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

In the North Devon Journal (2010)

Provided by Peter Christie

Extracts from past issues (1860-1985) of the Journal

1211860John Andrews is gaoled for 6 months for stealing lead from Apps Brewery in Littleham.
The Bible Christian chapel at Dyke, Clovelly is opened.
1911860Voters in a South Molton town council election are given 3 pints of beer each to vote for the Tory candidates.
The Morthoe Clothing Club holds its annual distribution of funds.
2611860The captain of the local ship Louisa Braginton is tried in Liverpool for bringing Chilean political prisoners to the UK.
Weare Giffard School is opened.
511860The first issue of the Western Morning News is advertised in the Journal.
South Molton, Torrington, Lynton and Braunton all discuss forming locally based Rifle Corps.
11101860The Bideford Bridge Trust discusses widening their bridge.
South Molton town council are to build a fire proof room in the Town Hall to hold their records.
18101860St.Mary Magdalen's churchyard in Barnstaple is so wet coffins float before being buried.
An abandoned dead baby is found on Bideford Quay and this is said to be a 'frequent occurrence.'
25101860Howe and Cushing's United States Equestrian Troupe visits South Molton.
Two silver bugles are presented to the Barnstaple Rifle Corps by the 'Ladies of Barnstaple.'
4101860Jane Edmunds a Barnstaple prostitute is found drunk outside the brothels in Queen Street.
The Star Inn in Ilfracombe's High Street is badly damaged by fire.
1111860John Price 'swimming master' of Ilfracombe's 'bathing beach' dies aged 58.
The Journal buys a complete new selection of lead type to give the paper 'a more attractive appearance.'
15111860A court case re the will of Richard Miller of Winkleigh hears that he was 'as mazed as a rattle' when he wrote it.
An Ilfracombe public meeting supports the building of a new market house.
22111860A company is set up to build the Barnstaple-Ilfracombe railway.
Jane Edmunds 'a prostitute living in an infamous den, at the entrance to Queen Street' in Barnstaple is fined £1 for abusive language.
29111860Elizabeth Blight a Merton servant is tried for concealing the birth of her illegitimate child.
Thomas Warren of Warkleigh 'The Champion of the Plough' writes to the Journal.
8111860The cellars of Mr.Thorne's house in the Square, Barnstaple flood at every high tide.
93 year old Dolcibella Tucker dies at Goodleigh - having been one of the earliest Methodists in Barnstaple.
13121860The Wesleyan Day School at Derby in Barnstaple has 555 children on its books.
A Public Inquiry is held into the decrease in salmon numbers in the River Torridge.
20121860The Reverend Gossett sets up the Northam Penny Bank.
A son is born to Richard Heawood, 'Captain' of the Bideford Anthracite mine.
27121860Skating takes place on the frozen River Taw at Barnstaple.
Mary Loosemore a servant at North Molton, dies in childbirth after being sacked for being pregnant.
6121860Mr.Hayes late station master at Bideford is now station master at Bombay, India.
Philip Gould, a miner, falls down the shaft of Watermouth Lead Mine at Berrynarbor and dies.
1621860It is planned to replace 'the confusion, insecurity, and exposure involved in the present primitive arrangement of South Molton market.'
A Bideford public meeting discusses plans to establish some 'Public Baths'.
221860Robert Cade an inmate of Bideford Workhouse dies in a lime kiln at East-the-Water from fumes.
Torrington police superintendant William Cole dies aged 41 'after a lingering illness.'
232186051 parishes in North Devon petition Parliament to scrap the Devon county police force.
Ilfracombe streets are infested with 'gangs of disorderly boys' smoking and pushing 'respectable people' off the pavements.
921860James Bowen of Appledore is appointed Captain of the Great Eastern steamship.
The new Bideford Rifle Corps choose green coloured uniforms.
131860The new Bideford Rifle Corps practice in the Pannier Market.
A Braunton man who buys a 'bewitched' pig manages to lift the spell.
1531860A new police station with 2 cells is to be built in Steppa Lane, South Molton.
The Journal loses a libel case but damages are set at one farthing.
2231860There are plans to link Exford Iron Mine on Exmoor to the sea by a 7 mile long tram line.
Richard Hare of Appledore is said to have ridden a porpoise near the village.
2931860A fight breaks out amongst 200 'countrymen' outside of Bideford pig market.
