Pidgeons Projects

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Commerating a Golden Jubilee

Bideford's Park is a favourite spot for Bidefordians who are pleased to hear that visitors admire it. The flower beds are invariably a mass of bloom throughout the spring, summer and autumn season at at once catch the eye. But read on to find out how the Park came into existence.

In September 1886 at a meeting of Bideford Town Council, the "first business was to receive the report of the Committee respecting the suggested purchase of the marshes adjoining the Pill. The report was to the effect that the Committee were of opinion that it was desirable to open up negotiation with Major Hogg and Captain Molesworth to inquire if they would sell, for public purposes their respective marshes, or such portions as might be agreed upon. The Committee also recommended that nothing be at present done to the flood-hatch, but the Surveyor watch it."

1886 Map

Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837, and in 1887 councillors decided to take steps to commemorate her Golden Jubilee - this provided the Council with a purpose. Ezekiel Rouse (the town doctor) proposed a recreation ground and Robert Dymond suggested the area known as the marshes. Councillor William Braund drew attention to the rumour that Northam was trying to ‘get hold of’ the foreshore adjacent to the marshes, so it was unanimously agreed that Bideford should take immediate steps to gain possession. It seems to have been unusual for all councillors to be in agreement……though not so rare for there to be conflict with Northam!

Ezekiel Rouse was born in 1841, brought up at Morwenstow, and was a general practicioner MRCS. In the 1891 Census he is shown as living at 11 Bridgeland Street with his wife, Margaret (nee Lloyd Ludlow), and 2 daughters, Barbara and Dorothy. Exekiel died 9 February 1898 and is buried at East-the-Water Cemetery.

Robert Dymond, born in 1833 at Beaford, joined the Royal Marines and retired as a sergeant. He married twice and the 1891 Census details him as living at 55 and 56 Mill Street. In the 1901 Census details, he is living with Eliza at The Mount, North Down Road, Bideford - he is shown as 'auctioneer, estate agent, carriage proprietor'. He died 19 October 1908.

“A People’s Park in Prospective.
The Mayor (by permission of the Council) at once brought forward the question of the purchase of the two marshes adjoining the River Bank, at present the property of Major Hogg. The matter was one that had been before the public for some years, and was of great public interest. He was sure all present only wanted to do what was best for the town. They all regarded the River Bank as the lungs of Bideford, and anything they could do to improve that beautiful walk would be for the good of the neighbourhood. There were many reasons why the question of purchasing the marshes should be considered.” (1890 article)

It was reported on 11 March 1890, that "At a Special Meeting of the Bideford Town Council...The Mayor stated that the meeting was called to receive the report of the Committee appointed to inquire as to the possibility of purchasing the two marshes adjioning the River Bank. On behalf of the Committee he had to report that they had interviewed Mr Groves Cooper, the agent for Major Hogg, who was the owner of the marshes in question. On the following day a letter was received from Mr Cooper stating that he had seen Major Hogg and that the gentleman was prepared to sell the two marshes to the Town Council for £2,000, which was the amount named when the subject was discussed some years ago, the sale to be subject to the usual terms of contract."

Major Hogg agreed to sell the marshes. This was the lower half of the town’s current landholding, nearest to the town. They received permission from the Local Government Board to borrow money to buy and fence the land and the following year the purchase was completed, with a £2500 loan from the Prudential.

In the North Devon Gazette, 9 February 1897, Councillor Tucker "gave notice of motion that the Council consider the advisability of securing the marsh adjoining those now in their possession. He hoped the time would come when they should possess all the marshes, and lay them out. If they had Mr Pitt Fox's marsh, that would take them to Chanter's Lane. One of his thoughts was that the Council should buy the remainder of the marshes in this, the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign, and call it the 'Victoria Park.' That would be a good way of celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee."

