The Bideford Link August 2023

TOP STORY

Local councils

See Pages 8 & 28

Pressure of Parenting

See page 11

Tide Times

See Page 12

What’ On

See pages 26/27

2x prizes to be won

‘Larry The Lamb’ &

‘Boycie the Beaver’ are Missing

Can you find them to win a prize?

See Page 6

The independent directory of businesses delivered FREE to residents of Bideford, Appledore, Northam, Abbotsham and Westward Ho!

Publisher: The Link Publications

Editor: Alex Tutton

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Contents

Hello Bideford

Hi, welcome to the August edition of the Bideford link magazine.

Funny how the weather can change in four weeks, it was only last month I mentioned about the HOT conditions, now it’s raining continually! Well, It feels like it! It seems to be fine until I want to do something outside, then the heavens open. I’m sure the clouds know and sit waiting for me!

If you are looking for something different this month try this.

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, 10 – 13 August The city’s largest outdoor event, held annually at the city’s Ashton Court Estate, is the largest fiesta of its kind in Europe. The mass ascents at dawn and after-dark firework shows to follow. The fiesta offers a packed four days of fun for the family.

See you next

Win 2 Tickets to visit The Big Sheep in Abbotsham

Larry the Lamb’

Unfortunately he has run away again, up to his old tricks!

Can you help me find him?

He will be hiding behind an advert in the magazine

Once you have found him, send his location to me. mag@thelinkpublications.co.uk or use the contact form on the web site.

One person will be drawn from the correct answers to win.

Closing date for entries 14th August 2023

THE BEAVER INN APPLEDORE

‘Boycie the Beaver’ has gone missing, Can you find him?

He’s hiding in one of the adverts inside the magazine. Find him to Win a Sunday lunch for two at the Beaver Inn, Appledore

Send your answers by email to mag@thelinkpublications.co.uk

Closing date August 14th 2023

One person from the correct answers will win.

Bideford

Now that the schools have broken up for the Summer, let us hope we see an improvement in the weather.

At the end of June the Mayor, together with the relevant Ward Councillors, visited East the Water School, West Croft School and St Mary’s School to plant a tree. Royal Burgundy Cherry trees were planted for the King’s Coronation, and we will look forward to these blooming each May to remind us of the Coronation. The children representing the schools got involved in the planting process and the Mayor was impressed with their enthusiasm and pleasure for the activity.

Another Bideford Regatta was successful, although not quite as many visiting teams came along, but enough to make it a good competition. The Quay was a-buzz with activity, hosting the visiting boats, crews, the Mayor’s Reception and a lovely and very welcome Food Festival, with tastes and aromas from around the world. But, Regatta day is all about the rowing and Bideford Reds finished the day with four 1st places as well as five 2nd spots and three 3rds, whilst Bideford Blues recorded a top spot in the Men’s Masters fours as well as two 2nds and two 3rd places through the efforts of their fast improving juniors.

At our last Full Council meeting in June, Bideford Town Council completed its co-option of Councillors, with two new faces being voted in for North Ward. We welcome Councillors Keith Bines and Kenneth Hind, both will bring their knowledge and experience to the Council. We would like to thank those who applied, but were unsuccessful, for their interest and time.

The Mayor has had a very busy diary and has attended the historic Holsworthy Pretty Maid Ceremony, as well as a great performance at Bideford College of the “Wizard of Oz”. He had a double helping of School Leavers at East the Water School with a record number of 6th Year pupils leaving, meaning two lots of prize giving in one day – phew!

The Town Council Staffing, Finance and General Purposes Committee have made a good start on the Manor Court Presentments and updated members at the meeting held on 27th July. Many of this year’s presentments were for the Council to write to the relevant authorities (Torridge or Devon County) about matters but there were also a few that will be carried out by the Town Council’s Maintenance Team.

Our Annual Allotments Inter-site Challenge has taken place and we will look forward to awarding the trophies and commendation certificates at the Signing of the Lease Ceremony in December. Overall Site winner was Marland Allotment Site. They have never won it before so they are very excited.

