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Further Items from Peter Christie's 'Looking Back' Column
In the North Devon Journal (2016)
Provided by Peter Christie
Extracts from past issues (1866, 1916, 1966, 1991) of the Journal
4.1.1866
The 'Princess Royal' steamer is advertised as running between Bristol, Lynmouth, Ilfracombe, Appledore, Instow and Bideford.
Mrs.Mallett a laundress of Barnstaple advertises for 'a few good Families' Washing'.
6.1.1916
The Lynton 'Roll of Honour' shows 275 men in the Army and 55 in the Navy.
Many of the pines at Woody Bay are felled for the war effort.
6.1.1966
The Imperial Hotel at Lynton is badly damaged by fire.
The Appledore lifeboat takes 2 doctors to Lundy to look after an expectant mother.
3.1.1991
A group raising money for Romanian orphans carry a large wooden cross from Barnstaple to Bideford and raise £1000.
Moves to demolish old lime kilns at Bucks Mill are stopped.
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11.1.1866
John Woolridge a railway navvy is fined 10/- for using obscene language in Green Lane, Barnstaple.
A dead 18 foot whale is thrown up on Northam Burrows.
13.1.1966
S.Leffman Ltd. expand their factory in Barnstaple's Princess Street and are to double their staff.
Ilfracombe town council vote to support the planned North Devon Crematorium.
13.1.1916
Tanton's Hotel in Bideford and the adjacent motor garage is sold.
The new Council School at Woolacombe is opened by Miss Chichester.
10.1.1991
Only 3 of North Devon's 11 beaches pass the bathing water standard.
Storms destroy an award winning garden next to Trafalgar Terrace in Ilfracombe.
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18.1.1866
Horses belonging to the Rolle Canal Co. at the bottom of Mill Street, Torrington have to be saved from floods.
Mr.Johnson of Bideford wins a contract to build a deep-sea trawler.
20.1.1916
The Westleigh Women's War Working Party send knitted goods to hospitals.
Two Northam Boy Scouts, S.Kelly and F.King, who enlisted in the Army are killed.
20.1.1966
A civilian air service from Chivenor to Exeter is announced to start on June 1st.
The Barnstaple Overspill Resistance Group leads opposition to the planned influx of 20,000 Londoners to the town.
17.1.1991
A mystery 'big bang' sees many reports flood in to RAF Chivenor.
Torridge district council vote to sell off Bideford Pannier Market to a private company.
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25.1.1866
A dinner is held for the builders of Victoria Terrace in New Street, Torrington.
The 'Hannah Moore' is wrecked off Lundy.
27.1.1916
The 1/6th Devons (from North Devon) leave India for service in Mesopotamia.
'An exceptionally fine picture of an Exmoor Stag Hunt' is shown at a temporary cinema in Lynton.
27.1.1966
Plans are announced to turn the Sports Ground in Bideford into a Multi Sports Arena.
A letter writer to the Journal suggests turning Lundy into a high security gaol.
24.1.1991
Plans are announced to close Barnstaple Cattle Market.
The foundation stone of South Molton's new primary school is laid.
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1.2.1866
£1285 is subscribed in Bideford to build the Public Assembly Rooms in Bridgeland Street.
At Swimbridge William Davis a railway navvy is arrested for assaulting the police.
3.2.1916
War films are shown at the Barnstaple Picturedrome.
Ilfracombe Post Office employ a girl as a telegram messenger.
3.2.1966
Lynton council are to build a car park on the Esplanade Foreshore for 300 cars.
Holsworthy Motor Club is set up with 58 members.
31.1.1991
Plans to ban traffic from Ilfracombe Harbour create a huge reaction.
Charlie King, a well-known 'eccentric' around Barnstaple and Fremington dies aged 105.
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8.2.1866
Ilfracombe merchants purchase a vessel, the 'Little Western', to trade between the town, Bideford and Bristol.
The Lynton Volunteer Rifle Corps seems to be defunct.
10.2.1916
Ernest Lees, an Ilfracombe photographer, is arrested for taking a photograph within 5 miles of the coast.
South Molton ask for their new telephone exchange to be centrally placed.
10.2.1966
Barnstaple and Bideford cinemas are permitted to show X-films on Sundays.
South Molton Museum moves into old council offices in the Town Hall.
7.2.1991
Northam shopkeepers are up in arms as the Square is closed for roadworks lasting 3 months.
A 3 bedroom, semi-detached house at Braunton is for sale at £59,950.
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15.2.1866
Alice Dobbs of Tawstock a 'monomaniac' tries to poison the family she lives with.