T.Cornish of Barnstaple publishes 5 tinted views of the town.
831860A court at South Molton hears that of the 6 houses in Berrydown Cross hamlet 'four of them are beerhouses'.
William Marshall a travelling bookseller 'dies suddenly' at Shebbear.
1241860South Molton teetotallers have 110 members and are to open a coffee-house.
An 8' long human skeleton is discovered on Lundy.
1941860The lodging house run by Catherine Fewings in Bideford is said to be a brothel.
Morthoe church is undergoing refurbishment.
2641860A 'temporary' sideshow on Barnstaple Quay disrupts services at Cross Street chapel.
P.c.William Weeks is dismissed for being found in a beerhouse at Clovelly.
541860Barnstaple Rifle Corps are given a shop in Butchers Row for their armoury.
Isaac Stacey, a drunk, is placed in the stocks at Lynton.
1051860A £5 reward is offered in Bideford for vandals destroying shrubs along the river bank.
Barnstaple town council are to spend £150 on a new map of the town.
1751860A new Post Office is to open in Bideford at 17 High Street.
An illegal cricket ground at Furze Down Hill on Torrington Commons is destroyed.
2451860The rector of Holsworthy Christopher Clarkson is charged with assaulting his wife's maid.
The new Bideford Rifle Corps discuss forming a band.
351860William Burrows a sailor and ex-policeman escapes from Barnstaple prison using a clothes prop.
Hartland residents are said to 'still cling to old superstitions.'
3151860The Torrington Female Friendly Society holds its AGM and 100 members attend.
John Thomas replaces his father as the South Molton gravedigger.
1461860The 'female mercantile assistants' of Northam and Appledore are said to be 'celebrated dancers'.
Forty members of the new South Molton Rifle Corps swear the oath of allegiance.
2161860A labourer collecting gull's eggs on Lundy falls from the cliffs and dies.
P.c.John Snell of Torrington resigns and Mr.Searle of Bristol is chosen to take his place.
2861860The Barnstaple borough police force is deemed 'inefficient' by a Government inspector.
Five Bideford boys are gaoled for 12 hours for using obscene language.
761860The editor of the Journal suggests the need for a 'fuddleometer' in cases of drunkenness.
A foundling baby is left at Mrs.Popham's shop in Fore Street, Ilfracombe.
1271860Mungo Henry 'a man of colour' who served 30 years in the Royal Navy is arrested for drunkenness in Barnstaple.
Ilfracombe tourists arrive aboard a steamship in Clovelly being accompanied by a 'German band.'
1971860The Rev.Henry Luxmoore whose sermons 'have not been marked by brilliant oratory' leaves Barnstaple.
Mitchell Hunt and 3 other Winkleigh boys are fined 2/6 each for playing football near the Post Office.
2671860An undertaker trying to save money sends a body to Exeter from Barnstaple in a box labelled 'Glass' - he is fined £1.
Boys aged 12-14 are being taught sword drill by the Ilfracombe Rifle Corps Instructor.
571860The Rev.J.Chanter of Ilfracombe orders the removal of coloured lettering on gravestones.
Women are 'engaged in discharging limestone' from boats at Appledore.
1681860The South Molton Mounted Rifle Volunteers use part of the Town Hall as their armoury.
G.Carter of Ilfracombe publishes a 'Penny Guide & Directory' for Ilfracombe and Lynton.
281860George Pearse of West Anstey is gaoled for 1 month for 'flashing'.
A flag is presented to the Bideford Rifle Corps by Mrs.Keats.
2381860Earl Fortescue visits the West of England Steam Biscuit Factory on Barnstaple's Strand.
Bratton Fair only boasts 'one or two third rate exhibitions of glass-blowing, a learned pony etc.'
3081860Mrs.Pettle a Torrington glovemaker hosts 50 of her mainly female employees to tea.
Mary Broadway a gipsy is gaoled for 6 days for telling fortunes at Winkleigh.
98186012 year old James Ayre of South Molton is given 1 week in gaol for scrumping apples.
A carriage containing 6 people is backed over Bideford Quay.
1391860A disputed race at the Bideford Regatta leads to arrests after fighting breaks out.
The flag of the old North Devon Militia is presented to Barnstaple town council by Earl Fortescue.
2091860A Reading Room for Working Men is to be opened in Ilfracombe.