There was not much progress for a few years after that. There was talk of landscaping and planting trees but the council were working on projects which had to take priority - such as the construction of the technical school; dealing with the Pill stream and making the roadway; repairs to the riverbank; and improving the town’s water supply. The land was still wet although the cricket club did have the use of part of it, in spite of legal challenges (the Local Government Board said that as it had been purchased as a peoples’ park, the public could not be excluded). Plans for landscaping the park were drawn up by Mr Meyer of Veitch & Son of Exeter and over the next few years the council arranged drainage, added topsoil and sought tenders for planting of trees and shrubs. Queen Victoria died in 1901 and the park had still not been finished, the committee (described as ‘most lethargic’) needing a further £350.

The Mayor wrote to Northam asking for their co-operation, because the park although owned by Bideford was still within Northam’s jurisdiction. Bideford took the view that if they were to develop the marshes and riverbank it was essential that control should be in their hands by right not by courtesy. Northam’s response was reported to be that “Bideford had tried to steal the land once and now it was in Northam parish they intended to keep it”. This led to some administrative problems. As an example, the parkkeeper got into an argument with a dog-owner whose pet was pulling up flowers he had just planted – but there was no bye-law preventing it. For some years Northam declined to take any action, but eventually allowed Bideford to bring in their own restrictions.

An article dated 20 August 1907 states "Northam Council and The Pill. The Town Clerk reported the receipt of a reply from Northam Urban District Council to his inquiry whether that body would now offer no objection to Bideford making by-laws for Victoria Park and The Pill, and withdraw their claim to the Pill Land. in their reply Northam Council pointed out that in March, 1904, they had no objection to Bideford making by-laws for the park, but they could not now consent to comply with Bideford Council's request in regard to the Pill, and suggested that further consideration of the matter be deferred until the question of throwing open the road from Dorchester-terrace to the Pill was finally settled. Alderman Dymond said the reply was not so satisfactory as he had expected."

In 1912 it was reported that Northam Council was "willing to place the portion of the Pill land belonging to them under the control of the Bideford Urban District Council until further notice, thus enabling them to make the proposed bye-laws, subject to all receipts going to the Bideford and District Hospital, as from "Bideford and Northam Pill land receipts," or in such manner as the two Councils might agree, the accounts to be presented annually." It was not until 1934 that the boundary was changed, putting the park into Bideford.

Overall by the early 1900s the park was seen as a success. It had been built up with materials like road scrapings (and the deposit of rubbish continued until beyond 1904) yet in spite of the difficulties it had turned out to be a pretty spot. Some shrubs had been donated by local people so it had been done with an eye to economy as well as results. There were however still some issues, in particular balancing the interests of those who enjoyed tranquillity with others such as footballers. Mr Dymond suggested acquiring the neighbouring marsh for sports, a request repeated by Mr S.R.Chope a couple of years later. The “Bideford Park Rangers” liked the pitch in the park and were well supported with several thousand supporters on occasion, though they were restricted by the council’s refusal to allow them to erect regulation goal posts. They were also not allowed to collect money from supporters watching the games so they really needed a field of their own. Cyclists meanwhile had a dedicated track but cycling on Sundays was a bone of contention, with the council changing their policy more than once!

1935 Map

In 1908, there was the curious incident of the dead cow which was slaughtered due to TB and then buried somewhere in the park, apparently on the order of a magistrate. The council were annoyed about this, though it was a source of amusement to others! Jokes in an entertainment programme included "What's the difference between the Isle of Wight and Bideford Park?" - "At the Isle of Wight you have Cowes on top, and in Bideford Park, you have cows under it." "Why is Bideford Quarry like a diamond mine?" - "Because it contains stones, rare and precious."

The gates were added in 1912, with construction of the main entrance funded by a dontation of £100 by Mr Peard, a local solicitor. A presentation shelter and clock were added to the park in his memory as he, like his wife, had died - his wife had been sister to Ezekiel Rouse, who first proposed a park. By this time King Edward VII had reigned and died, and George V was on the throne. A newspaper article dated 12 November 1912, states "The main gates of this Park were presented by the late George Oliver Peard, Esq., in memory of his wife, the smaller gates and railings being erected by the Town Council to commemorate the Coronation of King George V. The Park, after its enclosure, was formally opened by the Mayor, Councillor W T Goaman, J.P., on the 9th November, 1912.