Ann Liverton of Burrington who was just about to give birth dies of shock from a thunderstorm.
17.2.1916
Glove factories in Torrington are booming due to war demands.
A 60' long whale is washed up at Croyde.
17.2.1966
Part of Woolacombe beach is reserved for 'Malibu-surfboard riders'.
Five secretarial students at North Devon Technical College win Royal Society of Arts medals.
14.2.1991
The Leader of Torridge district council is attacked in a series of defamatory posters put up around Bideford.
North Devon comes to a halt following a huge snowstorm.
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22.2.1866
The Reverend I.Gosset of Northam visits 850 houses in his parish checking on their sanitary state.
Torrington builders demand a rise from 14/- to 15/- a week and a 10 hour working day.
24.2.1916
'Anti-Zeppelin' blackout blinds are on sale in Barnstaple.
The Clovelly lifeboat is trapped in the harbour by a huge bank of pebbles.
24.2.1966
Dartmoor prisoners are brought to Braunton Burrows to clear Second World War 'rusting relics'.
100 acres of Pottington Farm at Barnstaple are to be used for industrial development.
21.2.1991
Demolition and rebuilding of both Queen's Hall in Barnstaple and Victoria Pavilion in Ilfracombe is being considered.
The £3.6 million Candar complex in Ilfracombe is nearly completed.
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1.3.1866
James Burgess a railway navvy working at South Molton is crippled by a rock fall.
Healand House in St.Giles in the Wood is saved from destruction by the Torrington fire brigade.
2.3.1916
Barnstaple's Chief Constable reports 'Three male alien enemies were conveyed to concentration camp.'
The Reverend H.Heaven, owner of Lundy, dies at Torrington aged 89.
3.3.1966
Two grain stores at Rolle Quay in Barnstaple are burnt down – damage is put at £50,000.
Braunton's Aquaventure Ltd. import Malibu surfboards from Australia and offer instruction by Australian surfers.
28.2.1991
An explosion in a launderette in Queen Street, Barnstaple blows the windows out.
Ilfracombe harbour beach is covered by a huge 'slick of domestic rubbish'.
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8.3.1866
'Blind Johnny' of Littleham who features in Edward Capern's poems has his portrait taken.
George Heard a shipbuilder of Bideford is declared bankrupt.
9.3.1916
No.2 Allhalland Street, Bideford is sold for £200.
Dr.A.Wright of Hartland is awarded the Military Cross.
10.3.1966
Chulmleigh Secondary School's Public Speaking Team win the South West Challenge Cup for the 6th time.
A pupil at Barnstaple Girl's Grammar School is suspended for not tying her hair back.
7.3.1991
Complaints over noise from the Canine Defence League's kennels at West Down could see it closed.
Dr.Bill Ruddock of Bideford dies after serving as the Lundy doctor for 30 years.
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15.3.1866
Charles Gilbert a Barnstaple shoemaker runs into the police station shouting 'It is all a dream' – he is declared a lunatic.
The Bideford town crier announces a reward of 10/- for a stolen watch.
16.3.1916
Wallingbrook School, Chulmleigh replaces 3 male teachers with females.
8 officers of the 1/6th Devons (the local regiment) are killed in Mesopotamia.
17.3.1966
Arthur Hepburn (91) of Fremington, a founder of Chelsea Football Club, claims to be the oldest councillor in England.
Trentishoe Manor is destroyed by fire and its owner dies in the blaze.
14.3.1991
Six Tory government cabinet members speak at a conference in Barnstaple Leisure Centre.
Witheridge parish council make a plea to Lloyds Bank to keep their branch in the village open.
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22.3.1866
Mr.Chalk a Barnstaple hatter wins a tender to make helmets for the borough police force.
The Reverend Francis Hole a magistrate is attacked for the 'false detention' of Jane Huxtable in the Braunton lock-up.
23.3.1916
Ilfracombe churches are insured against air raids and bombardment from the sea.
Private William Cloak is the third man from Abbotsham to be killed.
24.3.1966
Comprehensive schools are to be introduced into North Devon with a Sixth Form College at Barnstaple.
Daffodil growers of Braunton express fears that closure of the Barnstaple-Ilfracombe rail line could damage them.
21.3.1991
School Pictures International in Torrington lay off 50 workers.
Shebbear College celebrates its centenary.
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29.3.1866
The organ of St.Mary's church in Bideford is sold to Holsworthy church.
Sam Crook of South Molton commits suicide over his wife's infidelity.
30.3.1916
Workers at the Derby lace factory in Barnstaple are exempted from Army service.