Barnstaple Fair features 'travelling theatres, clairvoyant lady, shooting galleries, Punch & Judy, panorama, a boxing booth etc.'
2791860The Torrington police are asked to patrol the cemetery on Sundays to control children who gather there.
Class distinctions are said to be rife between the 1st and 2nd Companies of the Barnstaple Rifle Corps
691860William Scoyne of Chittlehampton is fined 5/- for being drunk in company with prostitutes in Myrtle Place, Barnstaple.
A resident of Lundy called Spearman shoots himself and is brought to Clovelly for treatment.
1311910Mr.Hammond of Barnstaple patents a pipe which stops nicotine entering the smoker's mouth.
The Tory Parliamentary candidate is booed for 20 minutes at Bideford Pannier Market.
2011910A meeting in Barnstaple hears 'a vindication of the militant tactics of the Suffragettes'
The Swimbridge tanning industry is said to be in decline.
2711910John Woolf landlord of the Ship on Launch, Bideford is fined for driving a cart without lights on the Quay.
The Appledore Working Men's Reading Room is said to be in a very flourishing state.
611910A £5 reward is offered for information about bribery during the North Devon Parliamentary election.
Johanna Carvley is sent to an Exeter lunatic asylum from North Devon after trying to cut her throat.
13101910Charles Bastow loses a finger working for the N.Devon Clay Co and gets 40p per week compensation.
Stories that a Spanish Armada vessel was wrecked on Lundy are strenuously denied.
20101910The Barnstaple Picturedrome shows a film of the 1910 Derby.
Northam council discuss the building of a new Marine Parade at Appledore.
27101910A 'strikingly handsome bust' of Hugh Squier is unveiled at South Molton.
Live acts supplement the short films at Barnstaple's 2 new cinemas.
6101910The Barnstaple Picturedrome opens - the first cinema in North Devon.
A car runs backwards at Clovelly and its female passenger is injured.
10111910Numbers 22-24 Union Street, Barnstaple are sold for £124 the three.
A patrol of Lynton Boy Scouts are mounted on Exmoor ponies - the first mounted unit in Britain.
17111910Meetings are held in Ilfracombe's Gaiety Hall in favour of votes for women.
Captain Cecil Chugg of Braunton is involved in a dispute over gravel digging in the estuary.
24111910Bideford Music Hall is granted a cinematograph license.
William Vaughan & Son glovemakers of Torrington go bankrupt.
3111910An 'iron church' is opened at Meddon - before this the services were held in the West Country Inn.
Chulmleigh Carnival has a parade of decorated bicycles and prams.
1121910The History of Barnstaple for Boys and Girls is published by S.Harper.
Miss Grace Inkson of Barnstaple publishes a book of fairy stories called The Magic Ring
15121910No.83 High Street, Barnstaple is sold for £850.
A fire in Endicott's confectionary shop in South Molton's South Street is caught in time.
22121910A huge storm hits North Devon, the Westward Ho! pebble ridge is lowered 4 feet and shifted backwards 8-10 yards.
At Ilfracombe there is a tidal wave and Combe Martin Parade is wrecked.
29121910Thomas Colwill the engineer at Vincent & Duncan's collar factory in Bideford dies aged 64.
The Mayor of Barnstaple gives a free tea to 1000 poor children in the Market.
8121910A letter published in the Journal says only the Liberals will defend us from Socialism.
'Appledore rowdies' are cautioned to stop disrupting a meeting in support of the Liberal Parliamentary candidate in Northam.
1021910D.Lille of Asha, Westward Ho! is made biologist in Captain Scott's new South Polar expedition.
B.Chester, Master of the Barnstaple Staghounds breeds a pure white wolf at Fremington.
1721910Lucy Chapple the 'Queen liar' of Derby in Barnstaple gives evidence in a court case.
A new estate is started in Valley Road, Lynton and Belle Vue Avenue is laid out.
2421910The Appledore-Instow ferry sinks and three people drown.
Conservatives boycott Liberal shopkeepers in North Devon after their candidate loses the General Election.
321910Tories stencil their Parliamentary candidate's name in red all over Bideford's pavements.
The arms of a windmill at St.Brannock's, Braunton blow off and 'inconvenience a passing train.'
1031910Ilfracombe cabmen ask that the no motor taxis are allowed for a year 'to adapt themselves to the new style of conveyance.'
