Appledore, Torridge
Appledore is a village at the mouth of the River Torridge, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Barnstaple and about 3 miles (5 km) north of Bideford in the county of Devon, England. It is the home of Appledore Shipbuilders, a lifeboat slipway and Hocking's Ice Cream, a brand of ice cream only sold in North Devon. There are numerous shops, cafes and galleries. The local football club is Appledore F.C. The ward population at the 2011 census increased to 2,814.[1]
History
Appledore is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 (though it mentions two other, smaller, Appledores in Devon).[2] Its earliest recorded name, in 1335, is le Apildore in the manor of Northam.[3] There was a
The Richmond Dry Dock was built in 1856 by William Yeo and named after Richmond Bay in Prince Edward Island, where the Yeo family's shipping fleet was based. From 1882 until the 1930s it was owned by Robert Cook, and continued in use until the 1960s.[7] It is a Grade II* listed building.[8] There is a maritime museum in the village chronicling the history of shipbuilding and seafaring in the village.[9]
A lifeboat service for the area around the mouth of the River Taw was introduced in February 1825. The boat was kept in the King's Watch House at Appledore for six years until a new boat house was built at Watertown, half a mile nearer the sea. From 1848 a second lifeboat was stationed at Braunton Burrows on the opposite side of the estuary but its crew always came from Appledore. A third station was built at Northam Burrows to the west of Appledore in 1851 and the Appledore boat moved there. A new station at Badsteps allowed Northam Burrows to close in 1889 and Braunton Burrows closed in 1918 as it was difficult to find men and horses to launch the boat. Appledore Lifeboat Station was rebuilt in 2001 and is home to an inshore lifeboat; a larger all-weather Tamar class boat is kept moored just off shore.[10]
Notable people
Railway
The
Sport and leisure
Appledore has a Non-League football club Appledore F.C. who play at Marshford. They are currently members of the Devon Football League.
Appledore has two pilot Gig clubs in the village, Appledore PGC and Torridge PGC.
They both compete in Westcountry regattas and the world championships on the Isles of Scilly.
Appledore Men's Crews are in the world's top 10.
Transport
Appledore is served by Stagecoach Devon service 21A which runs between Appledore, Northam, Bideford, Instow, Fremington, Bickington, Barnstaple station, Barnstaple, Chivenor, Braunton, Croyde and Georgeham. On Sundays and evenings the 21A goes up to Ilfracombe.
Stagecoach also runs a circular route called 16 from Bideford to Westward Ho!, West Appledore, Appledore, Square Northam and then back to Bideford.[citation needed]
Gallery
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The quay at Appledore
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A view of Appledore Shipyard from the opposite side of the Torridge estuary
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A monument to the fallen soldiers of World War II
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Richmond Dock in June 2021
In popular culture
In his novel Westward Ho!, Charles Kingsley describes Appledore as a "little white fishing village".
Nikolai Tolstoy,
In 2008, the Jackson family (including Tito Jackson) stayed for six weeks in Appledore while searching for a house to buy in the area. The project was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary The Jacksons are Coming, which was aired on 27 November 2008.[12][13]
See also
- HMS Appledore
- South West Coast Path
- St Mary's Church, Appledore (Church of England)
Notes
- Census 2001. Office for National Statistics. 1 April 2001. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
References
- ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ "Open Domesday". Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ "Historical Gazetteer of English Place Names". Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ "Extract from Devon by W.G.Hoskins (1954)". Devon County Council. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ not the other Appledore, Devon: Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton.
- ^ "Welcome to Appledore". www.appledore.org. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
- ^ "The story of the Dry Dock". Celebrating Appledore's Shipping Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
- ^ Historic England. "Richmond Dock (1140140)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
- ^ "Appledore Museum". North Devon Museums Trust. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-906294-72-7.
- ISBN 978-0393061307.
- Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. 2 April 2008. Archived from the originalon 21 February 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
- Times Newspapers. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
- Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901–1917. Pub. West Country Publications.