Bideford Methodists hire a car to transport preachers around their rural chapels.
31.3.1966
Two cottages at Petrockstowe are destroyed by fire and 4 people left homeless.
BBC 2 should be available in the area by Winter 1968.
28.3.1991
Harry Sutton founder of the Lynton children’s Christmas party dies.
Bideford's Manor Court jury call for the demolition of the town's derelict Strand Cinema.
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5.4.1866
Two wives of railway navvies in South Molton give birth to triplets and twins within days of each other.
The Red Lion Club march through Braunton and are led by the Braunton Band.
6.4.1916
'A young woman could be seen driving a farm cart as Barnstaple.'
Invalided soldiers are 'on the verge of starvation' in Barnstaple due to lack of pensions.
7.4.1916
Petitioners call for Braunton council to resign en bloc over a dispute about spending.
Twelve girl typists are auctioned in Barnstaple Cattle Market as part of the Technical College's Rag Day.
4.4.1991
Ilfracombe 'twins' with Ifs in France.
Litchdon Street in Barnstaple is inundated with 'vandals, thieves and drunks' at night.
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12.4.1866
South Molton borough gaol is downgraded to a 'lock-up'.
Appledore sailors bringing limestone from South Wales get an increase in wages from 10/- to 12/- per voyage.
13.4.1916
The Combe Martin Jam & Preserve Company find it hard to source jam jars.
11 local 'Tribunals' are hearing cases of men not wishing to be conscripted.
14.4.1966
The newly formed Bideford Zoo is about to open.
Holidaymakers on Lundy are trapped there for a week by storms.
11.4.1991
Seventy North Devon pubs have been targeted by thieves over the previous 5 months.
The grave of Sir Denis Stucley at Hartland is daubed with red paint by animal rights activists.
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19.4.1866
The Journal announces it is to publish twice a week.
The Reverend M.Johnson who was a slave in the USA for 24 years gives talks on his life at chapels in Barnstaple and Bideford.
20.4.1916
A young woman acts as a drover at Barnstaple Cattle Market.
Vagrants of military age are detained at Barnstaple Workhouse and handed over to the Army.
21.4.1966
Westward Ho! folksinger Ruth Smallridge is to have a song written for her by Paul Simon.
12 acres of Spreacombe woodland at Braunton are sold for £1700.
18.4.1991
Gravestones in Old Town cemetery in Bideford are sprayed with graffiti.
On-street parking along Appledore sea-front is to be banned.
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26.4.1866
'Curious antiquarian specimens of instruments' are found in clay on Westward Ho! Beach.
Bible Christians in Torrington buy a site in South Street for a new chapel.
27.4.1916
Lauder's Devon Art Pottery at Pottington is to close.
At Bideford 'a young woman is fulfilling the duties of a uniformed hotel porter.'
28.4.1966
Torrington Band resign en bloc after a perceived slight by the town council.
Fairlea Welfare Home at Northam is to be enlarged to house 38 residents.
25.4.1991
Devon Wildlife Trust purchases the 160 acre Knowstone Moor.
Lundy is surveyed for 2 weeks by fourteen archaeologists.
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3.5.1866
Elizabeth Oram a pauper in Bideford Workhouse is gaoled for 2 weeks for attacking the Matron.
The Barnstaple Land & Villas Co. is raising £10,000 in £10 shares to build new houses.
4.5.1916
90 and 91 Pilton Street in Barnstaple are sold for £300 the pair.
Compulsory conscription is introduced; 5 million men are in the Forces.
5.5.1966
'Jac's' a 'mod men's wear shop' is opened in Barnstaple.
Bideford town council press for a new bridge over the Torridge as the Long Bridge has been 'badly shaken' by traffic.
2.5.1991
Merton holds its first parish council election for 40 years when 9 people stand for 8 seats.
John Ashelford, verger of Swimbridge church for 25 years, dies.
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10.5.1866
A golf competition is held at Westward Ho!
A fire at Hall Farm, North Tawton destroys two labourer's cottages.
11.5.1916
Devon Education Committee are to allow 'Boy & Girl Labour' on farms from the age of 12.
An appeal by the Barnstaple Mayor collects 20,000 cigarettes and 10,000 tea tablets for local servicemen.
12.5.1966
Braunton Burrows is used for Army exercises as 'they resemble what a country may be like after an atomic war.'
At Ilfracombe work starts on demolishing buildings to widen Portland Street.
9.5.1991
Bideford 'erupts in outrage' when 30 trees along the river bank are felled to allow building of a new car park.