20 Appledore members of the Royal Naval Reserve are presented with long service medals.
1731910William Whitfield the last Master Shipbuilder of Bideford dies aged 74.
At Braunton 28 men stand for the 13 seats on the parish council.
2431910A roller skating rink is opened at Appledore's Public Hall.
Sydney Harper of Barnstaple rediscovers the earliest map of the town which dates from 1584.
331910Bideford town council erect signs of 'red letters on white' asking motorists to drive slowly through the town.
The Barnstaple Socialist Society stage a lecture on 'Socialism' in the town.
3131910Lynton & Barnstaple Railway lose 1st Class fares 'due to the increased use of motors in the district.'
Morte Point is presented to the National Trust by Rosalie Chichester.
1441910One acre of market garden land at Combe Martin sells for £200.
Braunton parish council give permission for an 'artillery camp' of 600 men to be held on Braunton Burrows.
2141910Fred Lee a 12 year old is knocked down by a car at Abbotsham Cross.
A new skating rink/entertainment hall is opened at the eastern end of Ilfracombe's Promenade shops.
2841910There are many complaints 'in regard to the filthy language used in Green Lane' Barnstaple.
The widening of Bideford's Barnstaple Street costs £1749.
741910Lynton Post Office is 'like going into a rabbit-hole or a fried fish shop' according to a councillor.
The Torrington District Nurse has a breakdown through overwork even though a bicycle is bought to help her on her rounds.
1251910The ancient butcher's shop at the bottom of Pilton Street is demolished.
King George V is proclaimed throughout North Devon.
1951910Speeding local drivers are denounced - many of whom drive fast 'simply for a lark'.
A whirlwind hits Broad Street, South Molton and snaps a flagstaff.
2651910Nicklin & Sons of Barnstaple are granted a licence for cinematograph shows for a year.
The Plough Inn, Fore Street, Torrington is closed.
551910The foundation stone of a new Baptist manse is laid at Frithelstock.
May Day is celebrated at Appledore by children parading the streets with maypoles.
1661910Sir George Newnes - 'Lynton's Noblest Benefactor' - dies.
Bideford council are to erect a grandstand on the Quay for the Regatta.
261910Northam council are to borrow £1200 to construct a 'Marine Parade' at Appledore.
165 new houses have been built in Lynton since 1901.
2361910Skittles is becoming so popular that there is talk of a North Devon League.
Combe Martin Boy Scouts are issued with uniforms.
306191012 Bible Christians are publicly baptised in the Taw at Barnstaple.
Hinks & Son of Appledore launch their first ever catamaran - it is called Jack & Jill
961910Two car drivers are fined £2 each for exceeding the 20 mph limit in North Devon.
W.Dyer of Braunton's Cycle Works builds a sand-yacht for a tourist staying at Saunton.
1471910An inspection of Appledore Church School reveals 7 boys with no shoes.
A Royal Navy cruiser, 2 destroyers and 3 submarines arrive at Ilfracombe.
2171910A new tower and bells are dedicated at Beaford at a cost of £1000.
Councillor Chope of Bideford suggests new gates for the town's Victoria Park.
2871910A Chittlehampton man has 4 sons - all named George.
Arthur Stocks, a Lundy farmer, is bankrupted by gambling debts.
771910P.c.Pearse says Barnstaple's Elizabeth Turner is 'the most disgusting woman he had ever heard in his life'.
An inquiry is held into the High Bickington parish charities.
1181910Barnstaple Labour Exchange opens in the Market Hall.
R.Downing of Horwood is made chief designer of Dennis Bros'. fire engines.
1881910John Ward is accused at Ilfracombe of trying to marry his dead brother's wife.
Miss Chichester lays the foundation stone of a new church at Woolacombe.
2581910An arsonist leaves behind fingerprints at a fire in Tuly Street, Barnstaple which police hope to use to capture him.
A motor charabanc crashes in to the Torridge Inn in Meddon Street, Bideford.
481910Lynton council discuss whether to make electricity available at night as well as during the day.
A Bideford cyclist crashes through a plate glass window at the bottom of Gunstone.
191910A photographer climbs scaffolding surrounding St.Peter's church steeple in Barnstaple to take 'bird's eye' shots.
Torrington Boy Scouts are founded.
1591910The new Roman Catholic Convent and church at Lynton is opened.
The manager of Barnstaple's Theatre Royal is given a cinematograph licence.