In the 1911 Census, George Oliver Peard (born in Barnstaple) is living with his wife, Louisa Marion, at Riverside, Orchard Hill, and he is a 'solicitor' - his firm was Hole, Peard and Seldon. Louisa was buried on 4 July 1911 at St Margaret's Church, Northam. George died in 1912

No donor came forward to fund the construction of the bandstand so the council built up the area around the flagpole in 1912 and the cannons were moved, after being on display outside the technical School/Arts centre.

There was some further conflict in 1922 when Northam gave permission for building the houses in the lower half of Park Lane, right up to the landowner’s boundary. They did not however make any provision for a footpath or road, instead asking Bideford to donate the necessary land! Some councillors were opposed to this, feeling that Northam had put themselves into this position and should sort out their own problems, not look to Bideford to bail them out. Nevertheless a section of the park was made available for this purpose.

In 1944 an oak tree was planted to celebrate the good relations between the people of Bideford and US Army personnel who were stationed in the town between 1940-1944.

In 1937 the council applied for a grant from the King George’s Fields Foundation. They had recently purchased additional land to facilitate the long-awaited extension for sports, and the grant was for new gates and further site improvements. This was opposed by the Chamber of Trade who thought it was an extravagance (the land cost £6k) to prevent the site being developed for housing. Later still, in 1946, formal plans were drawn up for a multi-use park with a public hall, indoor and outdoor restaurants, ponds, swimming pool and various sports pitches. Meanwhile lorries were delivering refuse to the upper fields. Two men were employed to remove the topsoil, deposit the waste and then cover it again. This was seen as a practical solution to the problem of low-lying marshland - buying in and transporting stone to build it up would have been far too expensive and as they were sending 40 tons per week to the town dump, this seemed the best solution. The scheme was approved by the Ministry of Health and monitored by the borough surveyor. These playing fields were eventually completed after the war thanks to the grant of £2k from the King George Jubilee Trust with the project completed in 1951, and the Park Lane gates were installed with the approved plaques. This was a time of great optimism when even the new sewage screening building was attractive.

In 1950, a tree-planting ceremony took place in Park on March 8th. This was based on a suggestion by the Bideford and District Chamber of Trade when they decided on a gift of trees for the Victoria Park and King George Fields that they should form and be dedicated as an avenue of remembrance to those from the town who gave their lives in the recent war. Trees at the junction of two avenues of silver and Norwegian maples were planted by the Mayor of Bideford, Mr A K Chope, and the President of the Chamber, Mr J R Seward.

In 1951 the football club made an offer to Bideford. They had leased their part of the playing fields and fenced it along with other improvements, but could not get any further grants unless they were owners. So they proposed to “buy” it for a 21 year ownership period after which time they would return it to Bideford free of charge, subject to it remaining an FA playing field. The Burton at Bideford was opened in 1951 and the following year saw the formal opening of the playing fields by the Duke of Edinburgh:

I hope this tree will grow comments the Duke, laughingly

"The main thing about playing fields was that as many people as possible should realise that they were obtainable if they really wanted them, said the Duke of Edinburgh when he spoke to the large crowds from a platform in the Victoria Park Bowling Green. “This scheme, from what I can see of it, looks a very wonderful one and it is a great example of what can be done by local authorities to help people who wish to play and wish to spend some of their time out of doors. I hope that if there are any other local authorities looking, listening or sitting on the grass, that they will take note of what can be done,” he said. Leaving the platform, and accompanied by the Mayor, the Duke went to a spot just outside the bowling green where he planted a Lombardy poplar, held for him by head gardener, Mr W Hill. Within the bowling green enclosure the Mayor planted a weeping willow which was held for her by Mr Reg Blackmore, a member of the Parks staff."