10,000 people turn out for Potwalloping Day at Westward Ho!
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17.5.1866
At Barnstaple William Harrison is gaoled for a month for 'exhibiting a shrivelled arm to excite charity.'
250 attend the AGM of the Langtree Female Friendly Society and are serenaded by the Torrington Brass Band.
18.5.1916
Harry Lynch of Braunton is presented with a silver medal for attempting to enlist 10 times.
Lead on the spire of Kingsnympton church is removed to prevent its collapse.
19.5.1966
Michael Daunt who tested Britain's first jet aircraft in 1942 is living in Bideford.
Westleigh Primary School with just 29 pupils raises enough money for a swimming pool.
16.5.1991
New tidal defence plans for Instow are unveiled.
A renovated 4 bedroom period farmhouse with 3½ acres of land in High Bickington is for sale at £225,000.
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24.5.1866
The Buckland Brewer sexton sues a parishioner over non-payment for a grave he dug.
Joseph Keall ex-schoolmaster of Combe Martin is arrested for stealing bibles from local churches.
25.5.1916
A.Chilcott, a Barnstaple Conscientious Objector, is gaoled for 112 days for refusing military orders.
Barnstaple's Albert Clock is to be silenced for the duration of the war.
26.5.1966
A giant conger eel is called the 'Loch Ness Monster of Ilfracombe Pier' after it attacks divers
Thelma Sing of Meshaw wins the butter making championship at Devon County Show..
23.5.1991
Doug Potter who ran Divito's cafe in the Square in Barnstaple dies aged 70.
Ilfracombe Harbour Association bid to take over 2 car parks from the district council.
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31.5.1866
Potwalloping is advertised to take place at Westward Ho! - but is then cancelled.
A navvy building the Devon & Somerset Railway is killed in an accident at Bishopsnympton.
1.6.1916
Five Ilfracombe men serving on HMS Jupiter are awarded Russian medals.
Women are doing men's jobs on Chittlehampton farms.
2.6.1966
Milk powder is scattered across the road at Bloody Corner, Northam after a lorry crashes.
Appledore shipyard builds a tug for its own use in just 4 weeks.
30.5.1991
North Devon and Torridge councils reject moves to join together.
Taddiport residents complain about the stench from the Dairy Crest milk factory.
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7.6.1866
Braunton midwife Ann 'Nanny' Slocombe dies aged 84 after delivering 4040 babies.
Lynton's P.c.Jones is 'cautioned against the too free use of staff particularly on occasions of club feasts, revels etc.'
8.6.1916
Local schools are to employ female 'Attendance Officers' as an experiment.
Eight local men are killed at the Battle of Jutland.
9.6.1966
Shebbear bans 'beat dances' at the village hall following fights.
Ilfracombe residents complain about 'high powered religious doorstep salesmen' touring the town.
6.6.1991
Bradworthy elects both a Teenage and a Senior Citizen Carnival Queen.
North Devon's ambulance service is set to become part of a county-wide NHS Trust.
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14.6.1866
Creditors of the Bideford Bank receive 8/- in the £ in payment.
Mary Glover of Appledore sues Thomas Yeo for the 'hush money' he promised her over their illegitimate baby.
15.6.1916
A Combe Martin 'Sandbag Party' produce 1000 bags.
Two 'Touring Cars', a La Buire and a Siddeley, are sold in Barnstaple.
16.6.1966
Woolacombe's only policeman is to be backed up by Z-Car crews at weekends.
Croyde is 'a horrible example of how man's greed for beauty can spoil that which he seeks after' says a local solicitor.
13.6.1991
A coach carrying 31 students from Caen Primary School, Braunton catches fire on the M5 – all are saved.
Green Lanes shopping centre in Barnstaple is completed.
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21.6.1866
An Elizabethan wall mural is discovered during restoration of St.Peter's church in Barnstaple.
A new drum and fife band is formed by Torrington teetotallers.
22.6.1916
The Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore Railway loses £1172 over the previous year.
A 'Peace Petition' is circulating in Lynton.
23.6.1966
At Torrington work starts on a new £180,000 abattoir for the North Devon Meat Co.
Laminated Wood Ltd. open a new factory on the Clovelly Road, Bideford.
20.6.1991
Whitehall Laboratories at Wrafton announce plans to close and axe 400 jobs.
Demolition of the Strand Cinema in Bideford is commenced.
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28.6.1866
Bideford Working Men's Club folds due to 'Its exclusive character and the inquisitorial way in which members were admitted.'
Richard Rippin who had been transported to Australia 3 times is charged with arson at Burrington.
