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

In the North Devon Journal (2012)

Provided by Peter Christie

Extracts from past issues (1862-1987) of the Journal

211862Elizabeth Macleod 'a wretched half starved looking creature' is gaoled at Barnstaple for 6 months for theft. At Tawstock a village 'Coal Club' distributes 40 tons of coal to poor labourers.
411912An 'air gas plant' is installed at 'Commons', Northam to light the building. Aggie Cann (nee Crang) and her 5 children who emigrated to Queensland from Barnstaple are murdered.
411962The North Devon Technical College is to close its Pilton extension. The River Taw at Barnstaple freezes over.
811987Dolton Primary School is officially the most overcrowded in Devon. Greyhound racing is to be staged at the Bideford Sports Ground.
911862A Barnstaple pub is found to be floored with gravestones 'bartered for drink' by the parish sexton. The exclusive rights to four seats in St.Mary's church, Bideford are auctioned.
1111912The sea wall at Ilfracombe is lengthened at a cost of £2000. A dead whale washed up at Saunton is buried on the beach in quicklime.
1111962Rents of South Molton council houses are increased to £1.32 a week. Ilfracombe councillor Charles Disney is fined for speeding.
1511987The River Taw at Barnstaple freezes over. Malicious anonymous letters cause the cancellation of the 1987$$$ Gang Show in Barnstaple.
1611862The 34 members of the Appledore Maternal Society have had 230 children between them of whom 78 had died. A fire at Hartland Abbey nearly kills Sir George Stucley.
1811912Fred Short of Torrington wins the first King's Scout badge awarded in North Devon. The Barnstaple Cabmen Annual Dinner hears that 'motors were never going to kill the cab industry.'
1811962Storms leave a 150' breach in the Westward Ho! pebble ridge. Clovelly parish council cannot find the deeds to the section of the local park they own.
2211987It is revealed that two North Devonians are HIV positive. Work begins in Bideford on a 'New World' tapestry panel some 11' x 4' in size.
2311862A Reading Room is set up at Bucks Mills by Mrs.Elwes of Walland Cary House. The Barnstaple Post Office moves to Cross Street which is described as being windswept and unsuitable.
2511912W.Twigg's tallow factory at Sticklepath in Barnstaple is denounced as a health hazard. A social is held in Appledore by the Women's Suffrage movement.
2511962Bude lock gates are brought to Bideford for repair. A coffin is taken from Ilfracombe Pier to be buried at sea.
2911987Appledore shipyard wins a £7.5 million contract to build a suction dredger. Tesco are about to move out of Barnstaple High Street to their new out-of-town shop.
3011862Work starts on a new town hall in Ilfracombe using stone from the Tors estate. Ann Chugg is charged by her master John Manley with theft from his toy factory at Bradiford, Pilton.
121912The Appledore Reading Room expands into a coal cellar under its existing rooms. Elizabeth Pavey of Barnstaple is charged for the 13th time with using obscene language.
121962The North Devon Squadron of the Air Training Corps celebrates its 21st anniversary. 1000$$$ people attend the Barnstaple Christian Unity meeting in Queens Hall.
521987100 people try to buy 10 new houses in Somerset Place, Barnstaple. A local labourer high on 'magic mushrooms' and alcohol jumps off Barnstaple Bridge and drowns.
62186217 year old Joseph Hayward of Hartland has a mechanical 'leg' made for him. The proposed widening of Bideford Bridge is costed at £3500.
821912Mary Gill of Stoke Rivers wins £25 from John Gammon for breach of promise. Miss Pierre 'the lady Ju-jitsu champion' shows Barnstaple women how to 'defend herself from hooligan attacks.'
821962The Aetherius Society meet at Holdstone Down where they believe Jesus landed in a flying saucer in 1958. Ilfracombe is investigating a cable car link between Capstone and Hillsborough.
1221987Thousands of exhibits from Ilfracombe Museum are taken to Exeter for specialist cleaning. Plans to site a new supermarket on South Street car park in Torrington are turned down by the district council.
1321862Sergeant Chanter of the Barnstaple Police is presented with £24 at the end of his long career. Richard Hobbs a paralysed, deaf mute of Bideford is charged with begging at Shebbear.