Further developments took place in the following years - tennis courts (in spite of reservations from some councillors that too much open space was being developed); a bowls club was founded in 1950; putting took place; rugby and cricket; Training Ship “Revenge” was reaching the end of its life in the late 1950s and the borough council offered a site on King George’s field adjacent to the A.T.C. hut, with the cost of the new building expected to be £600; cycling proficiency tests took place and Saturday mornings, childrens' entertainment was held in the Park. In 2000 a Millennium time capsule was also buried.

Holiday entertainment for children with Edwin the magician

Sit down and be quiet!

Thomas Tedrake

Forty-eight Mill Street, Bideford, was home to Thomas Tedrake from 1863 to about 1908, as well as being his newspaper office with printing press. His wife also ran a shop there.
He was a man with many interests: he opened a photographic studio in Bideford and also published a guidebook to the area as well as running his own newspaper for many years. He was active on the Town Council for decades and, if he needed a hobby, it must have been issuing and receiving court summons' of which there were many!

Tedrake's original photographic business was started in Meddon St and in 1863 he moved to Mill Street. He suffered a setback in 1873 when a stove caused a fire. The photographic studio was a wooden structure at the back of his shop which had been waterproofed with tar on the outside so it burned fiercely and the building was completely destroyed.

Examples of his photographs are:

A new photo-studio is opened:

The 1871 Census identifies Thomas’s profession as ‘photographer’, whereas by 1881, he is a ‘Journalist, Editor of newspaper and proprietor – artist – photographer’ and living with Mary (born in Buckland Brewer) and a son, Thomas Walwin, age 18, who is a ‘reporter and compositor’.

Tedrake's Illustrated Guide to Bideford and North Devon was published in 1894. The matter of the Bideford cannons provided quite a lot of newspaper coverage and correspondence. These had been used on the quay as mooring posts and TT had asserted that the cannons were of great historical interest, having come from one of the ships in the Spanish Armada. On several occasions he was a guest speaker to various local organisations, tackling such diverse subjects - Oliver Cromwell, Mahomet, Napoleon and popular delusions (witchcraft!). He was also a friend to Edward Capern who holidayed with them in 1876 while collecting material for a new work.

As a Town Councillor and member of the Bideford Local Board in the 1880s and 90s he was very active and often outspoken, a gift for the reporters charged with submitting stories and sometimes a curse on the Chairman of the meeting. He occasionally criticised fellow councillors if he thought their actions were not honourable and often challenged the authority of the Mayor - more than once he was told to sit down and be quiet (NDG 13/2/94). On at least one occasion the meeting was closed while he was still on his feet - according to the local press Tedrake was “cantering joyously on...declaring his firm intention to unfold his argument in his own way”.

Newspaper reporters at that time were less constrained than now, so their comments were often quite amusing. On one occasion he was (laughingly?) described as a guardian angel seeking to save the town council from itself, protecting the ratepayers with a vengeance. An on-going concern to him was cash flow in the council and the likely burden on ratepayers: reservoirs, graveyards, gas lights, police, quay renovations, gasworks, the park, markets, local government salaries and local government debt – all costs were challenged!

His own newspaper was called the Western Express (including the Torrington Chronicle) and he started it after leaving the North Devon Journal. Peter Christie's publication "Secret Bideford" tells us that he was in fact fired by the NDJ in 1872 after libelling a powerful local landowner, but he remained outspoken throughout his journalistic career. The Bideford Temperance Society, the local "Art Union Exhibition", the cricket club, the church, were all targets. He regularly sued people for both personal and business issues, even a couple of his own neighbours and employees! Peter also reminds us that the original statue on the roof of No 48 must have been erected by TT (other records show it was from 1886). Apparently it was also sometimes called ‘the dirty child’, a reference to the sometimes scurrilous articles he printed. He further acted as local correspondent for the Western Morning News.