29.6.1916
The Braunton P.o.W. Comforts Depot receives messages from those it has helped.
A list of local men captured at the Battle of Kut in Mesopotamia is published.
30.6.1966
Eight female workers at Ilfracombe Laundry strike for an extra £1 a week.
Barnstaple town council introduce a by-law banning nude bathing in the River Taw.
27.6.1991
Swimbridge School celebrates its 125th anniversary.
The rubbish tip at Northam Burrows is to close within a year.
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5.7.1866
At Challacombe a storm sees hailstones as big as marbles.
At Buckland Brewer 100 members of the local Laudable Society attend its 56th AGM.
6.7.1916
Boys at Bideford's Old Town School are given a week's holiday to help with the harvest.
The foundation stone of a new Methodist chapel at Chapelton is laid.
7.7.1966
Braunton traders start a Chamber of Trade to help push for more car parking.
Littleham Fete stages a baby show with 23 entrants.
4.7.1991
Ilfracombe shopkeepers say rents at the new Candar development are far too high.
An old fishing weir appears at low tide in the mouth of the Taw and Torridge estuary.
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12.7.1866
New school rooms are opened at Bideford's Bible Christian chapel.
Michael Cooke, surgeon to Barnstaple gaol, asks for an increase in salary.
13.7.1916
John Knill a Barnstaple errand boy is fined 2/6 (12p) for cycling 'furiously' along Boutport Street.
542 eggs are collected in Ilfracombe and district for 'wounded soldiers'.
14.7.1966
Mortehoe parish council takes out insurance against accidents caused by 'surf board riders'.
Northam Chamber of Trade sponsor Britain's first all-female town crier competition.
11.7.1991
The North Devon District Hospital considers selling off its land for a private hospital.
Frank Purse leaves £15,000 to Barnstaple Rugby Club.
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19.7.1866
A Chulmleigh policeman abandons his wife and elopes with a young woman.
Barnstaple gaol admits 52 inmates over 1865.
20.7.1916
Four women act as postmen in Chittlehampton.
Thirteen local servicemen are reported dead this week.
21.7.1966
Graham Adams of Torrington coaches the North Korean football team to a one-nil win against Italy in the World Cup.
A 'miniature skyscraper' of 10 storeys is planned for Westward Ho!.
18.7.1991
Braunton's Freemason's Lodge is burgled and an attempt is made to burn it down.
Two policemen patrol Lundy – the first ever seen there.
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26.7.1866
Barnstaple Burial Board finds a serious 'defalcation in funds' in its accounts.
The landlord of the George Hotel, South Molton provides a bus travelling to Barnstaple and back.
27.7.1916
The local Defence Corps, the First World War equivalent of the Home Guard, enlists men up to 60 years old.
Reggie Murch of Chittlehampton blows off a finger scarring birds from mazzard trees.
28.7.1966
Chopes department store in Bideford is robbed using gelignite – the first such case in North Devon.
The headmaster of Bideford Grammar School canes 60 boys over an 'end of term' jape.
25.7.1991
Hartland's Small School applies for government funding but is turned down.
A new development of 50 houses for rent is completed at Roundswell.
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2.8.1866
Potwalloping takes place at Westward Ho!
James Moore the town crier and bailiff of South Molton resigns.
3.8.1916
The Journal is full of the names of local Devon Regiment men killed at the Battle of the Somme.
Lynton asks the War Office for a captured German gun as a war trophy.
4.8.1966
Barnstaple Young Socialists hold a survey on people's views on the Vietnam War.
Beat dances in Lynton Town Hall are said to be 'too noisy' for local residents.
1.8.1991
During a local heatwave 42 people have to be rescued from the sea by lifeguards in just one day.
Plans to build a 500 home 'New Town' at Winkleigh sees village opinion split.
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9.8.1866
Barnstaple is linked to Ilfracombe by the International Electric Telegraph Co.
A fire in the Kings Arms at Chulmleigh is tackled by the parish fire brigade.
10.8.1916
A meeting is held in Bideford to promote the idea of women working on the land.,
Tourism in Lynton hasn't been too badly hit by the war it is reported.
11.8.1966
The King and Queen of Thailand visit Barnstaple but the Mayor isn't told they are coming.
A monkey escapes in Combe Martin and is seen eating peas in local gardens.
8.8.1991
A hoax over toy tattoos laced with LSD sweeps the area.
Lynton's Mayor criticises gaudy adverts displayed on the White Lady building.
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16.8.1866
29 apprentices of a Bideford shipbuilder ask to leave work at 4 p.m. on Saturday rather than 6 p.m.