1521912Bideford Library is presented with 18 heads of animals shot by a Westward Ho! resident. No.20 Bear Street, Barnstaple is sold for £690.
1521962Bideford football club take a record gate of £101. Percival Symons is killed in an accident 90' down a shaft at the Petersmarland clay works.
1921987A 400 year old skeleton is uncovered at the back of the Rising Sun in Lynmouth. Charles Disney, Mayor of Ilfracombe, resigns after being charged with drink driving.
2021862A new school room is opened at Bideford's Lavington chapel. Rawleigh Factory in Barnstaple and the adjoining 29 workers' houses are to let.
2221912Barnstaple town council is to demolish the 'Red Cow' pub at the corner of Castle and Holland Street. Electric lighting is inaugurated at Braunton when Mrs.W.Incledon-Webber throws a switch.
2221962A 200 house estate is planned for Shoreland Road, Barnstaple. The National Trust launch an appeal for £5000 to buy Heddon Valley at Parracombe.
2621987Irreplaceable church silver is stolen from St.Michael's, Torrington and St.Peter's, Barnstaple. A wing of the Royal Castle Hotel in Lynton burns down.
2721862A public meeting at Ilfracombe discusses the possible fortification of the town. Police at St.Giles in the Wood are said to be officious and to be liars.
2921912Horace Hutchinson,a famous golfer, warns of the breaching of the Westward Ho! pebble ridge. Yeo Mill and the New Inn at West Anstey burn down.
131962Plans are announced to close nine North Devon hospitals. The Bailey bridge over the Westward Ho! pebble ridge is dismantled by the Territorial Army.
531987Barnstaple fashion shop Skents in Cross Street is gutted by fire. In Bideford a carpet warehouse in Barnstaple Street is also destroyed by fire.
631862The stock of Kenwith Castle Model Farm at Abbotsham is sold at auction. Ann Hodge 'a turbulent woman' of Witheridge smashes 21 panes of glass in South Molton Workhouse.
731912Virtually all of Northam Burrows is under water and Capstone Hill Walk at Ilfracombe is washed away following a storm. Most shops in High and Joy Street, Barnstaple have their windows scratched with a diamond.
831962No more houses are to be allowed on the river side of the Fremington-Instow road. Bideford town council is to phase out free parking in the town.
1231987North Devon teachers strike over a pay deal that is 'imposed' on them. A comprehensive redevelopment plan for Ilfracombe is said to have 'got off to a good start'.
1331862Moves are started to build a telegraph station at Capstone Hill in Ilfracombe. Jane Edmonds a prostitute of Myrtle Place, Barnstaple is gaoled for 6 weeks for being drunk and disorderly.
1431912Ten ex-soldiers are sworn in as Special Constables in South Molton during a coal strike. Mrs.Howard's bakery in Braunton is badly damaged by fire.
1531962A Barnstaple councillor suggests demolishing the Pannier Market and replacing it with 'higher value' properties. The thatched roof of Heddon chapel near Filleigh is ripped off in a gale.
1931987A Lancashire man drives to Bideford and shoots his ex-wife dead in the High Street. An experimental wind turbine at Ilfracombe is given a 5 year extension of its planning permission.
2031862Police are called to act against 200 boys who collect in Barnstaple Market every Sunday. E.M.White is to rebuild St.Mary's church in Bideford at a cost of £3758.
2131912A public meeting in Barnstaple is called to set up a golf club. The Bideford & Bristol Steamship Co. wins the Lundy mail contract for their vessel the Devonia.
2231962The owner of Cobscombe Farm, Black Dog near Witheridge builds an H bomb shelter. Plans to convert a shop at Hele, Ilfarcombe into an 'amusement centre and skittles alley' are rejected.
2631987Two young boys discover a cache of stolen jewellery in a field at Appledore. The Grenville Nursing Home in Meddon Street, Bideford celebrates its centenary.
2731862Barnstaple town council agree to buy 200 tons of street paving stone from Appledore quarry. The management of the Combe Martin silver mine issue their annual report.
2831912Women teachers will not be allowed to retain their jobs in Barnstaple once they marry. R.L.Knight takes over the Barnstaple photographic business of Major, Darker & Lorraine.
2931962Hermitage Primary School, Ilfracombe is to be closed. A new police station costing £12,000 is opened at Chulmleigh.
