FROM BIDEFORD TO THE SPANISH MAIN: WESTWARD HO!

Those who have holidayed on the North Devon coast may be familiar with the small resort bearing the only place name in the country with an exclamation mark: Westward Ho!  For bookworms, meanwhile, the name will call to mind a 19^th century novel by the author Charles Kingsley about an expedition to the Spanish Main.  Confusingly, the early part of the novel is set, not in the eponymous resort, but in nearby Bideford, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.   Property developers of the time who were planning to build a resort around the Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Building Company decided to capitalise on the success of the novel by christening the resulting village Westward Ho!  The “Ho!” part of the name derives from an expression used by water taxis on the Thames, who used to yell “Eastward Ho!” or “Westward Ho!” to indicate where they were going.

Bideford from Seven Oaks. Photo by Nilfanion, via Wikimedia Commons

The main inspiration for the story was drawn from the exploits of the Elizabethan corsair Amyas Preston, whose name was changed to Amyas Leigh in the novel.  Preston set sail for the New World with such luminaries as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh.  Probably his best known exploit occurred in 1595 when he led an expedition alongside naval hero George Somers – known as the Preston Somers Expedition or the Capture of Caracas.  The expedition members made an arduous trek through the mountains of the Spanish-held Province of Venezuela before capturing Caracas from the Spanish forces.  It was this expedition which formed the basis of the Westward Ho! story.

Bideford is described by Kingsley as “the little white town of Bideford, which slopes upwards from its broad tide-river paved with yellow sands”.  Nowadays the white is interspersed with more recent red brick buildings, such as the Town Hall built in 1850 and the Police Station.  Kingsley recalls how the port “furnished seven ships to fight the Armada”.  A reminder of that time exists in Victoria Park, where eight cannons known as the Armada Guns are on display.  The guns were discovered when the quay was being widened in 1890, having been used as mooring posts.  In Chapter XII Kingsley turns his attention to the Bideford bridge, which he describes as “the very omphalos, cynosure, and soul, around which the town, as a body, has organised itself”.  The bridge was begun in 1280 as a wooden structure graced with two chapels and a large cross in the centre.  The bridge was subsequently rebuilt in stone and widened, and now stands at 677 feet long with 24 arches.  In 1968 a part of the bridge collapsed, causing much disruption due to the diversions which had to be put in place.

Bideford Old Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 36235. Photo by John Spivey, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the main characters in the novel is Sir Richard Grenville, a local nobleman, who is the godfather of the main character.  He is described as looking Spanish more than English, with “the nose long, aquiline, and delicately pointed”, and with “the mouth fringed with a short silky beard”.  The real life Sir Richard Grenville was born at Buckland Abbey in Devon, but evidently grew up in Bideford.  There are a number of reminders of him around the town, such as a housing development known as Grenville Place and a whitewashed building known as the Grenville Manor House.  There used to be a Grenville College, but it closed in 2009.

Visitors to Bideford who want to find out about the town's history should look in on the Burton Art Gallery and Museum, which has displays on the town's heritage.  Other attractions in the town include the day trips to Lundy Island and the Pannier Market. 

The River Torridge by Victoria Park - geograph.org.uk - 1392930. Photo by Steve Daniels, via Wikimedia Commons

Map of the area.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG: SHERBORNE PARK ESTATE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Normally my pieces about Britain on the small screen centre around locations featured in TV dramas and suchlike.  However, this time I have decided to feature the location of this year’s Springwatch, the eternally popular wildlife spectacular which has the whole nation cheering on fledging blue tits and cooing over playful badgers and fox cubs among other engaging creatures.  More often than not the series comes from an RSPB reserve or similar, but this year’s Springwatch HQ is Sherborne Park Estate, a swathe of beautiful Cotswolds parkland and farmland adjacent to the former hunting lodge at Lodge Park, all run by the National Trust.

The area covered by the estate includes a variety of habitat for the wildlife.  The woodlands provide a home for birds such as jay, chiffchaff and the obligatory Springwatch blue tits, as well as raptors in the form of buzzard and red kite.  The series also features a kestrel family which has set up home in the church in the nearby idyllic village of Sherborne, and other stars of the show include the magnificent barn owl.  Chris Packham explains that these raptors manage to co-exist due to the fact that they eat different things and employ different hunting methods.  For example, this part of the Cotswolds has a plentiful supply of rabbits for the red kite chicks to gorge on. 

Sherborne Church and Sherborne House - geograph.org.uk - 257088. Photo by Philip Halling, via Wikimedia Commons.

The farmland on the estate is a perfect habitat for birds such as skylark and yellowhammer, and hares can also be found there.  The hedgerows provide shelter for a variety of birds including the gorgeous bullfinch, and stoats find the typical Cotswold dry stone walls perfect for their dens, although the mother stoat regulary moves her offspring from place to place as the dens become a bit whiffy from all the prey consumed there.  The diversity of flora on the estate attracts insects including a range of different butterflies.

During the spring, the water meadows of the estate’s tranquil River Windrush are the scene of a mass emergence of mayflies, providing a feeding frenzy for the resident trout.  This incredible event was shown during the first week of this year’s Springwatch.  The river looms large in the series, as does Sherborne Brook, looking magnificent in the evening sunshine, with gently sloping sheep pastures rising from it.  

Sherborne Brook - geograph.org.uk - 258322. Photo by Philip Halling, via Wikimedia Commons.

The estate is located just off the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford.  Visitors to the area where Springwatch is being filmed can park at Ewe Pens Barn, from where there are a number of walking trails, including one down to the water meadows.  There is another car park at Northfield Barn, but if visiting during the filming of Springwatch you will not have access to that one.  Lodge Park is some distance away on the other side of the A40 and the former hunting lodge can be visited for an entrance fee (free to NT members).

Lodge Park. Photo by John Menard, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.