Cholera breaks out at Appledore.
17.8.1916
Myrtle and Market Streets in Appledore are flooded.
Sketching the local coastline is forbidden under the Defence of the Realm Act.
18.8.1966
Satirist David Frost opens Thomas Lake's new iron foundry on Barnstaple's Seven Brethren Bank.
Some £850 is raised by public subscription to repair the church clock on St.Mary's tower in Bideford.
15.8.1991
'Slime' coats the seabed around Lundy and is blamed on pollution.
A railway line is relaid by volunteers at Bideford station.
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23.8.1866
An inquest hears how John Sanders died after a fight at Wembworthy Races.
A cholera outbreak at Appledore spreads rapidly.
24.8.1916
Lord John Sanger's Circus visits Torrington, Bideford and Barnstaple with 'Pimpo' the clown.
Conscientious Objector William Milton is arrested in Barnstaple and handed over to the military.
25.8.1966
Barnstaple council is accused of only putting on 'beat dances' in the Queen's Hall.
80 year old Bill Comer lands a large sunfish whilst fishing in Ilfracombe harbour.
22.8.1991
Employees at Wrafton's Whitehall Laboratories write to the U.S. owners trying to save their jobs.
Sewage leaks onto Saunton Sands and is quickly tackled.
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30.8.1866
Mary Ann Harris of Ashreigney deserts her 2 illegitimate children in Torrington Workhouse.
James Shillabeer, an apprentice at Barnstaple Foundry, is gaoled for 3 months for being absent from work.
31.8.1916
Ilfracombe tourist charabancs are hit by new rules forbidding use of petrol for tourism.
Barnstaple town council discuss blacking out all lights in the borough.
1.9.1966
The Kinks cancel a date at Barnstaple as one of the group is 'completely run down'.
Lynton council open an 'Evergreen Corner' outside the Town Hall where OAPs can gather and chat.
29.8.1991
The government is accused of misleading the public over the true state of local beaches and seawater.
The Landmark Trust revives plans for a new landing pier at Lundy.
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6.9.1866
Residents of North Tawton see a mirage of the whole North Devon coast.
Madame Card an 'illusionist and electro-biologist' gives shows at Barnstaple's Assembly Rooms.
7.9.1916
Private Robert Yeo of Barnstaple is killed in France by a German 'aerial dart'.
Petty Officer Richards of Brendon is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
8.9.1966
Eight schools in North Devon are to be equipped with TVs.
Coalmen refuse to deliver coal to residents in Clovelly as it is too difficult.
5.9.1991
58 BT staff are laid off at Barnstaple's directory assistance centre.
A building firm do not want the name Hilder Way for their development at Westward Ho! as it sounds like Hilda or Hitler.
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13.9.1866
Mary Morris of Bishopstawton is charged with poisoning her new-born illegitimate baby.
Simon Perry dies of starvation and exposure in Torrington.
14.9.1916
Private Egbert Watts of Ilfracombe is saved when a bullet hits the Bible in his pocket.
At Fremington a young woman is driving a coal wagon around the parish.
15.9.1966
A £2500 repair scheme on the sea wall at Westward Ho! is described as 'only a temporary job'.
A start is to be made on the Bucks Mill HEP Station this month.
12.9.1991
Rosebank nursing home in Barnstaple is set to close.
A £250,000 plan to save South Molton's swimming pool is unveiled.
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20.9.1866
'Rowdies' and 'lewd women' are said to be disturbing church services in Braunton.
Private William Williams of the Bideford Rifle Volunteers dies aged 18.
21.9.1916
Police in Barnstaple 'round up' men of military age at the Fair looking for deserters.
Fourteen local men are reported killed this week.
22.9.1966
North Devon's new Crematorium holds an Open Day for the public.
A hole appears in the wall of Wilder Road car park, Ilfracombe – it allows people access to a local pub.
19.9.1991
An ecological expert suggests Northam Burrows undergoes 'controlled flooding' to stimulate wildlife and grazing.
Trevor Davey of Bucks Cross, farmer, lifeboatmen and skipper of the Lundy Gannet dies.
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27.9.1866
A stallholder at Barnstaple Fair exhibits stereoscopic views of 'French models'.
Baker Carvosso a printer of Barnstaple dies in Australia where he had emigrated.
28.9.1916
The Bideford Borough Tribunal hears 16 cases of men not wishing to be conscripted.
Four Barnstaple soldiers are reported killed in one week.
29.9.1966
South Molton Square is left in a 'filthy' state after the Carnival.
Edward Heath MP, Leader of the Opposition, visits Hatherleigh cattle market.