241987Angela Rippon visits Barnstaple to open a new youth training centre. A mini hurricane sweeps across North Devon leaving trees felled and roofs ripped off.
341862A subscription list to build the Barnstaple Albert Memorial is opened. Joseph Goss of the Rock House Inn, Georgeham is fined 2/6 for smashing the lantern of P.c.Richards.
441912A female fraudster in Bideford uses various aliases including 'Sister Wiggle'. A telephone links Clovelly coastguard station and a new watch house in the grounds of Clovelly Court.
541962The future of the Barnstaple-Taunton rail link is under threat. Plans are announced for 60 large houses along the main road between Bideford and Westleigh.
941987The first ever archaeological excavation in Bideford starts in New Street. Harold Jester retires as head of Lynton Primary School after 26 years.
1041862Bideford is to set up a 12 man Fire Brigade and pay each man 10/-. A travelling photographer visits Atherington where 'the rustics exhibit no small amount of astonishment and delight at seeing themselves face to face.'
1141912A Barnstaple suicide is blamed on 'blood and thunder' films shown in the town's 'Picture Palace'. A new pottery works is established in South Street, Braunton.
1241962A Civil Defence exercise on Appledore Quay on a Sunday is stopped by protests from local clergy. The Palace Cinema, Bideford is to close down due to competition from TV.
1641987Ilfracombe has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe at 45%. Torridge district council decide not to use the old Bideford Workhouse as a new HQ.
1741862Appledore Wesleyan Day School is opened. Braunton is to get a new police house complete with a cell.
18419124000 people line the funeral route of Northam policeman John Rice who had been in the parish for 10 years. Four people with local links to Ilfracombe and Appledore drown on the Titanic.
1941962Bideford council is to charge 1/- for 4 hours parking on the Pill. The North Devon Surf Life Saving Club is set up at Woolacombe.
2341987A reed bed sewage works is installed at West Buckland. A modern 2 bedroom end-of-terrace house in Whiddon Valley, Barnstaple is on sale at £32,500.
2441862Bideford is to pave over the 'watercourses' in Mill Street and macadamise the pavements. William Ward a Pilton shoemaker breaks his leg whilst taking part in a wrestling match.
2541912Bideford town council is to replace a warning bell with telephone links to local firemen. The old Plough Inn in Torrington is to be replaced with a Drill Hall.
2641962Compulsory purchase orders are served on householders in Willet Street, Bideford prior to demolition. A 70 year old Lynton woman dies of starvation.
3041987A red telephone box is erected in Landivisiau, Bideford's French twin, as a present from Devon. Swimbridge girl Jill Shapland is picked for the GB Women's Rugby Team.
151862Bribery is said to be rife in the Barnstaple town council election. Of 300 men at Georgeham Revel some 150 end up drunk.
251912G.Sprague of Barnstaple publishes 2 broadsheet poems to raise funds for the Titanic survivors' fund. 245 North Devon Boy Scouts parade at Appledore.
351962A live anti-tank mine is found on Instow beach. North Devon Liberalism is described as 'a type of German measles that is spreading throughout the county like ten pin bowling and bingo.'
751987The new Torridge Bridge at Bideford is completed at a cost of £13.5 million. Northam town council bid to regain the freehold of Northam Burrows.
851862A man at Ilfracombe is booed at his wedding as he only buried his late wife 5 weeks before. Richard Welch of Little Torrington is gaoled for 2 weeks for leaving his 3 children in Torrington Workhouse.
951912John Cridge's decomposing body is found in a cupboard in Bridge Buildings, Bideford after he commits suicide. Takings for the Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore railway in 1911$$$ are £2408, expenses come in at £2947.
1051962James Gammon the last blacksmith in Georgeham dies. A start is made on building South Molton's new £12,000 swimming pool.
1451987Thousands walk across the new Torridge Bridge to mark its opening. A new Texas Homecare store is to open at Whiddon Valley in Barnstaple.
1551862A public meeting is held at Braunton to support a railway to Ilfracombe. A court case in Bideford deals with limestone cargoes landed at Cleave Houses for the local limekiln.
1651912150 Boy Scouts take part in a 'Pageant' at Torrington. Sydney Harper buys John Gay's chair and returns it to Barnstaple.
