of the new church at Westward Ho! is laid.
A thief is arrested at South Molton with fifteen skeleton keys on him.

26.9.1918
Lady Chute inspects the Torrington Girl Guides.
Brannam's produce a terracotta model of the concrete ship launched at Barnstaple the week before.

26.9.1968
Bideford railway station is being demolished.
Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party holds a meeting in Barnstaple's Pannier Market.

23.9.1993
The Lundy supply vessel the Oldenburg runs aground in the River Taw.
The Department of Transport gives £400,000 grant to repair Ilfracombe Pier.

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1.10.1868
The Lundy Granite Company is wound up and all the workers are taken to Bideford.
Ann Watts and Ann White are gaoled for picking pockets at Barnstaple Fair.

3.10.1918
35 people are working at the National Glove Works factory in Paige's Lane, Barnstaple.
L.Burgess of Lynmouth recounts how he parachuted from his observation balloon after it was attacked.

3.10.1968
'Barnstaple' and 'Ilfracombe' nameplates are handed over to the two town councils by British Rail.
North Devon MP Jeremy Thorpe advocates a Taunton-Exeter-Plymouth toll road.

30.9.1993
A large muscular cat 3'-4' long with a tail 3' long is seen at Braunton.
Torrington's Thursday street market in the Square us rapidly shrinking.

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8.10.1868
George Manning stages an exhibition of 'dissolving views' at Appledore over four nights.
The prevalence of typhoid in parts of Bideford is highlighted.

10.10.1918
A Roll of Honour and a Memorial Brass are unveiled in Appledore's Congregational Church.
A RAF Concert Party from the Westward Ho! Air Station put on a concert in Barnstaple.

10.10.1968
Fire rages through the New Inn, Bideford but all the guests escape safely.
Closure of the Ilfracombe rail line could see 10,000 less tourists warn local councillors.

7.10.1993
The Newport/Victoria Road area of Barnstaple is flooded following torrential rain.
A large cat-like animal 'moving like a puma' is spotted at Woodtown near Bideford.

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15.10.1868
The first prize meeting is held by the Instow Ladies' Golf Club.
A rich lode of iron ore is discovered at Combe Martin.

17.10.1918
The worldwide flu epidemic hits North Devon and people, weakened by rationing, begin to die.
Eleven North Devon servicemen are reported killed this week.

17.10.1968
Selkirk Metalbestos of Canada are to establish their European HQ in Barnstaple.
Honor Blackman opens a fete at Barnstaple Pannier Market.

14.10.1993
Cornborough, Abbotsham is the preferred site for a new sewage works for North Devon.
High Bickington Women's Institute celebrate their 70th anniversary by planting a tree in the churchyard.

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22.10.1868
Pilton Nursery's stock list includes 1000 'Standard Mazzard Trees'.
The foundation stone of Holy Trinity Church, Barnstaple is laid by the Bishop of Honolulu.

24.10.1918
All the schools in South Molton are closed due to the flu epidemic.
A film of the launching of the concrete ship at Barnstaple is shown in the town's Theatre Royal.

24.10.1968
Wild mink are killing poultry at Combe Martin.
A new primary school at East-the-Water, Bideford is officially opened.

21.10.1993
Barnstaple wins a national 'Britain in Bloom' award.
Holsworthy Market Hall is to get a £175,000 'facelift'.

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29.10.1868
A lecture on the Irish church in Bideford Town Hall is disrupted by a party of Tories.
Elizabeth Green of Little Torrington is charged with concealing the birth of her illegitimate child.

31.10.1918
The flu epidemic sweeping the world reaches Torrington.
Jam and potatoes are rationed in North Devon.

31.10.1968
A Barnstaple Cinema manager drops a stink bomb in a local toy shop in protest at children doing the same in his building.
Barnstaple Rugby club beat a Plymouth team 68-9.

28.10.1993
A 'crime spree' in Northam sees 32 burglaries in less than 2 months.
Steps to the beach at Rocklea Bay, Mortehoe are swept away by a landslide.

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5.11.1868
An earthquake is felt across North Devon.
The South Molton Burial Board discuss draining the cemetery.

7.11.1918
The film 'Kaiser – The Beast of Berlin' is shown in Barnstaple.
Lt.George Moor VC MC of Braunton dies of flu aged 21.

7.11.1968
Sally Saunders a Torrington hairdresser becomes British hair styling and colouring champion.
A proposed new holiday village at Chillparks, Fremington is opposed by locals.

4.11.1993
Fremington residents defeat plans to build 500 houses around the village.
A plan for a sewage treatment plant at Northam Burrows is heavily defeated by Torridge councillors.

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12.11.1868
The spoof 'Mayor of Shamwickshire' (East-the-Water, Bideford) is installed.
Fireworks at South Molton set fire to a thatched malt house in Duke Street.

14.11.1918
The North Devon Appeal Tribunal is suspended after hearing 1951 appeals against conscription.
Bells are sounded across the area to mark the Armistice.