The Town Council are very pleased to be able to put out the banners for “HALL FOR HIRE” for the Pannier Market. With everything cleared out, the Market Hall is an amazing space and will soon be showing its potential to a variety of uses and events. The costs are flexible, negotiable and, most importantly, affordable. The Hall is fully licensed and to find out more please call 01237 428817 or email deputyTC@bideford-tc.gov.uk

Finally, we are preparing for a big celebration in 2024 – D-Day 80. We will be celebrating 80 years since the D-Day Landings in 1944 with a Beacon Lighting at the Pollyfield Centre. The Tourism Committee is organising an event and we would like help from the people of Bideford. We realise that there are no survivors from the D-Day Landings but we would like to make a Roll-Call of those who were involved and were from Bideford – so if you had a relative or a close friend who was a Bidefordian and part of that amazing event in WWII, please get in touch with us – details at the foot of this page.

Until the next time . . .

Contact: 01237 428818 or email admin@bideford-tc.gov.uk

Times are in GMT, please remember to adjust the times by one hour for BST

Commencing his career straight from leaving school, Lewis has

Starting off as an apprentice, hand crafting classic car body panels, he then proceeded to looking after a fleet of coaches along with

Within his time, Lewis has worked on vehicles including Aston s and many

Lewis is experienced on full body restorations including all panel replacement, rust repair, underbody treatment and full resprays.

Lewis can also undertake small part shotblasting, powder coating, ceracoating and ultrasonic cleaning.

He is also experienced in stainless steel exhaust fabrication as well as any other steel or aluminium welding and fabrication.

If Lewis can assist you in any way, give him a call at

Clifford Motorworks

07512 748 343

or email Cliffordmotorworks@hotmail.com

For more examples of Lewis’ work visit his Facebook or Instagram pages

The Macular Group

Meet once a month ,on the first Thursday of each month, at The BURTON, Bideford, in the KINGSLEY ROOM ,BETWEEN 10 am-12 NOON. All are welcome. Looking forward to meeting you. Any queries contact Richard Lockwood on 01237 476827

Northam & District Men's Forum

The Forum welcomes back existing and invites new Members to our weekly Thursday meetings from 10:15am to 12 noon, October to the end of April at the Methodist Church Hall, Cross Street, Northam. Interesting speakers on a range of topics. Refreshments available. Please contact Mike on 01237 459324 for more information.

Coffee morning, chat and crafts with Together Again.

The Pollyfield Community Centre 10am to 12pm Tuesdays

Bideford Friday Afternoon Table Tennis playing every Friday from 2.30-4.30 at Bideford Youth Centre, The Pill, Bideford. Come along and enjoy friendly table tennis! Call Jan on 017467221199 for more details or just turn up!

CLEVER CRAFTERS Kingsley hall School Room from 10am to 12 every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. We are open to everyone (crafters and non crafters) for tea/coffee cake and conversation.

Westward Ho! Art Club are now meeting again each Monday, between 1.30pm to 4pm, in the Baptist Church Hall, Westward Ho!, and new members are welcome. Interested? come along or contact Janet on 01237 477601 Care & Share Cafe. Meet at Holy Trinity Church hall, Westward Ho! on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, from 10am - 12md. Call Nicola 01237 474979 for details. Come and join us.

Carry On Choir - Wednesdays 7 - 9 p.m. at Pollyfield Community Centre. Call Kathy on 07957 908015 to check term dates and arrange a free taster session. Everyone welcome. No auditions, music reading or experience required.

St Margaret’s Church, Northam, Open Church on Friday mornings for coffees, teas, and a book stall from 10.15 – 12noon

Kenwith Castle Model Boat Club, Abbotsham.

The Club welcomes new members who enjoy building and sailing radio controlled model boats, both powered and sail. Sailing takes place every week on Kenwith Castle Care Home lake, weather permitting, with Club meetings held monthly at Royal North Devon Golf Club.

For more information call David on 01237 478753

Knit & Natter group at Bideford library 1st and 3rd Monday of every month. 2-4pm .All ages and levels of expertise welcome. Feb and Mar dates: 6th and 20th each month. No charge but we make a donation for our tea and biscuits.

Thursday Fellowship Northam Methodist Hall.

2.15pm. Guest speakers, Tea/Coffee £2.00.

Bideford Film Society

Friday and Saturday evenings at the Kingsley School theatre at the top of Northdown Road in Bideford. Contact - www.bidefordcinema.org.uk/ for more details.

Thursdays - Bideford Folk Club meets at 7:30pm in the Joiner’s Arms, Bideford, EX39 2DR A friendly, weekly club. Bring a song or tune, join in or just sit and listen. We also have concerts, and our Guests in March are Lynne Heraud and Pat Turner, who are charismatic, humorous and quirky. There is no entry fee, but we do pass the hat around. For more information see Website: www.bidefordfolkclub.com or John Purser 01237 424286, bidefolk@gmail.com

Westward Ho! Ladies Club

We meet every Thursday at 7.30p.m. from September to May in the Schoolroom of the Kingsley Hall Westward Ho!. We have a variety of speakers and new members are always welcome. Please contact Alison on 07929 958654 for more information.