1751962A mobile crane topples over onto 2 ships in Appledore's Richmond Dock. A new water reservoir is to be constructed at Buckleigh, Westward Ho!
2151987A sand barge is prevented from smashing into Barnstaple Bridge by quick thinking police. The last family-run abattoir in North Devon at Chapel Street, Braunton is due to close.
2251862Queen Victoria's son Prince Arthur arrives by sea at Bideford. The Bampfylde Copper Mine near South Molton is said to be very productive.
2351912A massive granite direction pedestal is erected in Barnstaple Square. Ilfracombe Peace Society deplore the military use of airships 'as engines of destruction'.
2451962Two new tennis courts in Hatherleigh are closed on Sundays due to church protests. The New Inn, Swimbridge is renamed to honour Parson Jack Russell.
2851987Prince Edward goes on a 'walkabout' when visiting Torrington. 21 Londoners are arrested following a 'severe disturbance' at the Shore Inn, Westward Ho!
2951862A 114 lb sturgeon is caught next to Bideford Bridge and sold at 6d per lb. The West of England Biscuit Factory at Barnstaple introduces bread making machinery.
3051912Green Lane, Barnstaple is said 'to be a sort of colony on its own' so difficult is it to police. The new Appledore lifeboat the Robert & Catherine is launched from Bideford Quay.
3151962A Bideford farmer William Pedrick is accidentally killed by a stray bullet. A cloakroom on Ilfracombe Pier is to be converted to an amusement arcade.
46198782 paintings are stolen from the Brendon Painting Society Show in the village hall. Edwina Currie and Michael Heseltine visit North Devon to help Tony Speller hold his Parliamentary seat.
561862An inquiry reveals 58 people living in 12 cottages in Litchdon Street, Barnstaple have just one 'privy' between them. A publicity committee is formed at Ilfracombe to attract more tourists.
661912Prideaux & Son of Barnstaple build a 14 seat motor charabanc the first ever seen in the town. Monsieur Salmet flies in to North Devon and lands at Sticklepath, Barnstaple.
761962North Devon Farmers Ltd. open a cattle cake mill at Braunton Road, Barnstaple. Barnstaple clergy condemn the North Devon Technical College Rag Magazine as 'really offensive'.
1161987The captain of the Balmoral steamer rescues a tourist who falls overboard in Ilfracombe harbour. A memorial plaque to the Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore railway is unveiled at the site of Appledore station.
1261862An 8 year old Ilfracombe boy is gaoled for 1 week for throwing stones. Bishopsnympton Friendly Society hold their annual 'walk' and 400 attend.
1361912Monsieur Salmet an aviator flies to Westward Ho! and is photographed on Northam Burrows. A 'smuggling drama' is being filmed at Ilfracombe.
1461962Instow's Bruce Tulloh wins both the 3 and 6 mile races in the British Games. The Barnstaple Mayor is 'kidnapped' by students of North Devon Technical College and 'raffled' for £5 on Rag Day.
1861987Emma Nicholson is elected the first female MP in Torridge for the Tories but later defects to the Lib-Dems. Michael Turner an Abbotsham farmer gets planning permission to develop his farm as an 'agricultural exhibition centre.'
1961862George Coles is fined 1/- for keeping 6 cows in Holland Street, Barnstaple their droppings upset pedestrians. 63 members attend the AGM of the Torrington United Tradesmen's Society.
2061912A man in 'full Red Indian war dress' is filmed at Morte Point. A petition circulates in Bideford against the 'discordant noises' of a Salvation Army band in High Street.
2161962200 people help 'Beat the Bounds' at South Molton. A protest march is held in Barnstaple by the North Devon Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
2561987The disused Yelland power station site is sold to a 'national dockland development company.' Developers Dytech are ready to invest £20 million in Ilfracombe.
2661862Calls are made to demolish brothels at the corner of Boutport Street and Queen Street in Barnstaple. Costly improvements begin to Bideford Bridge after years of discussion.
2761912The motor and carriage works of Prideaux & Son in Bear Street, Barnstaple is gutted by fire. The foundation stone of the High Street Methodist chapel is laid in Bideford.
2861962A South Molton youth 'tug of war' team is disqualified at a local sports contest for being 'too heavy'. A youth hostel is opened at Lynton.
