Another fabulous Bude maritime history article by Julie Satchell: Barnabas Stanlake Shazell & the Joseph and Thomas During a weekend wander round the graveyard of St Michaels and All Angels Church, looking for gravestones of shipwrecked sailors, an unusual name caught my eye. ‘Barnabas Stanlake Shazell’ drowned at Saunton in […]

  Written by Julie Satchell, a local maritime archaeologist, to commemorate the anniversary of the sinking of the Belem, November 20th, 103 years ago: The two large cylindrical metal objects which sit nestled in varying levels of sand just north of Northcott beach are the boilers of the steam ship […]

In the last couple of years, I have met with visitors from USA, Australia and Canada, all interested in finding the grave of Pamela Colman Smith (tucked away in an unknown spot in St Michael’s; this is covered in the book). They have also been interested in her life. These […]

Who remembers this event? It was a lighthearted event for Mother’s Day but just imagine, for a minute, struggling to have your basic hygiene needs met; having no knickers to wear, for example, when you have a fistula, or are on your period or are just out living your womanly […]

Yesterday, I went to see Lucille Opie, who told me this rather charming tale relating to the late Margaret Frost. We both thought people in Bude would enjoy it: In 1953, when we first came to Bude, a man called Ed Rutherford, tall, 6ft 5, came over to Bude from […]

Ray Boyd was a lovely chap. I first came across him as ‘Old School” on the Bude People site I used to run for Northcliffe Digital, where he added some wonderfully-received collections of old photos of Bude. It took quite a search to uncover who ‘Old School’ was, as Ray […]

One good thing about November is that I receive a royalties statement and I’m pleased to say sales of my Bude books are holding up in a tough retail climate, so … A massive thank you to anyone who has bought one or plans to buy one, for anyone who […]

This info comes from a slender pamphlet called “Farthest From Railways: An Unknown Corner of Devon” by R. Pearse Chope, originally written in 1934. It seems Hartland Parish, despite being one of the largest in Devon, amounting to 17,000 acres in size, is too hilly for a cricket ground, is bounded by […]

Here is a wonderful poem celebrating Bude Sea Canal by Lucille Opie:   Our Canal, unique as it is locked to the sea Was opened in eighteen twenty-three. For two miles it meanders to the inclined plane, A feat of engineering the Victorians rightly claim. Navigable only to Marhamchurch today […]

By Helen Bartrop Hocking: The Bude, Stratton & District Old Cornwall Society gathered in The Parkhouse Centre on Lady Day evening to listen to the lecture ‘Grenville Estate and the development of Bude’ as researched by their newly elected President, Richard Michael Heard. Starting with a quick recap of Part […]