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.