271987Beryl Kempe is praised for thwarting a kidnap attempt in Barnstaple's Litchdon Street. Snooker ace Steve Davis visits Bideford to relaunch the 'Pot Black' firm.
371862Mrs Julia Pine Coffin is charged with dangerous carriage driving in Barnstaple. The stewards of St.Giles in the Wood Male Friendly Society are taken to court over financial irregularities.
471912430 Territorials of the Field Artillery camp on Braunton Burrows. The Reverend John Pigot, vicar of Fremington, dies after 55 years in the parish.
571962A parking ban in Barnstaple's 6 main streets sees shopkeepers talking of a 'ghost town'. Ilfracombe town councillors ban water ski-ing in their harbour.
971987The Yelland power station's giant chimneys are demolished. Torrington residents protest at the smell from the North Devon Meat plant in the town.
1071862The blind postman of Braunton Robert Dummett is declared bankrupt. St.Michael's church in Torrington is reopened after refurbishment.
1171912The mazzard orchards in North Devon are badly damaged by heavy rain. Barnstaple's prospective Liberal Parliamentary candidate resigns because his government gaols 4 Suffragettes.
1271962A two storey car/coach park is planned for St.Brannock's Road in Ilfracombe. A new shopping arcade is to be built opposite the Fremington war memorial by Wallace Day.
1671987A referendum is called on plans for a Braunton by-pass. The 'Once upon a time' children's theme park is opened at Woolacombe.
1771862'Donkey chairs' and 'basket carriages' are blocking streets in Ilfracombe. Lewis Dascombe 'formerly a noted wrestler' of Bishopsnympton is removed from court during a trial as he gets too excited.
1871912Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer, stays in South Molton. Bathing tents and an attendant are provided at Sillery Sands, Lynton.
1971962Chulmleigh Secondary School swimming pool is opened. The clockwork mechanism controlling the Lundy lighthouse breaks down.
2371987Westward Ho's! 'Top Camp' is sold for housing development. Vandals cause £11,000 worth of damage at S.E.L.Clarke's New Road depot in Bideford.
2471862The New Market in Ilfracombe is opened for the first time. The building of coastguard cottages and a watch tower at Clovelly are noted in the Journal.
2571912The Albert Hall and a skating rink in Ilfracombe are sold to the town's vicar for £350. A woman hit by a bicycle at Woolacombe is awarded £350 in damages.
2671962The Hillside estate in Ilfracombe is described as a 'slum area' by a local councillor. A Bideford councillor tries to ban CND and the 'Anti Common Market League' from using the town hall.
3071987Local residents lobby Parliament about noise from low flying jets at Chivenor. A 5 bedroom country house with 21 acres at Umberleigh is for sale at £145,000.
3171862John Holman, a farmer of Westleigh, drowns whilst swimming naked off of Northam Burrows. Petrockstowe and Sheepwash parish officials go to court over who should look after Anne Wyllie and her 5 children.
181912Ernest Evans builds his own car and whilst driving it hits a shop in Caen Street, Braunton. The Lyn Rock Natural Mineral Water Syndicate Ltd. In Lynton is wound up.
381962The headmaster of Ilfracombe Grammar School bans girls from wearing 'laddered nylons'. A 'jive' marathon at Northam is banned on medical grounds.
681987Clovelly owner John Rous is to charge visitors to the privately owned village. A new plan for 85 houses on an old shipbuilding yard and bus depot at Bideford gets the go-ahead.
781862Rose Ash Revel includes wrestling and a boar hunt. Moves are started to form a Cadet Corps in Barnstaple.
881912A 'sea serpent' in Barnstaple Bay is dismissed as 'simply a school of porpoises'. A public meeting is held at Braunton's Cross Tree about Women's Suffrage.
1081962Odan Hill School, Romansleigh burns down. Whitelands Engineering of Bideford make the parts needed to receive the first transatlantic TV pictures via the Telstar satellite.
1381987Plans are announced for Westward Ho! to get Britain's largest dry ski run. Lundy is hit by a 300% rise in its crime rate following 3 thefts on the island.
1481862Mr & Mrs Trawin governor and matron of Barnstaple Prison are given a pay rise of £5 p.a. The son of Edward Capern, Bideford's 'postman poet' wins a penmanship competition.