26.9.1991
11 people have to leave a block of flats at Chandler's Way, Ilfracombe for 9 months following an explosion.
Bideford hospital is to receive £2 million worth of improvements.
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4.10.1866
Jane Diamond a Pilton prostitute is labelled 'A Street Pest'.
Mary Cousins 'an old tramp' is fined 5/- for using indecent language at Torrington.
5.10.1916
Landkey's population falls by around 124 'owing to men having gone to the War'.
Mrs.Henry Fawcett, a Suffragette, speaks in Barnstaple on 'The position of women after the war.'
6.10.1966
A new 250 seat 'Banqueting Hall' is announced for Durrant House in Northam.
The final passenger train runs on the Barnstaple-Taunton line.
3.10.1991
Whiddon Valley estate is hit by sling-shot wielding vandals firing ball bearings at windows.
Sussman's shirt factory in Barnstaple take on an extra 50 workers.
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11.10.1866
Barnstaple prison is closed.
A new Freemason's Lodge is begun at Ilfracombe.
12.10.1916
Thomas Gay dies; he wrote dialect pieces and poems for the Journal.
A strike over wages at William Vaughan & Son's glove factory in Torrington is settled.
13.10.1966
South Molton town council set a charge of 1/- (5p) a day to park in the Square.
The Red Pepper Club opens at the Wrey Arms in Barnstaple to stage beat dances.
10.10.1991
Moves to extend the tip on Northam Burrows are fought by Torridge district council.
Feral goldfish are removed from a pond at the Braunton Burrows nature reserve.
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18.10.1866
Lake Farm, Langtree is destroyed by fire.
John Ham an apprentice to a Barnstaple painter is dismissed for 'misconduct'.
19.10.1916
The Cinema in Church Lane, Torrington shows the official film 'The Battle of the Somme' to packed houses.
A new Methodist chapel at Chapelton is opened.
20.10.1966
6 derelict cottages are burnt down at Filleigh as an exercise for the Barnstaple Fire Brigade.
Hartland Football Club go on a 'Continental tour' to Belgium.
17.10.1991
Princess Alexandra visits the CARE village at Blackerton near East Anstey.
Plans by the Portman Building Society to close their Appledore branch are met with 'fury'.
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25.10.1866
Richard Thorne 'for many years since past letter carrier' of Torrington dies.
The linhay of Court House, North Molton is burnt down by an arsonist.
26.10.1916
The price of milk increases to 5d per quart in North Devon.
Barnstaple cabinet makers agree to a rise of ½d per hour.
27.10.1966
'Full speed ahead' is announced for plans to build a 6th Form College in Barnstaple.
Bideford's Grenville College gets a new classroom – on wheels.
24.10.1991
A tonne of lead and 50 yards of copper pipe are stolen from the Imperial Hotel at Lynton.
North Molton's primary school is to close after 150 years.
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1.11.1866
William Murphy photographer of Bideford is ordered to pay 1/6 a week for the upkeep of his illegitimate child.
Jane Edward of South Molton is gaoled for 6 weeks for picking the pocket of Richard Thomas at Roseash.
2.11.1916
100 women who volunteered for agricultural work are presented with arm bands at Barnstaple.
In Braunton church services begin earlier to avoid the black-out.
3.11.1966
Boys from Barnstaple Secondary School are featured in Westward TV's 'Playbill' programme.
An old lime kiln is discovered 6 feet under the Redwood Cafe in Combe Martin High Street.
31.10.1991
A 3-D mural showing Barnstaple's history is unveiled in the town's Green Lane centre.
Skateboarders damage the Northam war memorial – the council offer a reward to catch them.
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8.11.1866
A young woman working at Maunder's wood factory in Tuly Lane, Barnstaple loses 4 fingers in an industrial accident.
Michael Johns of Unicorn Inn, Appledore is charged with allowing 'notoriously bad characters' to use his house.
9.11.1916
A 10” long French 'flachette' or 'aerial dart' is on display in Ilfracombe.
The Barnstaple & District Trades Council discuss 'exorbitant prices of food stuffs'.
10.11.1966
A crack is found in Bideford Bridge and a 10 mph speed limit is imposed.
A discotheque opens in Gammon Lane, Barnstaple.
7.11.1991
The Torrington Plough merges with the Beaford Centre.
Woolworths announce they are to move into the new Barnstaple Green Lane shopping centre.
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15.11.1866
The Knapp estate at Northam is sold for £10,000.
South Molton churchyard is planted out by Mr.Cock the churchwarden.
