Bideford is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
Barnstaple is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from which it earned great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but its harbour silted up and other trades developed such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. A Victorian market building survives, with a high glass and timber roof on iron columns.
Northam is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford. The civil parish also includes the villages of Westward Ho!, Appledore, West Appledore, Diddywell, Buckleigh and Silford, and the residential areas of Orchard Hill and Raleigh Estate.
Appledore is a village at the mouth of the River Torridge, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Barnstaple and about 3 miles (5 km) north of Bideford in the county of Devon, England. It is the home of Appledore Shipbuilders, a lifeboat slipway and Hocking's Ice Cream, a brand of ice cream only sold in North Devon. There are numerous shops, cafes and galleries. The local football club is Appledore F.C. The ward population at the 2011 census increased to 2,814.
The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC in Devon, England is a community interest company that is responsible for the management of the site of Bideford railway station. The company is also responsible for Instow signal box which opens on occasional Sundays and bank holidays from Easter to October.
Fremington is a large village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon, England, the historic centre of which is situated three miles (5 km) west of Barnstaple. The village lies between the south bank of the tidal estuary of the River Taw and a small inlet of that river known as Fremington Pill. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Heanton Punchardon, Ashford, West Pilton, Barnstaple, Tawstock, Horwood, Lovacott and Newton Tracey, and Instow.
The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of 180 miles (290 km) in a figure-of-eight route, centred on Barnstaple.
Abbotsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 its population was 434 increasing at the 2011 census to 489.
Braunton Burrows is a sand dune system on the North Devon coast. It is privately owned and forms part of the Christie Devon Estates Trust. Braunton Burrows is a prime British sand dune site, the largest sand dune system (psammosere) in England. It is particularly important ecologically because it includes the complete successional range of dune plant communities, with over 470 vascular plant species. The short turf communities are very rich in lichens and herbs, and the dune slacks are also rich. The many rare plants and animals include 14 with UK Biodiversity Action Plans. For example, this is one of only two sites in the UK for the Amber Sandbowl Snail Catinella arenaria, which is found on the wet dune slacks.
Alverdiscott is a village, civil parish, former manor and former ecclesiastical parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, centred 5.5 miles (9 km) south-south-west of Barnstaple.
The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristol Channel. The river is spate dependent and often flows between wooded banks which can be steep. The Torridge local government district is named after the river.
The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway was a railway running in northwest Devon, England. It is unusual in that although it was built as a standard gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in line, it was not joined to the rest of the British railway network, despite the London and South Western Railway having a station at Bideford East-the-Water, just on the other side of the river Torridge from the main town. The line was wholly situated on the peninsula made up of Westward Ho!, Northam and Appledore with extensive sand dunes by the Torridge and Taw estuary. The line opened in stages between 1901 and 1908, but closed in 1917, having been requisitioned by the War Office. Re-opening the line after World War I was considered, but dismissed as a viable option. The B.WH!&A.R. was the only railway company in the British Isles to have an exclamation mark in its company title.
Appledore railway station was a railway station in north Devon, situated close to the village of Appledore, a community lying on the peninsula formed by the sea, the River Torridge, and the River Taw.
Bideford Bay, also known as Barnstaple Bay and often shown on maps as Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, is a large area of water on the northwest coast of Devon in South West England, at the southwestern end of the Bristol Channel where it joins the Celtic Sea. The bay extends from Hartland Point in the southwest to Baggy point the northeast, and is partly sheltered by the island of Lundy, 12 miles (19 km) offshore. It takes its alternative names from the towns of Bideford and Barnstaple, located respectively on the rivers Torridge and Taw which flow into the bay. The alternative spelling Barnstable Bay, in use long after that spelling became obsolete for the town, is also sometimes seen.
Huntshaw is a village and civil parish located 2.5 north north east of Great Torrington, in the Torridge district, in the county of Devon, England.
Instow railway station was a railway station in the village of Instow, North Devon, England, on the Bideford Extension of the North Devon Railway. Opened in November 1855, the station closed to passengers in 1965, but the line remained open for freight until 1982. The signal box has been preserved as a working attraction. The Atlantic Coast Express used to go through the station on its way to Torrington, but it did not call at Instow.
Rosemary Anne Lauder, of North Devon, England, is a historian of the county of Devon. She started her writing career in the 1980s as a journalist contributing articles on the subject of gardening, in which she retains a strong interest. She received an MA in Garden History from the University of Bristol. She is a long-standing member of the Devon Gardens Trust, in which organisation she plays an active role. She is author and publisher of many books and booklets on the topics of walking in North Devon, the topography of Exmoor and North Devon, and the history of the region. She lived for five years in a former gardener's cottage rented from the Tapeley Park estate in the parish of Westleigh, North Devon. Her historical works concentrate especially on the landed gentry of Devonshire and their mansions and estates, most notably Vanished Houses and Devon Families (2002). Several of her works have been published by Devon's Heritage.