1581912At Hartland Fattacott farmhouse loses its chimney to a lightning strike. The Ilfracombe Typewriting Office in Avenue Road is offering tuition.
1781962The Ministry of Health gives the go-ahead for a new hospital at Raleigh Park, Barnstaple. The Bideford Gentleman's Club in the old Palladium Cinema is sold to a Torrington glovemaking firm.
2081987Noel Edmonds opens the Filleigh fete. The lime kiln at Rosemoor, Torrington is restored by 15 unemployed people.
2181862A little boy called Gloyne is shot and killed by another boy at Littleham. The North Devon Infirmary in Barnstaple is to build a Fortescue Memorial Wing.
2281912The Anti-Socialist Union holds an open-air meeting in Braunton. Two women take part in a Bideford bowling match for the first time ever.
2381962Bideford shipbuilders M.Blackmore & Sons go into receivership. 'Rock & Twist Dances' at Kingsley Hall, Westward Ho! are stopped following fighting.
2781987Vandals rampage through the newly built Torrington Scout hut. A new extension sees Fremington parish hall hailed as the finest in North Devon.
2881862Mary Jane Abrahams of Newport, Barnstaple a lunatic is charged with assaulting a neighbour. Barnstaple sewers are flushed out with half a million gallons of water.
2981912In Barnstaple only 23 of 117 new born children have been vaccinated. Chittlehampton Square is presented to the district council by Lord Clinton.
3081962Torrington town crier Bert Waldron wins the national championship for the third year running. A 6 bedroom end of terrace house in Ilfracombe is for sale at £2100.
391987Asbestos monitors are set up in the Yelland power station whilst it is demolished. DJ Bruno Brookes visits Westward Ho! with the Radio One Roadshow.
491862A drapery shop in Joy Street, Barnstaple is demolished and rebuilt in 6 weeks. Thomas Gould of Combe Martin is ordered to pay 1/6 per week to Sarah Parkhouse for the upkeep of his illegitimate child.
591912The Appledore Historic Pageant is held in Staddon Field. A cob cottage occupied by Mr.Tucker at Lake collapses.
691962It is alleged that jealousy between 3 Bideford women town councillors is holding up council work. Rory Blackwell and the Blackjacks 'Stars of TV, Films & Records' play at Barnstaple's Queens Hall.
1091987The first signs of acid rain damage to trees in North Devon are claimed at Chelfham. A cricket festival at Holsworthy leads to complaints about drunkenness and bad language.
1191862The Salutation Inn, Barnstaple kept by William Braund is said to be a brothel and is closed. Woodhouse Farm near South Molton catches fire and the local insurance company fire brigade extinguish it.
1291912Miss Susan Prust forewoman for 60 years of Barnstaple's Derby lace factory dies aged 82. Rudyard Kipling visits Brannam's Pottery in Barnstaple and buys several items.
1391962Braunton parish council claim a right of way across the road leading to Saunton beach. Dance halls in Bideford are patrolled by police to prevent fighting.
1791987Residents of Sutcombe oppose a new estate even though the parish council vote for it. A 3 bedroomed semi-detached bungalow in High Bickington is for sale at £41,500.
1891862The Blatchford Paper Mills at Barnstaple are destroyed by fire. Discussions open to build 20 tourist cottages at Northam Burrows.
1991912I ton of ice daily is being produced at the new Barnstaple Ice Factory. Northam council is taking steps to prevent the removal of stones from the pebble ridge.
2091962A dodgems ride at Barnstaple Fair doubles in price to 1/6. Inmates of a prison farm at East Worlington swap prison clothing for tobacco with locals.
2491987The 11.5 mile Doone Run attracts 80 athletes. The North Devon coast is announced as one of four possible locations for deep sea shafts for storing nuclear waste.
2591862Green Lane, Barnstaple is described as an 'odorous locality' in a court case. The Reverend G.Waterman of Ilfracombe lectures on 'Ghosts'.
2691912North Devonians complain of 'night noises' from motor cars. Barnstaple's 'Picturedrome' cinema re-opens with a new motor generator.
2791962One way traffic is to be retained in Bideford High Street but going up instead of down. Ilfracombe Rotary Club spend £1500$$$ on renovating St.Nicholas Chapel on Lantern Hill.