16.11.1916
'Ebberley' at Torrington is to be used as a Red Cross Hospital.
An inquest on Emily Hawkins who died of a drug overdose is held at Barnstaple – she was sister-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
17.11.1966
The Queen's Hall in Barnstaple bans jeans from beat dances and orders men to wear ties.
The Lundy Puffin is launched at Appledore.
14.11.1991
A 'mini new town' scheme is planned at Killacleave, Ilfracombe.
Thousands flock to the opening of the Green Lane shopping centre in Barnstaple.
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22.11.1866
The first sod of the proposed Ilfracombe-Combe Martin road is cut.
Mr.Young the 'well known tallyman of Bideford' sues 30 poor women for money due for drapery goods.
23.11.1916
The Reverend Zeal speaks on 'Rambles of a Sky Pilot' at Braunton.
'War Bread' is introduced in North Devon.
24.11.1966
Miss World, Lesley Langley, opens the new Charrington's Brewery depot at Barnstaple.
Bideford and Barnstaple councils jointly press for RAF Chivenor to handle civilian flights.
21.11.1991
Unemployment in North Devon is rising by 35 a week.
Some Bideford councillors wear both white and red poppies at Remembrance Day which sees letters in the Journal.
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29.11.1866
The 200 ton 'Eider' steamer begins bringing coal from South Wales to Fremington.
A 40 ton whale is washed ashore at Welcombe and boiled down for oil.
30.11.1916
Bideford War Agricultural Committee suggest employing German P.o.W.s on local farms.
Female workers are taken on at the Barnstaple Cabinet Works in Newport.
1.12.1966
Two councillors at Ilfracombe nearly come to blows during a council meeting.
Lynton drops a plan to build a children's railway on Eastern Beach.
28.11.1991
The closure of Northam Burrows tip is agreed by Devon county council.
A £1.2 million scheme to refurbish Victoria Pavilion in Ilfracombe is announced.
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6.12.1866
Barnstaple magistrates complain about the filthy state of the Guildhall.
Bideford booksellers agree to close their shops at 7 p.m. during the Winter.
7.12.1916
The Ilfracombe War Hospital is expanded to 50 beds.
Fourteen local men are reported killed this week.
8.12.1966
The roof of a large house at Woolacombe is ripped off during a storm.
Coutant's Electronics factory is opened at Ilfracombe.
5.12.1991
An avenue of century old trees at St.Brannock's Hill, Braunton is reduced to stumps.
The South Molton Community College head attacks the closure of the town's swimming pool.
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13.12.1866
The opening of the Oddfellows' Lodge at Ilfracombe sees a huge procession of members.
The Baptists open a new Sunday School in Bideford.
14.12.1916
Barnstaple bakers threaten to strike over a wage demand.
Local cinemas show 'The King visits his Armies in the Great Advance.'
15.12.1966
Francis Chichester is to get the Freedom of Barnstaple after sailing round the world single-handedly.
Surfers are said to be 'swamping' Woolacombe beach.
12.12.1991
North Devon and Torridge councils announce they will not prosecute stores opening on Sunday.
A £520,000 expansion plan for Bideford's Burton Art Gallery & Museum are announced.
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20.12.1866
Vandals steal shrubs from Barnstaple cemetery for 'Christmassing'.
The Countess Fortescue is buried after dying in childbirth.
20.12.1916
The Palace Cinema, Barnstaple advertises 'Come and have a laugh and forget the War for a time'.
Forty cottages in Corser Street, Barnstaple are being converted to 'model dwellings' by William Hutchings.
22.12.1966
Halsdon Road Primary School in Torrington is gutted by fire.
Barnstaple council is to buy 38 acres in Gorwell Valley for a new housing estate.
19.12.1991
An escaped bullock enters an outfitter's shop in South Molton and is removed by police.
Ilfracombe Christmas Carnival proves very popular once more.
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27.12.1866
Fremington stages 'A first-class morning and evening concert' in aid of the village church restoration fund.
Farleigh & Co of Cross Street, Barnstaple advertise best whiskey at 2/11 (15p) a bottle.
28.12.1916
All public houses in Barnstaple are ordered to close at 10 p.m. each night.
Bideford town council suggest ploughing up Victoria Park to grow food.
30.12.1966
Holsworthy council are to crack down on fly posting about 'beat dances'.
Ilfracombe Grammar School gets 4 radioactive isotopes shielded in lead for experimental purposes.
27.12.1991
Bideford's East-the-Water post mistress tells a would-be thief to 'scram' and he runs off.
Storms see Christmas food stores run low on Lundy.