2291910At Torrington signposts are erected 'for the benefit of motorists'.
The number of tramps in Bideford workhouse falls as 'soft' stones they have to break are changed to granite.
2991910A Mr.Grant is contracted to build a fish pass at Beam Weir, Wear Giffard.
It is reported that'as many as thirty cars visit Lynton daily.'
891910The Motor Union offer 10 free 'speeding' signs to Barnstaple Rural District Council.
A new organ is installed at Hartland's parish church.
1411960Bideford town council fight moves by Devon County Council to take over the town's water supply.
180 attend the 30th annual Lynton & Lynmouth children's party.
2111960One of the faces of Northam's church clock is blown off by strong winds.
South Molton town council try to make the town more attractive to caravaners.
2811960Barnstaple police introduce a new radar speed meter.
Torrington girls are being trained to hand crochet baby clothes ahead of a new factory arriving.
711960Barnstaple Football Club cannot afford its 13 players' wages which total £55 per week.
Burrington's new village hall is opened at a cost of £8000.
13101960Braunton teenagers ask to use an old air raid shelter as a youth club.
Instow Primary School is finally supplied with electricity.
20101960Film star Anna Neagle attends a charity ball in Chulmleigh.
A gas explosion tears through the Bicclescombe Hospital nurses' home in Ilfracombe.
27101960A 15 year old Bideford girl is hit by lightning during a storm.
A Torrington butcher dies after being accidentally electrocuted in his shop.
6101960Plans to build a North Devon Crematorium at a cost of £45,000 are finalised.
South Molton Swimming Pool Committee investigate solar energy as a way of heating their pool.
10111960North Devon Library Service buy copies of Lady Chatterley's Lover but only for loan to adults.
Fireworks are thrown amongst the Torrington Silver Band whilst they play for a bonfire party.
17111960Ilfracombe Rotary Club raise £1500 to save St.Nicholas' Chapel on Lantern Hill.
Woolacombe parish council is to remove wartime iron spikes on the beach.
24111960Ilfracombe hoteliers call for a heliport in the resort to overcome road and rail hold-ups.
The Holsworthy Carnival Queen appears with a hot water bottle as it is so cold during the parade.
3111960A proposed camping site at Mortehoe is rejected by the parish council.
16 DUKWs based in Fremington travel to Exeter to help in the floods there.
1121960Bromley's café in Bideford's High Street is to become a new Co-op food store.
A Lynton bootmaker applies for permission to open the resort's first betting shop.
15121960200 temporary PO staff are taken on in North Devon to handle the Christmas post.
Mole Valley Farmers is inaugurated in South Molton under J.James.
22121960Famous author Negley Farson dies at Croyde aged 70.
Peter Brough and 'Archie Andrews' his ventriloquist doll appear at the Regal Cinema in Barnstaple.
29121960A new Torridge bridge at Bideford is 'a very distant proposal.'
Swimbridge church spire is hit by lightning.
8121960Huge floods inundate Taddiport, Bideford, Combe Martin and Braunton.
The locally filmed Rockets in the Dunes is premiered at Saunton.
1121960Combe Martin seafront is described as 'a disgrace to the village.'
North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! agree to the shooting of foxes on their course.
1821960A.Harman, owner of Lundy, presents plans to make the island a self-supporting community.
British Rail announce they have no plans to stop goods trains to Ilfracombe.
2521960A parish poll in Bridgerule sees 177 vote to stay in Devon against 10 who want to join Cornwall.
An Ilfracombe bubble-car driver is fined £5 for driving without due care.
421960North Devon clergy are given a pay rise - to £675 a year.
The Clinton Almshouses at Torrington are described as 'dark, damp and dingy'.
1031960The landlord of the Blackmorr Gate Hotel gets a licence to allow customers to watch TV in the bar on Sundays.
Councillors call for controls on parking in Torrington which has become 'indiscriminate'.
1731960Three soldiers drown in amphibious tank trials at Westward Ho!
Catches of herrings at Ilfracombe are said to be the 'best for years'.
2431960Messrs. Jantzen, swimsuit makers of Barnstaple, announce they are to hire another 100 workers.
Instow residents fear their beach will disappear if gravel digging in the estuary continues.
331960Bideford's vicar warns that 'godlessness is rampant in the little white town.'
The Landkey Men's Club is to be converted into a village hall.
