Nostalgic memories of Bideford's local history
Share your own memories of Bideford and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 1 - 10 of 15 in total
Ma liddle sester came hwoam to Biddy a few yers ago and this wumman stopped and seyd, ‘Yur now, Ah thort Ah nawd ee when Ah seed ee, but Ah newd Ah knawd ee when Ah yerd ee speak.’
Up Biddy!
John Polley
I was born in 1954 in Bideford. I went to a small private school near the strand but it closed down, then went to church infants school near St Mary's Church, then to another school near Abbotsham Road , then Geneva School. I had lots of relatives living in Bideford, my Aunts - the Bird family, my cousins - the Beer family, my father the De Rycke family. My father owned Rose Bird & Co a ...see more
I was at school in Essex in the early 50's but my parents lived in Bideford at ! Cottingham Crescent behind the old Grammar school. My stepfather Ernest Jewell worked for Beers , which I think was a builders, and my mother Edith Jewell was manageress of Bromleys, a bakery and restaurant about halfway up the High street on the right hand side , a couple of doors up from MacFisheries.. I would travel down for the summer ...see more
In 1948 when I was 9 years old I was sent to Wembley convalescent home in North Bideford after recovering from scarlet fever, I loved it there, it was like heaven on earth. we had no education, all we had to do was read a passage from the bible that we were unfamiliar with and learn it off by heart and then we were allowed out to play. In the grounds there was three large ...see more
Hi, I had relatives that lived in Bideford and Northam. Mrs Annie Coghlan, (who was Annie Martin nee Woodland) who survived the Titanic, I'm trying to find out what happened to her after she survived the Titanic and before she died in 1936. I discovered that in the mid to late '20s she worked in the Royal Hotel, Bideford and she died in Combe Martin. In the article reporting Annie's death it said that she ...see more
Taking the bus from Westward Ho! and walking up the high street to Woolworths to buy a record of Roy Orbison singing 'Only the lonely'. That was when you could buy anything you wanted on a 'proper high street' where all the best shops were. That was the last time I went up the high street before my family moved to Sussex.
CAN ANYONE HELP ME MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER LIVED IN BIDEFORD IS NAME WAS JOHN WAKELEY BORN IN 1856 ANY INFO swakekey1@gmail.com
Since moving to North Devon 10 years ago from London, have seen the quay area rebuilt as a flood defence system. The equipment on the quay, with the replacement of the old crane with a new modern crane, used mostly for loading brick and ball clay for Spain and Finland. A new trade occurred last year with shipment of timber from local forests to Wismar, to Germany .Most of the ships load ...see more
After coming out of hospital in the early 1960s when I was 10, I stayed at a Catholic boarding school in Bideford which had a church attached. Over the years I have attempted to find out exactly where the school was, but to no avail. I would be more than happy if anyone out there could help?
It's only been in the last few days that I've learnt that Bideford's St Peter's Church was designed and built in the 1880's by my great grandfather Robert Taylor Hookway who was later the president of the Bideford Amateur Athletic Club at around 1903. Regards, A.H.Munro-Smith Sydney Australia
