Bideford

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.

Following the success of their decorative lighting scheme at Christmas, Bideford Chamber of Trade is to investigate the possibility of floral decoration during the spring and summer.

They agreed this on Tuesday following a suggestion in a letter from Mr John Lewington.
Contractors, he suggested, might undertake to keep supplied and maintained window boxes and hanging baskets of flowers for shop and business premises, and the Town Council might be persuaded to cooperate. A scheme could encourage visitors to linger in the town, which was particularly suited to this type of decoration.
The Council might be persuaded to do something along the Quay, said Mr M Brown. Barnstaple had an effective scheme.
The idea was welcomed by Mr Brian Cording. The cost would have to be investigated, he said, because metal window boxes would be needed and they would probably be expensive.
After it had been pointed out that the Manor Court had made a similar suggestion to the Council, Mr A F Colwill said he could not see the Council providing any money but they should be asked. A difficulty was that the streets were so narrow that window boxes went unnoticed. “If we want this sort of thing we should be prepared to help financially”, he said. The matter was referred to the executive committee.
The Gazette article is dated 25 January 1963

Eight More Police Houses For Bideford

Six standard houses with garages for police officers are to be erected on sites owned by the Police Authority at Moreton Park, Bideford, at a cost of £25,360.

Two houses for senior officers will be built later.
The Finance Committee reporting this to the County Council on Thursday week said that the establishment at Bideford was for 36 male officers. Deducting 13 single officers and owner-occupiers, this left a need for 23 units of housing. Of 18 houses available, three were below standard and required replacement.
Gazette article dated 27 January 1967

New Supermarket for Bideford High Street

A supermarket in Bideford providing jobs for up to 50 people is among plans announced this week by Waltons Supermarkets (Exeter) Ltd.

Mr Jim Horrox, managing director, told the Gazette the development would be at the High Street premises formerly occupied by Meredith's ironmongery store.
With planning permission granted, tenders would be invited. It was hoped to start work on the premises within the next six months and have them open before the end of the year. The selling area would be some 4,500 square feet.
Employees would be mainly women, but seven or eight men would also be required.
Gazette article is dated January 1970