3131960Barnstaple Grammar School pupils festoon the town with placards about their Rag Day - and 'dress' Queen Anne's statue.
Chulmleigh farmers consider 'bunging up Picadilly' with tractors in protest at food price cuts.
1341960The Fortescue family have to sell 20 farms to meet death duties.
Bideford town council can find no-one to make a new town crier's uniform.
2141960The Lundy supply vessel the Gannet has to be rescued by the Appledore lifeboat.
Three houses at Pilton 'all in good condition' are for sale at £625 the three.
2841960A row of 12 new shops is to be erected in Queen Street, Barnstaple at a cost of £100,000.
100 Saunton residents are 'extras' in the film 'Rockets in the Dunes' filmed in the village.
741960Westward Ho! is experiencing a boom as 4 new shops open in the resort.
Elmscott Post Office at Hartland closes.
1251960The entire Torrington Civil defence unit resigns following arguments with the Exeter HQ.
North Devon Archaeology Society resumes excavations at Blackmore Gate.
1951960The Lynton cliff railway is derailed but none of the 20 passengers are injured.
Plans by the Royal North Devon Golf Club to build houses in Golf Links Road at Westward Ho! are rejected.
26519601168 British Legion members march through South Molton.
A Berrynarbor man objects to a campsite near him saying he has already seen 'nudist' campers there.
551960South Molton residents vote 6 to 1 to allow cinemas to open on Sundays.
Braunton 'skittlers' complain that the Journal gives too much coverage to football.
1661960Knowstone Moor near Witheridge is destroyed by fire.
Bob Masters of Yarnscombe wins £5000 in a 'Sunday Pictorial' true war story competition.
261960The War Office is to increase the use of Instow beach by Army vehicles from 60 to 840 per month.
Bideford is to allow water-skiing in the harbour.
2361960The m.v.Ron Woolaway sinks a week after being commissioned to 'suck' sand from the Bristol Channel.
Fremington women are damaging their stiletto shoes on poorly maintained local roads.
3061960Brook House in Croyde burns down.
Barnstaple Grammar School girls are to be allowed to wear pleated rather than straight skirts.
961960Barnstaple Shoveha'penny League claim their game is more popular than TV.
Ilfracombe refuse tip is 'smelling to high heaven.'
1471960James Dennis & Co. win permission to build houses in Braunton's Caen Field.
A TV programme 'Life at Eighty' is filmed in Ilfracombe's Victoria Pavilion.
2171960A Canadian railwayman inherits a baronetcy after Sir William Williams of Heanton dies.
The closure of the school at St.Giles in the Wood is being considered.
2871960Conservatives act to stop Exmoor being planted with trees.
The chairman of Holsworthy NFU is fined £20 for defrauding the Ministry of Agriculture.
771960A drunken reveller climbs to the top of the fountain in Torrington Square breaking off 2 stone finials.
Terry Lightfoot and his New Orleans Jazzmen appear at the Queen's Hall, Barnstaple.
1181960Yelland power station's 2 chimneys are raised by 44' to cut down pollution.
A new 600 cc Norton motorcycle is on sale at Bideford for £288.
18819604 North Devonians are chosen for the Rome Olympic Games - Bruce Tulloh, Brian Kent-Smith, Alexander Lindsay and Bertie Hill.
A £500,000 plan to protect the Westward Ho! pebble ridge is announced by Northam town council.
2581960Herbert Waldron of Torrington becomes the National Champion Town Crier for the third time.
Ilfracombe could get more tourists if it changed its name a councillor suggests.
481960South Molton residents vote to build a swimming pool at a cost of £13,000.
Sutcombe church is badly damaged by fire.
191960Large areas of Barnstaple and Landkey are flooded by heavy rain.
Two Dutch barns and their contents are destroyed by fire at Cross Farm, Braunton.
1591960Tourists in Combe Martin complain about the number of 'dirty postcards' on sale in the resort.
Mortehoe parish council rule there are 2 'e's' in their village's name.
2291960Bideford shopkeepers reject ideas of a 5 day week for local shops.
Barnstaple Carnival is said to be 'the biggest, best and brightest' since the war.
2991960Mrs.Mary King of Combe Martin claims to have travelled in a Martian spaceship which landed in the village.
Barnstaple Free Church Council restate their opposition to Sunday football games.
891960150 strikers at the Appledore shipyard of P.K.Harris ignore a union call to return to work.