Northam Choral Society – meets at 7.30 every Tuesday evening, excluding the summer holidays, in St Mary’s Church Bideford. The choir is open to all ages and voices, and holds regular concerts in May and December. Come along and join us

it’s fun!

For more information you can either contact Michael on 07933 244247, or just come along and see what we do. Bideford Folk Club meets every Thursday at 7:30pm in the Joiner’s Arms, Bideford, EX39 2DR

A friendly, weekly club. Bring a song or tune, join in or just sit and listen. We also have concerts, and our Guest on May 11th is Nick Dow, who is an acknowledged expert on West Country Folk Songs and has been singing traditional Folk Songs for over Forty years. Every song Nick sings has a story attached to it, his gigs are as informative as they are entertaining.

There is no entry fee, we just pass the hat around. For more information see Website: www.bidefordfolkclub.com or John Purser 01237 424286, bidefolk@gmail.com"

North Devon Model Society Meet every Tuesday, from 6.30 to 9pm at Fremington Parish Hall, Higher Rd, Fremington, EX31 3BG. All abilities and ages welcome. We are a friendly club who share our skills and expertise to make Plastic Kits, Sculpt, Scratch Build, 3D print and paint scale models of Figures, Tanks, Boats, Ships, Cars, Trucks, Planes, Si-Fi, dioramas. Please come along, see https://northdevonmodelsociety.co.uk/ Diabetes Meetings Monday, 21st August @ 10.30am. Community Hall, next to Sainsbury’s, Barnstaple. Po, Diabetes Specialist Nurse: “Diabetes and Diet”. Coffee morning, first Monday in the month, 10.30am, St. John’s, Newport, Barnstaple. Further info: Rose 01271 371072.

WESTWARD HO! BRIDGE CLUB every Tuesday and Thursday in the Holy Trinity hall, starting at 6.45pm. Ring Graham on 01237 470990 or email penkenna2@gmail.com

WESTARD HO! ART CLUB invites you to our August Art Exhibition. Monday 14th 1.30pm - 4.0pm Tuesday - Saturday19th, 10am - 4 pm Refreshments available.

What’s On

The Holy Trinity Knit&natter group

Meet at the church hall in Westward Ho! on the First & third Wednesday of the month, from 1.30pm - 3.30pm Call Catherine on 01237- 475720 for details or just come along.

The Appledore Singers

New members are welcome, so why not ring 01237 420652 to find out more about joining us. Further information about us is also available on our website: theappledoresingers.co.uk or our Facebook page. Rehearsals Mondays 7.30 – 9pm Appledore

Baptist Church

Torridge Walk & Talk

We are now up and running again Tuesday and Wednesday Walks. Contact: torridgewalkandtalk.co.uk OR phone

Steve 01237 421528 A variety of walks for all levels, Just turn up and join in for free.

The Jolly Gardeners Club

email jollygardenersclub@gmail.com for more details. We have a Facebook group where members can post news about what they have been up to in their gardens and we can let you know about meetings and events.

WEDNESDAYS Bideford Folk Dance Club

Meet at Northam Hall at 7.30 pm. Experience or partners not necessary. Please contact Chris on 01237 423554 for further information.

Northam WI.

We meet on the second Thursday each month at 7pm in the Methodist Church Hall, Cross Street, Northam. Do come and join us. Ring Jill 429773

Appledore WI We meet on the first Friday of the month at 2:30pm in The Blue Lights Hall in Vernons Lane in Appledore. New members are welcome and to find out more please contact Melanie 01237 429455

Enjoy Sewing?

We do various needlecrafts cross stitch embroidery and various others. We meet 2nd Saturday of each month at the Methodist hall Rhododenron avenue Barnstaple on bus route 21, Contact Anita 01237 422458

Rock n Roll club in Appledore (previously at Robins Nest).

Rocking Shoes Rock n Roll Club. Appledore Social Club. Richmond Road. EX391LU. 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.7.30- 10.30

Bideford Probus Club

At The Thatched Inn, Abbotsham on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month - Tel 01409 282948.