14.11.1968
Suggestions to reopen RAF Chivenor as a civilian airport look 'hopeful'.
Parking meters are seen as 'inevitable' at Ilfracombe say councillors.

11.11.1993
Seven local fishermen are arrested at Bideford for drug smuggling.
B&S Screw Machines of Holsworthy expand and create 81 new jobs.

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19.11.1868
The Kingsnympton Friendly Society Club Walk is accompanied by a brass band.
At a Parliamentary election in Barnstaple one candidate gets just 1 vote.

21.11.1918
Thirty five die from flu in Northam.
Mrs.M.Brailey of East Street, Braunton is acting as the village's 'town crier'.

21.11.1968
A new kitchen opens at Swimbridge Primary School.
A South Molton garage owner leads local traders opposed to new parking restrictions in the town.

18.11.1993
Dorothy Branch attends her 66th consecutive Remembrance Day service at Buckland Brewer.
Broomhayes School for autistic children moves from Westward Ho! to Bideford.

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26.11.1868
Bideford town council buys Mr.Pridham's stables – the site now houses the Library.
16 year old James Kelly dies at High Bickington – the vicar refuses to take his funeral as he was never baptised.

28.11.1918
Bideford asks for a German field gun as a war trophy.
The Barnstaple Women Citizens Association stress the importance of using their newly won vote.

28.11.1968
North Devon's new Sixth Form College is to be built next to the Technical College in Barnstaple.
12 tons of washing powder are spilled when a lorry overturns in Northam.

25.11.1993
1000 Bideford residents oppose the establishment of a sausage skin factory near their houses.
Torridge district council are to build a new fish landing facility in Appledore.

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3.12.1868
An effigy of a blackmailer at Chittlehampton is burnt in public.
The Northam-Westward Ho! road is being 'greatly improved'.

5.12.1918
Barnstaple Labour Party decide not to vote for either the Conservative or Liberal Parliamentary candidates.
Pte.Charles Pickard gives an account of his time as a PoW in Germany.

5.12.1968
Torrington's milk factory is to receive a £1 million expansion.
Denings' public house in Barnstaple High Street is demolished to make way for a drapery store.

2.12.1993
Marks & Spencer are to double the size of their Barnstaple store.
A new £30,000 Youth Centre is officially opened in a prefabricated building at Fremington.

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10.12.1868
A medieval ring is discovered at Frithelstock Priory.
A subscription is opened for a black African servant abandoned by his master in Barnstaple.

12.12.1918
Four old cottages at Indiwell Farm, Swimbridge are destroyed by fire.
The Journal publishes a letter supporting the release from prison of Conscientious Objectors.

12.12.1968
The Holiday Inn in Ilfracombve is to close for the Winter causing local consternation.
11 North Molton farmers club together to buy a portable cattle weighbridge.

9.12.1993
The North Devon Leisure Centre at Barnstaple has £600,000 spent on upgrading – David Coleman is to open it.
Beaches at Instow, Lynmouth and Ilfracombe fail to meet EU bathing water targets.

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17.12.1868
New houses at Milton Place, Bideford have no drains or lights.
Thomas Pile of Ilfracombe, who was a captain under Lord Nelson, dies aged 97.

19.12.1918
2nd Lt.W.Nelson of Appledore is awarded a Military Cross for fighting the Bolsheviks in Russia.
Female workers at the Barnstaple Raleigh Aircraft Works present a leather case to their boss.

19.12.1968
Ilfracombe's new Comprehensive School is approaching completion.
Bideford town council list 50 houses for demolition as being 'unfit for human habitation'.

16.12.1993
Ilfracombe is badly hit by 80 mph storms – with one house in Belvedere Road losing its roof.
Elderly people in Braunton are in fear every night from gangs of drunken youths.

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24.12.1868
The Mayor of Barnstaple gives 'a substantial dinner' to the inmates of the town prison.
Oysters are found growing in the Westward Ho! Swimming Baths.

24.12.1918
Women workers at the Barnstaple Cabinet Works are laid off.
Barnstaple soldiers in France burn their Parliamentary voting papers as they 'didn't know what they were voting for'.

24.12.1968
Mrs.M.Morris head teacher of Fremington School for 17 years retires.
A South Molton shopkeeper starts a campaign to get a golf course for the town.

23.12.1993
North Devon is included in a list of areas eligible for EU cash aid.
Houses at Challacombe are flooded when the River Bray bursts its banks.

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31.12.1868
Ships are sunk at Appledore during a huge storm.
A Christmas party at Bideford is attended by three Napoleonic War veterans.

31.12.1918
Barnstaple's Theatre Royal is refurbished as a cinema.
George Lambert is elected MP for the South Molton constituency for the eighth time.

31.12.1968
G.Thompson a South Molton heads moves to get a golf course for the town.
Holsworthy consider buying a 'pulverising plant' to crush household rubbish.

30.12.1993
A burger van in Barnstaple is destroyed by an arson attack.
A new network of CCTV cameras is switched on in Ilfracombe.