Westdown holds its first carnival for 14 years and the large number of entries astounds everyone.
1011985Ilfracombe Pier is condemned as unsafe and is said to have a maximum life of just 5 years.
1000 young trees are planted by conservation volunteers in the Kenwith Valley at Bideford.
1711985The Taw Vale Beagles hunt at Chulmleigh is targeted by 3 minibuses of protestors.
Ilfracombe is chosen as the new 'nerve centre' for the North Devon police force.
2411985A Bideford teacher with a slipped disc continues to teach students who gather round her sick bed.
The rail line at Fremington Quay is ripped up and removed.
311985A detached 3 bedroomed 'character residence' in Lynton is for sale at £39,500.
John Born retires after 64 years working for Barnstaple solicitors Pitts-Tucker.
3111985The Bond family of Bideford give up the licence of the Ship-on-Launch pub after 71 years.
Plans to build a marina, a fishing quay, a cable car and establish a new ferry to Bristol are announced for Ilfracombe.
10101985Princess Anne visits the Broomhayes school for autistic children at Northam.
Plans for a £200,000 conference and concert. Hall in Lynton are rejected.
17101985Striking teachers at Barnstaple's Park and Pilton Schools are joined by their pupils.
Bill Cumming of the Appledore Inn in Bideford presents a new town crier's bell to the town council.
24101985Plans by Prudential Assurance to redevelop Gammon Lane in Barnstaple are given the go-ahead.
The BBC film 'Unfinished Business', a mystery with Tom Bell, in Westward Ho!
310198519 strips of the Braunton Great Field are sold at auction.
South Molton town council refuse permission for donkeys to graze on the town's recreation ground.
31101985Locals demand a swimming pool instead of squash courts at Holsworthy's new sports hall.
Bishops Nympton is to get its pub back after 16 'dry' years.
14111985NDDC is attacked for painting 'the worst possible picture' of Ilfracombe and its future.
Work starts on turning the derelict Barnstaple-Bideford rail line into the Tarka Trail.
21111985The stand at the Bideford Football Club is declared to be dangerous.
The Kendall surgical stocking factory in Braunton takes on 40 new staff.
28111985The m.v.Oldenburg is purchased as the new Lundy service vessel.
A group of unemployed tackle dereliction in Ilfracombe's Fore Street under a government scheme.
7111985Ten North Devon Meat lorries at Torrington are smashed up by 'animal rights' activists.
Wishbone Ash play the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple.
121219855000 Torridge residents are to be charged 10p a week for their milk deliveries.
NDDC are to lease out the old town railway station as a restaurant.
19121985Barnstaple curate, the Rev.Geoffrey Squire, suggests the town hold an annual 'Festival Week'.
A 2 bedroom modern terraced house in Brauinton is on the market at £29,950.
24121985Braunton School is chosen as the site for an all-weather athletics track.
The government announce the route of the Link Road to by-pass both Barnstaple and Bideford.
5121985William Kent, the last of North Devon's World War One 'Old Contemptibles' dies aged 93.
Appledore British Legion demands that the village war memorial is renovated.
1421985A 650 ton concrete caisson made at Appledore's Richmond Dock is placed in the River Torridge as the base for the Torridge Bridge.
Torrington clergy decide not to hold a Remembrance Day service in the church.
2121985Torrington's 'Black Madonna' is allowed to stay in the town's church.
Emma Nicholson is chosen as the prospective Tory candidate for Torridge.
2821985Demolition work begins at Dornat's factory in Tuly Street, Barnstaple - the site for a new library.
The closed Savoy Cinema in South Molton re-opens as an architectural antiques shop.
721985Plans are announced to build a weather radar station on Exmoor.
Some 7227 people are registered as unemployed in North Devon.
1431985Torrington Golf Club accounts show it to be £15000 in the red.
A cob-built cottage at Hatherleigh collapses whilst its owner is out.
2131985A prefabricated wooden chalet is lowered into place by crane at Bucks Mills.
A 'sponsored plough' by Bradworthy YFC raises £100 for an eye scanner.
2831985The chairman of Bideford Football Club resigns after his vice-chairman throws beer over him.
Crow Point at Braunton is seriously endangered by erosion.
731985Plans to build a 'Crystal Palace' in Barnstaple's Green Lane are threatened by a new out-of-town development.