Northam Choral Society are meeting every Tuesday evening, 7:30pm at St Mary’s church Bideford to rehearse Handel's Messiah. There is still plenty of time to join us before our 7 May concert and singers of all voices are always welcome. Please contact Michael on 07933 244 247 for more information or just turn up. There is no audition.

BIDEFORD TREFOIL GUILD

We meet at All Saints Chapel Community Centre Instow on the first Tuesday of the Month 7-9pm If you would like to know more please contact Sandra Nevard 07976117778 for more information.

*NEW*

Carry On Choir

- Tuesdays 1:00 - 2:30pm at Westward Ho! Baptist Church. Call Kathy on 07957 908015 to check term dates and arrange a free taster session. Everyone welcome. No auditions, music reading or experience required. Sense of humour essential.

BREAKAWAY SOCIAL CLUB for ADULTS (18+) at WESTWARD HO!

We are looking for new members. The club is held in The Baptist Church Hall on Mondays 6.45 to 8.30pm.Open to adults (18+) with learning and/or physical disabilities. Please contact 01237 475051 for more information

Appledore Band are back on Appledore quay on Monday evenings for their Summer concerts from 7.45 pm. We will continue through July and August culminating with our popular Proms concert on Sunday 27th August. If wet we will be in St Mary's Church (opposite the car park).

Slimming World

Monday 8.30, 10.00 and 5.30 At Robins nest, Bideford AFC

Tuesday 8.30, 10.00 and 11.30 also at Robins Nest

Tuesday 5.30 & 7.00 at East the Water Primary School. All with Kate

Wednesday 4.00 & 5.30 at Robins Nest with Debbie

Kenwith Badminton Club are welcoming new members! We play at Kingsley School Sports Hall on Mondays (not BH or August) from 8-10pm, 7.30 in the winter. Visitors welcome. If you enjoy sociable and competitive badminton, we'd love to see you! Contact Jan for info 07467221199."

Feel Better with a Book

The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 10.30 in Bideford Library. We have a drink and biscuit, listen to stories and poems and have a friendly chat.

North Devon Model Show

Raising Funds for Children’s Hospice South West. August 13th 2023, 10AM till 4PM at The Park Community School, Park Lane, Barnstaple EX32 9FB. £3 Adult entry, Children free. The South West's Biggest Model show, see award winning scale models from all over the area, Trade Stalls and refreshments. Free Parking. Please come along, see northdevonmodelsociety.co.uk

Autumn Fair Sacred Heart Catholic Church - North. Rd. Bideford 4th November 11am - 1pm Stalls, games, cakes, toys, jewellery, buy your early Christmas gifts at bargain prices. Tea/Coffee homemade cakes

ALLWELCOME, Bring a friend.

Northam Town Council is pleased to announce that in line with its Climate Emergency Action Plan to achieve net zero by 2030, it is in the process of purchasing an electric vehicle for use by the Maintenance Team.

The Town Council has also recently acquired an electric cordless strimmer, powered by a high-capacity backpack battery. Both the vehicle and strimmer will be charged up with the help of the solar panel system installed on the roof of Northam Hall.

The Town Council has recently finalised the initial stages of a project to refurbish the Tennis Courts at Westward Ho! Park, made possible by a generous contribution from the Lawn Tennis Association. Facilities to support the courts are being planned and the Town Council has recently been invited to proceed with an installation in the old toilet block at Westward Ho! Park of a “Changing Places facility”

Changing Places toilet facilities are designed to meet the needs of people with complex care needs.

There is government funding to meet 50% of the cost, (through Torridge District Council) and Northam Town Council will be required to meet the remainder, in the region of £25,000, which it will seek to do with grants from other bodies.

As Westward Ho! Park tennis facilities have been designed to accommodate those with special needs, this would be a wonderful opportunity to enhance them further.

The absence of suitable toilets means that people with complex disabilities who need assistance cannot take part in activities such as shopping, going out for a meal or attending a sporting event. Without a suitable changing bench and hoist, many people with complex needs have to be laid on unhygienic toilet floors or become trapped in their own homes.

The Town Council has agreed in principle to proceed, providing the required match funding can be achieved. Unfortunately, the funding window is very narrow as the whole project needs to be completed by March 2024.

If anyone feels able to contribute to the funding, please contact the Town Council, 1 Windmill Lane, Northam, EX39 1BY. Tel: 01237 474976 or email townclerk@northamtowncouncil.gov.uk

Useful Information

Opening times may vary, please contact the Library direct for full details

Libraries

Chemists

Farmers' Markets

Post Office Opening Times

Pannier Market Days