The 1901 Census shows shows Thomas and Mary in their 50s, living with Grace Ley (a widow and Thomas’ mother-in-law), age 90, Barbara Cullen, age 20, a ‘stationer’s assistant’ and Roslia Leach (a visitor). His wife, Mary, died quite suddenly in 1906 and he subsequently sold the Mill Street property and continued to trade from New Street and then Market Place. In the 1911 Census he is living at Market Place, Bideford, and his occupation (at age 71) is a ‘general journalist’. He put the business up for sale a number of years later when he was in his late 70s. He told a potential purchaser that following his wife's death he had lost interest in the business, indeed had lost interest in life itself, and it is clear that this was the beginning of the end. Indeed within a couple of years he had gone to live with his son in Sussex where he died in 1912 from “senile decay”.

And some opinions from the local press…..

“In that elegant diction particularly his own”….he took issue with some comments made by the NDJ and used his own paper to voice his criticism. “We look upon our contemporary as, personally, a very good fellow who it is a pleasure to meet, and we only regret that he does not always carry his courtesy into his columns”.

In 1896 the North Devon Gazette commented on the forthcoming elections: "of Mr T., I wish to say nothing unjust. Give the councillor his due, he has been active and diligent. On the other hand, it is possible that Church people and all who respect the memory of the late Rector, will remember the vituperative and vulgar abuse of him which lately appeared in the paper for which Mr T. is responsible". 1898 re forthcoming election: "Mr Tedrake comes up again smiling, undeterred by former failures".

One of the Archive's oldest maps

And What it Can Tell Us

The 1838 Tithe map and Tithe Apportionment Book for Northam, Appledore & Westward Ho!

When researching family, property and community history we often turn to maps to show how things were. Early in the nineteenth century a series of maps covering the whole of England and Wales were produced and they can be used to find out who owned the land, who occupied it, what it was used for the size of the field and the rent payable. These maps were the Tithe Commutation Maps.

What were Tithes?

Tithes were a tax which had been in place since the Middle Ages where a tenth of all produce and profits of labour were paid to the Church. At first it was the intention that these tithes should pay for the upkeep of the clergy and to help to provide for the sick and the poor. After hundreds of years the tax had become separated from these good intentions and in 1836 an Act of Parliament was passed to reform the system and change it to a tax payment based on the prevailing price of corn, now mainly paid to private landlords, though church lands were exempt.

For modern researchers, the map of a local area together with the book called the Apportionment Book is invaluable.

Fig 1 A section of the Northam Tithe map showing Diddywell from the Bideford and District Community Archive collection

The above section is from the Northam Map. All the fields are numbered. The roads are marked by shading. Using just the map we can check the field sizes and position and locate the roads and houses. Unfortunately the roads are not named.

If we put the map together with the Apportionment book the whole thing comes alive. Over the nearly 40 years that the Bideford and District Community Archive has been operating volunteers have contributed their efforts to transcribing the book from this:-

Fig 2. A microfiche slide held in the Archive's collection which is a photograph of the original Apportionment book.The screen on this kind of viewer only shows a small section of each page d there are 6 pages per slide. This page shows field numbers and field names

To this:-

Fig 3. A photograph of a book held in the Archive's collection which is a complete transcription of the microfiches of the local book. It shows the owner, the occupier, the field number, the field name, land use and area and payment due

To this:-

Fig 4. A screen shot of a searchable interactive spreadsheet showing field numbers, owners, occupiers, field names and land use

Modern technology can really help enhance the usefulness of the Apportionment book. As can be seen in Fig 2 in using the original not only are we dealing with 19th century handwriting but entries are listed under the owners name. This was because the purpose of the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act was to reform taxation, therefore all the land owned by one person was listed together this means that the field numbers are out of order. To find a particular field necessitated a search through 14 microfiche slides until the number was found.

Fig 3. shows that earlier volunteers made this task much easier by copying the microfiche slides into a manageable book. This made the task of searching much easier but still time consuming.