Appledore children petition to keep dogs off the Anchor Park play area.
1141985The contractors providing heavy earth moving vehicles for the Bideford by-pass go bankrupt.
The 'new look shopping street' at Lynmouth is officially opened.
1841985The theft of all the number '6' hymn numbers from Woolacombe church is blamed on Satanists.
Work begins to replace storm damaged trees in the Heddon Valley.
2541985The Tyrolean Beer Garden at Westward Ho! has its licence withheld for underage drinking.
Conservationists fight to save the old stone built abattoir opposite Shaplands in Barnstaple.
441985A massive landslip at Bickington leaves houses at danger of disappearing.
Ilfracombe's town clerk collapses at a meeting when told her salary is being cut by 25%.
1651985Plans are announced to redevelop the old wharves in Bideford East-the-Water.
The 34 bedroom Beacon Castle Hotel at Ilfracombe burns down.
251985Hatherleigh parish council announce plans to redesign the village square.
Oranges are used by South West Water to map currents in Bideford Bay.
2351985Eight protestors are arrested at a demonstration against a nuclear waste ship launched at Appledore.
Dave Clemence coxswain of the Ilfracombe lifeboat is awarded a medal for saving a ketch and its crew.
3051985Littleham residents campaign to stop their village becoming a Bideford 'dormitory'.
A new Abbeyfield home for the elderly is opened in South Molton.
951985The Braund family society unveil a plaque to their forefathers at Bucks Mills.
A new company announce plans to start greyhound racing in Bideford's Sports Ground.
1361985100 gypsies camp on land at Whiddon Valley and at Clark's factory in Barnstaple.
Plans are announced to demolish the old school in Higher Gunstone, Bideford.
2061985Appledore traders complain that new road signs divert visitors to Westward Ho! and away from them.
South Molton charities send large quantities of aid to help starving people in Eritrea, East Africa.*
2761985A new explosives factory at Knowstone is the subject of a planning inquiry.
The CEGB are to bury 700 tons of asbestos in sealed chambers on the site of the Yelland power station.
661985South Molton council decides to ban parking in the Square.
A parish poll in Knowstone on the future of their village hall sees a turnout of 85%.
1171985Holsworthy is 'dying' through lack of new building according to its councillor Wilfred Trace.
The skeleton of a Napoleonic French P.o.W. is found in Clovelly Road, Bideford.
1871985500 men begin a 3 month voluntary lay-off at Appledore Shipbuilders because of a lack of orders.
Bishops Nympton farmer George Osment sets off on a round-the-world motorbike ride.
2571985The Landmark Trust is to replace its Lundy service boat the Polar Bear.
Users of Barnstaple's Cattle Market pledge to fight any moves to close it down.
471985North Devon Scouts protest at an Ilfracombe show called 'Scouting for Boys'.
Northam town council demand that the public coastal path between Bideford and Appledore is re-instated.
181985A Bideford girl, Zoe Slade, becomes Carnival Princess of Barnstaple.
A Birmingham firm plans to run Saturday markets in South Molton's Market Hall.
1581985The 14th Barnstaple Round Table Raft Race in the R.Taw attracts 400 entrants.
The actor Sir John Mills opens Filleigh Fete.
2281985Barnstaple is hit by a massive wave of shoplifting.
Combe Martin rejects a plan to build 45 Spanish-style villas in the village.
2981985Shapland & Petter oppose plans to 'list' their buildings as this will stop their planned expansion.
A group of Chinese scientists are to visit the wind turbine at Ilfracombe.
881985The Torridge Riparian Owners complain of illegal netting of salmon by poachers.
A cherry tree is planted in Barnstaple's Rock Park to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1291985Ilfracombe councillor Charles Disney disrupts a meeting of the NDDC Planning Committee.
The centenary of the Law Memorial Homes at Bishops Tawton is celebrated.
1991985The Torrington Town Lands Charity sells 2 acres of land at Prideaux Meadow for £106,000.
A white donkey is born at Bicclescombe Park, Ilfracombe.
2691985A glass ball used to record sunlight hours is stolen from Capstone Hill, Ilfracombe.
14 unemployed North Devonians are to work on Lundy for 6 months restoring walls.
591985The Radio 1 Roadshow hosted by Steve Wright is staged on Northam Burrows.
Plans to run a civilian air service between Chivenor, Exeter and London are announced.