1101987Barbrook residents petition to ban staghunters after a stag is cornered in the village. A £1.8 million plan to build flats on Ilfracombe's Candar site is given the go-ahead.
2101862Scandal is created when both sexes attend a lecture on prostitution in Bideford. Mr.Belton, manager of the Barnstaple Theatre, is granted a new licence.
310191212 year old Boy Scout Monty Hocking saves a 4 year old girl from the Torridge at Appledore. W.F.Holland produces the first pieces of Art Pottery at the new Braunton pottery works.
4101962The Everyman Theatre Co. restart professional repertory at the Queen's Hall in Barnstaple. Lynton council are to curb 'sand pirates' from stealing from their beach.
8101987Plans are unveiled for 2 supermarkets and a garden centre at Bideford's Sports Ground. Work starts on the restoration of an old railway signal box at Instow.
9101862A Combe Martin miner goes to court over the use of horses to drain the mine. Joseh Huxtable of Smiths Arms, Berrydown Cross is fined £1 for allowing police to drink in his house.
10101912The Picturedrome cinema in Barnstaple is topped by a huge electrically lit red, green and white crown at night. Barnstaple Creche, after 40 years of work, has a 'discouraging aspect.'
11101962A new Woolworths shop 3 times the size of its predecessor opens in Barnstaple High Street. A 17 year old Barnstaple bank clerk steals £1000$$$ and elopes to Scotland.
15101987Dolton residents complain of tap water that varies in colour from brown to black. Princess Anne visits East Buckland to see the group 'Riding for the Disabled'.
16101862Labourers are charged 1d each to attend a lecture at the Burrington Literary Institute. The Reverend D.Guille of Little Torrington takes 20 men he employs to Northam Burrows for a holiday.
17101912Maurice Bennett of Torrington 'a worthless drunken man' is gaoled for 1 month for child neglect. The Annery estate at Bideford is sold for £14,000.
18101962Work begins on building a new block of shops in Caen Street, Braunton. John Betjeman becomes patron of a £10,000 appeal to restore Barnstaple parish church.
22101987Jean Shortridge of Bideford's St.Mary's School wins a medal for her cooking. A new supermarket is planned on the site of Holsworthy's old railway station.
23101862The Combe Martin silver mines are said to be richer than previously thought. Edward Quantick a 17 year old Barnstaple apprentice is declared a lunatic after he breaks his master's windows.
24101912A public meeting in Barnstaple hears about the 'White Slave Traffic.' An Ilfracombe charabanc takes a party to London and back it takes 4 days.
25101962Bideford residents complain about noise from jazz and 'twist' bands at the Ring O'Bells Hotel in Honestone Street. Two Barnstaple men who steal 3760 6d pieces from a local club are arrested when they try to bank them in town.
29101987A £1.5 million project to build a 'Victorian' hotel and 17-unit shopping mall in Westward Ho! is announced. Bideford town council commission a new war memorial in Victoria Park.
30101862A new road from Torrington to Umberleigh is to be constructed. The Journal publishes a poem on the new Temperance Hall at South Molton.
31101912A measles epidemic closes all the Torrington schools. A site is obtained for a new recreation and Reading Room in High Bickington.
1111962Barnstaple Freemasons are to leave their Lodge in Queen Anne Walk. Half the houses in Sheepwash are said to be damp.
5111987The CEGB apply to discharge asbestos wash water from the old Yelland power station into the River Taw. A roadside snack bar at Instow is ordered to close by NDDC.
6111862Lydia Scilly of Appledore takes Mary Ann Clarke to court as a 'witch'. Barnstaple churchyard is said to need bushes to add 'character and cheerfulness'.
7111912The inaugural meeting of the North Devon Motorcycle Club attracts 30 members. A bronze axehead is found at Binworthy, Shebbear.
8111962November 5 rockets cause fires in Loxhore and Appledore costing £650 in damages. A ten-pin bowling alley is suggested for the Alexandra Theatre, Ilfracombe.
12111987Ilfracombe's Dilkhusa Grand Hotel is the target of an unsuccessful arsonist. The Reverend Hummerstone of Torrington is reported to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the local British Legion over a Remembrance Day service.
13111862Tenders are invited to build a new 'Dock' at Instow. The North Molton Sick Benefit Society and the Independent Union hold their AGMs on November 5.