The modern searchable spreadsheet produced by a current volunteer at the Archive Fig 4 now means that the field can be found in moments. The field number will lead us to the name of the land owner, the occupier the field name and how the land was used.

Recently this same volunteer has transferred the field names and land use onto a map pieced together from photographs of sections of the original map which had been produced by a previous local historian. The resulting map shown below gives a clear overview of land use in Northam Appledore and Westward Ho! in 1838,

Fig 5. A section of the map showing field names and land use

Key to the map:

Pink = arable

Green = pasture

Yellow = garden or market garden (called a plantation in the book)

Orange = uncultivated furze and bracken

Blue = orchard

Brown = woodland

How to use the map and Apportionment book

Houses and Family Names

Fig 6. A view of Appledore houses showing the plot numbers for their gardens. Using that number the occupier of the plot can be found

The map can be used to locate buildings and houses and who occupied them in 1838. For example the houses in the villages are all shown but the Tithe map records the gardens. By searching for an occupier's name or a plot number in the Apportionment Book it may be possible to identify a family name or locate the position of a house and thus gain an understanding of it's age. The census returns for 1841, 1851 and so on can then confirm occupation.

In a nutshell, if the house or road or field is on the map it was there in 1838 and of course for probably some time before.

Road and Track position and names

On the map the location of old roads and tracks can be identified but they are not named and so the field names from the book may sometimes indicate the name of the road. We have Jacket's Lane featuring in 5 field names to indicate the location of that lane. We have 2 fields in Northam called Windmill field and a Windmill hill in a different location. We have 10 fields called Ploddy at Bloody Corner. We have 2 fields called Sanctuary (Centuary) along Sanctuary Lane which is now called Bay View Road.

Westward Ho! has very little development in 1838. Underborough, Common, Venton and Youngerton Farms are shown.

Fig 7. Showing a part of Westward Ho! along modern Atlantic Way

Hangers Lane Field runs alongside what was called Hangers Lane but this has now changed to Beach Road. However we have to use some judgement because that field also runs along modern Atlantic Way.

We can also see along the south side of what is now Atlantic Way, Orchards thriving on Westward Ho!s steep bank.

Some interesting historical features

When looking in detail at the map complete with field names sometimes interesting features emerge. Some examples are given below.

Fig 8. House plots and gardens in Northam

Northam appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the rents were paid to St Stephen's Church Caen (in Normandy) on the instructions of King William. The layout of the house plots and gardens shows a clear medieval pattern with the houses fronting onto the streets and the long narrow garden plots lying behind them. The layout is not as neat as the previous Appledore pattern (Fig 6.) which probably shows that Northam's is much older.

Fig 9. Shows Rope Path Field at the top of Irsha Street, Appledore and the black line above the field name shows the rope path running along behind the cottages

It is not unusual to find a rope loft or path in a seafaring town or village and this path here in Appledore was where lengths of fibres were laid out and twisted into ropes for ships.

Fig 10. 3 Fields with Limekiln in the name below the Rope Path at Appledore together with features showing a Lime Kiln

In the late 18th and 19th Centuries scientific discoveries led to increased production in farming. In the case of northern Devon the application of lime to arable fields was adopted by landowners and coastal lime kilns supplied by ships from Wales proliferated.

Fig 11. Shows field 812 West Burrows Park

Today there is a Linhay – a local term for a small barn -in the south east corner of this field. Local knowledge identified this feature as a gun battery from the second world war. There are indeed features that appear to be shooting ports but the building has an older appearance overall. On referring to this map of 1838 although the building is not marked there is a clear indentation or detour in the hedge line indicating the presence of something.

Where to find the Map and Book

The whole map and the book and spreadsheet together with earlier versions are available at the offices of Bideford and District Community Archive, 1 Windmill Lane, Northam. An appointment can be made to come and use them or just to have a look. If required we will be happy to arrange for someone to talk you through how to find what you are looking for.

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Kate Harrison July 2021