Bideford
Bideford maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Bideford books (8 available)
- 1 photos on Bideford appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Bideford
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bideford and Devon
Bideford memories
Read and share memories of Bideford and Devon inspired by Frith photos
Springfield Terrace
This view shows my house. It is the one at this end of Springfield Terrace - you can see a number of the terrace chimneys peeping out over the top of the hill to the left. We overlook the River Torridge. You can see the old medieval bridge in the background. Our terrace was built around 1850 for the managers of the railway company (the old Torrington to Barnstaple railway ran just in front of our house until 1965. For the last few years the old track course has been converted to a new use - for cyclists, and renamed the Tarka Trail. Our houses have wonderful views from the middle and top floors over the river and the town of ...read more here
Contributed by Terence Sackett
Bideford Bridge
My grandmother grew up in Bideford and had a copy of this postcard (which I still have). She told me that the two children in the foreground of the picture were actually her and her brother.
Contributed by Tracy Prince
memories of a choir boy
Seeing the pic of the font in St Marys brought back memories of my time as a choir boy there, part of a tradition in our family. Our choir master was Mr Sellers a teacher at Geneva School also known as 'Jumbo' because of his large ears!
New boys were intitated into the choir with a ritual (including me) in which you had to run around the church outside, then hit on head with bell rope and finally thrown into the holly bush!!! It sounds cruel I know but was done and taken in good humour by all and I enjoyed my time in the choir immensely.
Contributed by michael sheppard
Devon memories
Bideford Bridge
My grandmother grew up in Bideford and had a copy of this postcard (which I still have). She told me that the two children in the foreground of the picture were actually her and her brother.
A memory of Bideford contributed by Tracy Prince
Extracts From Bideford & Devon books
On the day Queen Victoria
died, the postmistress at
Lee`s old post office was
taking down a telegram
announcing the Queen`s
death when she was
struck by lightning in the
left eye and blinded.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
Morte Point`s reputation as a sailors` graveyard was
never more deserved than on 26 October 1859 when
eight ships - the I`ll Try, the Matthew Thompson, the
Rose, the Thistle, the Hannah, the Clara, the Anne, and
the William Robertson, were lost. From one ship, all the
crew survived; from the other seven, all but four men
were lost.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
It is thought that the first
ocean-going ships to visit
this harbour belonged to
the Phoenicians, who came
to trade for silver around
400BC.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The Velindra was just
one of the paddle
steamers that were
the lifeblood of
Ilfracombe`s tourist
industry in the latter
part of the 19th
century and the
first half of the 20th.
Before the building of
the pier, passengers
often had to be
ferried to and from
the steamers, which
anchored off Warp
House Point.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The slopes between Little Hangman and Sherrycombe, to the east, were often descended by
local women to gather laver (seaweed) from The Rawns. It was carried in 20lb bundles up
the steep cliffside and taken home to be cooked with vinegar and bacon. Laver is still served
in local cafes today.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".