14111912The film 'The Masked Smugglers' which was filmed at Ilfracombe is shown at Barnstaple. The Umberleigh-Chittlehampton mail cart is replaced by a motor van.
15111962800 Barnstaple women petition the town council to do away with 'penny in the slot' toilets. The George Hotel, South Molton is sold to a local syndicate for £15,000.
19111987Susan Pine Coffin begins rearing edible snails at Horns Cross. Barnstaple Musical Comedy Society stage 'Show Boat' to mark their diamond jubilee.
20111862Philip Blake is appointed Chief Constable of Torrington at £52 p.a. wages. A 9 year old girl and 2 year old boy go missing at Clovelly they are later found dead.
21111912Ilfracombe town crier Robert Martin is in court for being 'neither drunk nor sober, but mixed muddly.' Frank Lerwill of Combe Martin obtains his pilot's licence.
22111962The RN fleet auxiliary Green Ranger is wrecked at Hartland. Ilfracombe is to spend £5770 on providing a boating pond in Bicclescombe Park.
26111987A new health surgery is opened in High Bickington. NDDC announce that high land prices in Braunton mean they can no longer afford to build council houses there.
27111862A new lifeboat house is erected on Braunton Burrows. Bideford town council rediscover their 4 silver maces in the parish church when it is being demolished.
28111912Thomas Somerfield, Barnstaple Station Master for 16 years, is presented with a painting of the station on his retirement. Lynton's hydroelectricity supply fails after water pipes burst.
29111962Regular power cuts in Chulmleigh are ruining Sunday dinners according to local housewives. A 'coloured publicity film' of Ilfracombe is touring cinemas in Britain.
3121987Dozens of bikes are destroyed by a fire at the Cycle Centre in Barnstaple's Barum Arcade. Bideford police recover 182 stolen car badges from a gang of 11 and 12 year olds.
4121862Tenders are invited to build the New Market at South Molton. Barnstaple Freehold Land Society is to build 19 cottages at Ebberley Place.
5121912Torrington Mixed Hockey Club meet for practice. William Hulland is 'elected' as the 'mock mayor' of South Molton.
6121962A council meeting over a road diversion at Combas Lane, Croyde ends in chaos. A Civil Defence meeting at Hartland attracts no young people at all.
10121987Dartington Glass at Torrington hit record sales of £15 million. A 3 bedroom detached house at Raleigh, Barnstaple is for sale at £85,950.
11121862Mrs.Gaydon a thief serving time in Barnstaple Prison gives birth to a son. The Albert Memorial Tower in Barnstaple is opened.
12121912Combe Martin football club is suspended for bad behaviour when playing a Bideford church team. The Journal calls for more men to join the Territorials.
13121962South Molton is likely to be the first town in North Devon to add fluoride to its water supply. The Braunton Burrows lighthouse is to be moved to Instow.
17121987A party of young people abseil down the tower of St.Mary's church, Bideford for charity. Devon county council abandon plans to build a £2.5 million by-pass around Braunton.
18121862Enoch Jones of Bideford is charged with sleeping in a lime kiln. John Rodgeman of Bideford is found dead in a local lime kiln he leaves 9 children.
19121912Thomas Shambrook of Fremington is fined for being drunk; he says 'some beer had gone to his legs'. Edwin Tidball of Knowstone is gored to death by a bull.
20121962Barnstaple's first Chinese restaurant opens in the High Street. The film 'Davy Crockett' is showing at the Savoy, South Molton.
24121987Landcross Methodist chapel closes as its 12 strong congregation cannot afford repairs. Frankie Vaughan plays to packed houses at a Woolacombe hotel.
25121862Elizabeth Joce is gaoled for 3 months for stealing money from the Fortescue Arms, South Molton. The Government Inspector finds the Barnstaple borough police to be 'efficient'.
26121912Robert Maye manager of Lloyds Bank in Bideford is charged with embezzlement. Torrington council allows dances in the Town Hall to continue until 2 a.m.
28121962S.Williams, principal of North Devon Technical College, retires and is carried shoulder high by his students at a farewell dance. 50 men are laid off at the Appledore shipbuilding yard of P.K.Harris.
31121987Vivian Moon sets up a £100,000 educational charity for North Devon youngsters. Three sand and gravel barges based in Barnstaple make their final voyage.